#investEU Newsletter

• As of February 2020, EFSI is expected to trigger €462.7 billion in additional investments and to benefit about 1,125,400 SMEs.

• France: Plan d'investissement : la Banque européenne d'investissement soutient Limagrain, coopérative et groupe semencier international
• Germany: European Investment Bank provides funding of €40 million to ITM;
• Italy: EU boosts financing for Italian SMEs with €30 million from European Investment Fund;
• Italy: Italy, Investment Plan for Europe: EIB finances new trains of Naples Circumvesuviana network;
• Latvia: Altum and EIB join forces for energy efficiency investments in Latvia;
• Lithuania: EIF and Noviti Finance support better access to finance for Baltic micro-enterprises with €10 million deal under EaSI programme;
• Poland: InvestEU – EIB lends €50 million to dairy cooperative Mlekpol for better production, logistics and storage;
• Poland: BGK and EIF unlock billions for small and medium enterprises in Poland;
• Slovenia: Investment Plan for Europe: EIB signs a €12 million loan with energy services provider Resalta;
• Slovenia: Investment Plan for Europe: Safer, smoother travel for Europeans as the EIB lends EUR 90m for expansion of the Karavanke Tunnel in Slovenia;
• Spain: Seville increases availability of social housing with EIB and ICO financing;
• Spain: EIB to finance pioneering project to improve CEPSA's energy efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of its chemicals operations in Spain;
• Spain: Climate action: EIB provides financing to Grupo Ruiz to renew its fleet with more modern and less polluting buses.

To back up its commitment to becoming the first climate-neutral bloc in the world by 2050, the EU has presented the European Green Deal Investment Plan – the Sustainable Europe Investment Plan.

The plan would mobilise public investment and help to unlock private funds through EU financial instruments, notably InvestEU, which would lead to at least €1 trillion of investments. While all Member States, regions and sectors will need to contribute to the transition, the scale of the challenge is not the same. Some regions will be particularly affected and will undergo profound economic and social transformation. The Just Transition Mechanism announced alongside the Investment Plan will provide tailored financial and practical support to help mobilise at least €100 billion over the period 2021-2027 in the most affected regions. The support is designed to help workers and to alleviate the socio-economic impact of the transition. The European Green Deal Investment Plan is based on three dimensions: financing to crowd in private funding; providing incentives to unlock and redirect public and private investment; and providing practical support to public authorities and project promoters in planning, designing and executing sustainable projects.

For more information:

European Green Deal Investment Plan

Another important goal of the Investment Plan is to help projects get off the ground. The European Investment Advisory Hub provides technical assistance and advice for fledgling projects. Since its launch in 2015, the Hub has handled more than 1,600 requests from project promoters in all EU countries, of which more than 480 are benefitting from tailored advisory support. More than 140 of these have already fed into the EIB lending pipeline representing estimated investment costs of EUR 32 billion. On 31 January 2020, the Circular City Funding Guide, a new web-portal to help cities become circular went live. The guide provides information and support on funding and financing of the circular economy in an urban context. 12 new stories, including video case studies, were also uploaded on the EIAH website.

For more information:

European Investment Advisory Hub (EIAH)

As of mid-March 2020, more than 970 projects have been published on the European Investment Project Portal (EIPP) – an online meeting place for project promoters and investors. These cover all major sectors of the EU economy, with total investment proposed amounting to €66 billion. About 70 projects have received private financing since being published on the Portal. Five new short video clips about successful investment projects have been recently published. In the clips, EIPP beneficiaries - from Austria, Denmark, Greece, Italy and Portugal - explain their respective project and share their experience with the support the EU and the EIPP have given.

For more information:

European Investment Project Portal (EIPP)

More than 20 entities have applied for the pillar assessment, which is a preliminary step to become implementing partner under InvestEU. Commission Services organised seminars and initial discussions with potential implementing partners. Consultations with the EIB Group and potential implementing partners on the investment guidelines are progressing and nearing completing. The Commission has set up working groups involving the EIB Group and potential implementing partners on the InvestEU risk methodological framework and on sustainability proofing and climate tracking. These are working on methodological guidance.

The InvestEU Programme is one of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) proposals tabled by the Commission with the aim of boosting private and public investment in the EU and facilitating access to financing. The programme will bring together under one roof investment support programmes in the Union (building on the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the EFSI, and 13 existing financial instruments under the current multiannual financial framework).

The InvestEU Programme consists of the InvestEU fund, which will provide an EU budget guarantee of EUR 38 billion (subject to MFF agreement) with the aim to trigger at least EUR 650 billion in additional investment in four policy areas: sustainable infrastructure; research, innovation and digitisation; small and medium-sized businesses; and social investment and skills. InvestEU will also make an important contribution to the European Green Deal Investment Plan and Just Transition Mechanism. The InvestEU advisory hub will provide technical support and assistance to help with the preparation, development, structuring and implementation of projects, including capacity building. The InvestEU portal will bring together investors and project promoters by providing an easily-accessible and user-friendly website.

The key novelty of the InvestEU Fund is that it is open to implementing partners other than the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group. 25% of the EUR 38 billion EU guarantee will be open to other international financial institutions (such as European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Council of Europe Bank, Nordic Investment Bank) and to national promotional banks and institutions (NPBIs). The aim of this direct involvement of implementing partners other than the EIB Group (the only implementing partner under the EFSI and for most of existing financial instruments) is to enhance geographical and sectoral diversification of projects supported by reaching out to a wider range of local promoters.

For more information:

The InvestEU programme - legal texts and factsheets
Becoming an Implementing Partner in the context of the InvestEU Programme – Pillar assessment