Commission and European Investment Bank launch new advisory service on financial instruments
On 19 January, the European Commission, in partnership with the European Investment Bank (EIB), launched fi-compass, a new advisory service on financial instruments for the European Structural and Investment Funds.
This service is part of the "one stop shop" advisory hub, to be launched as an important part of the EU Investment Plan. The Investment Plan set as target to double the use of financial instruments in 2014-2020; by using them, the return of each euro invested in the Member States will be increased. Fi-compass, set up by the European Commission and the EIB, is intended to better equip and strengthen the expertise of the managing authorities and stakeholders working with these financial instruments.
This new fi-compass platform was launched during a two-day conference attended by European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen i responsible for Jobs, Growth and Competitiveness, Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Creţu i, and EIB Vice-President Wilhelm Molterer. The aim of this high-level conference was to exchange experience and best practice with Member States and regions on the design and use of these instruments.
One of the workshops focussed on "Implementing financial instruments in the EMFF". The aim was to present possible uses of financial instruments in EMFF sectors and to get some feed-back from the Member States on this regard. The target audience was the EMFF Managing Authorities who may consider the implementation of financial instruments.
The conference showed interest from the MS in the use of financial instruments in the current programming period. In the case of the EMFF, the workshop helped identify the needs and support requirements of stakeholders under fi-compass.
Background
Financial instruments include loans, guarantees, equity, venture capital and other risk-bearing instruments, possibly combined with interest rate subsidies or guarantee fee subsidies. They represent a resource-efficient way of using EU budget funds to enable investment in the economy.
ESI Funds regulations for 2014-2020 have widened the scope of financial instruments to include all thematic objectives and all five European Structural and Investment Funds: the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Cohesion Fund (CF), the European Social Fund (ESF), the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).
Commissioners for Regional Policy, Agriculture and Rural Development, Employment, Social Affairs Skills and Labour Mobility, Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, the Vice President of the EIB and Chief Executive Officer of the European Investment Fund have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a partnership for technical assistance and advisory services to support the use of financial instruments under the European Structural and Investment Funds and under the Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI).
The conference marks the first in a series of actions under the MoU, which will be a 7-year commitment between the Commission and the EIB. The fi-compass advisory platform will provide Member States and their Managing Authorities as well as microcredit providers with support and learning opportunities for developing financial instruments.
The fi-compass advisory platform will be complemented later in the year with the launch of a ‘multi-regional assistance’ initiative bringing together managing authorities and financial institutions. This initiative aims to support the potential use of financial instruments in investment priority areas that are shared by regions from at least two different Member States.
Presentations
Implementing Financial Instruments in the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund