Financial instruments under ESI funds

Transcription

1 Regional Financial instruments under ESI funds VÖB/EAPB/Representation of Lower Saxony workshop Brussels, 7 March 2016 Dr Joerg Lackenbauer, DG Regional and Urban European Commission

2 Regional Financial Instruments in Centrally managed by COM (Financial Regulation) Shared Management with MS (Common Provisions Regulation) Research, Development, Innovation Growth, Jobs and Social Cohesion Infrastructure Horizon 2020 Equity and Risk Sharing Instruments Competitiveness & SME (COSME) Equity & guarantees Social Change & Innovation Creative Europe Guarantee Facility Erasmus for all Guarantee Facility Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Risk sharing (e.g. project bonds) and equity instruments Financial instruments under European Structural and Investment Funds Contribution to EU level (central management); e.g. SME Initiative National/regional instruments (shared management) Off-the shelf FIs Tailor made FIs

3 Regional 3

4 Regional Used in the right way and under the right circumstances, financial instruments can be more effective than grants Higher immediate policy impact through leveraged resources (public and private) Sustainability of support due to revolving funds which remain in the programme area Financing provided before investment takes place (different from grants) Better quality of projects (investment must be repaid) Incentives to use FIs as alternative to grants (move away from "grant dependency" culture) 4

5 Financial instruments in and : some figures At the end of 2014, EUR 9.4 billion of Structural Funds from the period were paid to financial instruments for enterprise (mainly SME) support Apart from this, financial instruments were devoted to energy efficiency and urban development Their use is much wider in , but SME support remains a core area for ESIF financial instruments As of now, EUR 10.3 billion are planned to be used for financial instruments for SME support ("TO3") across the EU (but likely to change!), and more than EUR 20 billion across all "TOs" FIs-based support under many other thematic objectives will be spent in and for the benefit of SMEs as well, e.g. for RDI/TO1 (EUR 3.3 billion), EE/TO4 (EUR 3.8 billion) etc. Regional 5

6 What does the framework offer? (1) 1. Wider scope: Use in all types of ESIF programmes (including ETC programmes) Common provisions cover all five Funds: ERDF, ESF, Cohesion Fund, EAFRD and EMFF Expansion to all thematic objectives & priorities!! but FIs should support only investments expected to be financially viable which do not give rise to sufficient funding from market sources; not all projects (investments) can be supported with FIs the activity must be generating income/revenue/cost savings in order to ensure repayment of investment Financial instruments are a delivery mode not an objective; decision to deliver OP/RDP support through FI is with the managing authority (MA) Regional 6

7 What does the framework offer? (2) 2. More implementation options for managing authorities Traditional implementation: MA sets up a FI at national, regional, transnational or cross-border level: Tailor made instruments (cf ) Standardised off-the-shelf instruments, quick roll-out MA can implement loans or guarantees directly (or through intermediate body) without formal set-up of a fund MA can contribute programme allocations to EU level instrument (COSME, Horizon, "SME Initiative") Regional 7

8 What does the framework offer? (3) SME Initiative Objectives: Increase the volume of lending to SMEs in the EU by Pooling resources: European Structural Investment Funds + COSME and Horizon 2020 Combining and fully utilising EIB/EIF and possibly National Promotional Banks' capacities To incentivize banks to extend additional loans to SMEs by providing capital relief Design: Ex-ante assessment carried out (EIB and Commission) SMEI indirectly managed by the Commission; implementation with EIF A single dedicated OP at MS level with voluntary contribution (ERDF EAFRD) Two options proposed: (1) Uncapped Guarantee Instrument; (2) Securitisation instrument Regional 8

9 What does the framework offer? (4) 3. Continuity of principles and concepts of : Reuse of resources paid back National co-financing at different times and levels Combination of grants and FIs 4. Some changes to adapt to market practice and to reinforce flexibility: VAT eligibility Extended eligibility of management costs for some FIs Incentives on national co-financing Regional 9

10 What does the framework offer? (5) 4. Some changes to ensure sound design and implementation of financial instruments: Compulsory ex-ante assessment which must be carried out prior to decision to support financial instruments Payments in relation to FIs phased and subject to implementation on the ground Management costs and fees performance-oriented Comprehensive annual reporting by managing authority on each financial instrument Regional 10

11 FIs: life cycle Regional 11

12 Commission guidance (1) Guidance notes complementary to short guidance covering all issues relevant to MA/fund managers developed systematically designed to be "living" documents (section on Q&A) drafted as a response to concrete questions from Member States Regional 12

13 Commission guidance (2) Finalised guidance Short guide for MA, glossary, working capital, ex-ante assessment Combination of support Payments Management costs and fees Treasury management ESIF-EFSI brochure Forthcoming guidance Selection of bodies implementing FIs Preferential remuneration of private investors Eligibility Implementation options Reporting/leverage Regional 13

14 Financial instruments some figures and the link to the Investment Plan Financial instruments are not new: around 5% of Cohesion allocations were implemented through financial instruments The Investment Plan aims at an overall doubling of the use of financial instruments precisely because of their capacity to leverage additional funds and generate higher impact First preliminary figures indicate that Member States intend to invest more than EUR 20 billion under their new Operational Programmes through financial instruments (loans, guarantees, equity ) Today's figures are necessarily preliminary; more exact info (broken down by TO and regarding the target of doubling) will only be available later on in the implementation process Regional 14

15 ESI Funds contribution to the Investment Plan for Europe 1. Mobilising finance for investment Better use of ESI Funds COMPLEMENTARITY: ESIF / EFSI EUR 20 bn additional investment through FI for SMEs Transport Research Environment JASPERS 2. Making finance reach the real economy Technical Assistance FI-Compass Programme funding for project preparation 3. Improved investment environment Ex-ante Conditionalities

16 EFSI - structure and investment target Total EIB/EIF financing Total investment mobilised 49bn 240bn 12bn 75bn

17 EFSI features EFSI is not a financial instrument (as per CPR or FR) EFSI support takes the form of FI products (no grant support) EFSI has its own governance: Steering Board (3 EC + 1 EIB) and Investment Committee (independent entity granting the EU guarantee) EFSI will offer advice to project promoters through a dedicated advisory hub (EIAH) EFSI has no geographical or sectorial eligibility criteria EFSI, through EIB, will support high risk profile projects or projects bringing additionality

18 ESI Funds features ESI Funds = five funds Delivery through nationally co-financed multi-annual programmes Form of support: grants or financial instruments In : 454bn in 500 programmes Implemented by Member States and their regions under shared management ESI Funds have geographical and sectorial eligibility criteria as stipulated by the programmes

19 ESIF-EFSI complementarities Legal bases of both ESIF and EFSI allow for contributions to support each other's objectives (complementarity element) Their combination is also possible: at project level, financial instrument level and through investment platforms Implementation process has to respect applicable rules (CPR v EFSI Regulation) State aid rules apply on a case-by-case basis Brochure on ESIF-EFSI complementarities presented by VP Katainen and Commissioner Creţu on 22 February (already on INFOREGIO, fi-compass websites, shared with the Member States ) 19

20 Regional Thank you for your attention! 20