Legal provisions of COM(2018)439 - InvestEU Programme

Please note

This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.

dossier COM(2018)439 - InvestEU Programme.
document COM(2018)439 EN
date June  6, 2018


Contents

CHAPTER I - GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1 - Subject matter

This Regulation establishes the InvestEU Fund providing for an EU guarantee for financing and investment operations carried out by the implementing partners in support of the Union’s internal policies.

This Regulation also establishes an advisory support mechanism to support the development of investable projects and access to financing and to provide related capacity building (‘InvestEU Advisory Hub’). It also establishes a database granting visibility to projects for which project promoters seek financing and which provides investors with information about investment opportunities (‘InvestEU Portal’).

It lays down the objectives of the InvestEU Programme, the budget and the amount of the EU guarantee for the period 2021 to 2027, the forms of Union funding and the rules for providing such funding.

Article 2 - Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(1)'blending operations' means operations supported by the Union budget combining non-repayable forms of support or repayable support or both from the Union budget with repayable forms of support from development or other public finance institutions, as well as from commercial finance institutions and investors; for the purposes of this definition, Union programmes financed from sources other than the Union budget, such as the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) Innovation Fund, can be assimilated to Union programmes financed by the Union budget;

(2)'EU guarantee' means an overall guarantee provided by the Union budget under which the budgetary guarantees in accordance with [Article 219(1) of the [Financial Regulation] take effect through the signature of individual guarantee agreements with implementing partners;

(3)'financial product' means a financial mechanism or arrangement agreed between the Commission and the implementing partner under the terms of which the implementing partner provides direct or intermediated financing to final recipients in in any of the forms referred to in Article 13;

(0)'financing and/or investment operations' means operations to provide finance directly or indirectly to final recipients in the form of financial products, carried out by an implementing partner in its own name, provided by it in accordance with its internal rules and accounted for in its own financial statements;

(1)'Funds under shared management' means funds that foresee the possibility of allocating an amount thereof to the provisioning of a budgetary guarantee under the Member State compartment of the InvestEU Fund, namely the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund+ (ESF+), the Cohesion Fund, the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) and the European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD);

(2)'guarantee agreement' means the legal instrument whereby the Commission and an implementing partner specify the conditions for proposing financing or investment operations to be granted the benefit of the EU guarantee, for providing the budgetary guarantee for those operations and for implementing them in accordance with the provisions of this Regulation;

(3)'implementing partner' means the eligible counterpart such as a financial institution or other intermediary with whom the Commission signs a guarantee agreement and/or an agreement to implement the InvestEU Advisory Hub;

(4)'InvestEU Advisory Hub' means the technical assistance defined in Article 20;

(5)'InvestEU Portal' means the database defined in Article 21;

(6)'InvestEU Programme' means the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub, the InvestEU Portal and blending operations, collectively;

(7)'microfinance' means microfinance as defined in Regulation [[ESF+] number];

(8)'midcap companies' means entities employing up to 3 000 employees that are not SMEs or small midcap companies;

(9)'national promotional banks or institutions' means legal entities carrying out financial activities on a professional basis which are given mandate by a Member State or a Member State's entity at central, regional or local level, to carry out development or promotional activities;

(10)'small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)' means micro, small and mediumsized enterprises as defined in the Annex to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC 27 ;

(11)'small midcap companies' means entities employing up to 499 employees that are not SMEs;

(12)'social enterprise' means a social enterprise as defined in Regulation [[ESF+] number];

(13)'third country' means a country that is not a member of the Union.

Article 3 - Objectives of the InvestEU Programme

1. The general objective of the InvestEU Programme is to support the policy objectives of the Union by means of financing and investment operations contributing to:

(a)the competitiveness of the Union, including innovation and digitisation;

(b)the sustainability of the Union economy and its growth;

(c)the social resilience and inclusiveness of the Union;

(d)the integration of the Union capital markets and the strengthening of the Single Market, including solutions addressing the fragmentation of the Union capital markets, diversifying sources of financing for Union enterprises and promoting sustainable finance.

2. The InvestEU Programme has the following specific objectives:

(a)to support financing and investment operations in sustainable infrastructure in the areas referred to in point (a) of Article 7(1);

(b)to support financing and investment operations in research, innovation and digitisation;

(c)to increase the access to and the availability of finance for SMEs and, in duly justified cases, for small mid-cap companies;

(d)to increase the access to and the availability of microfinance and finance to social enterprises, support financing and investment operations related to social investment and skills and develop and consolidate social investment markets, in the areas referred to in point (d) of Article 7(1).

Article 4 - Budget and amount of the EU guarantee

1. The EU guarantee for the purposes of the EU compartment referred to in point (a) of Article 8(1) shall be EUR 38 000 000 000 (current prices). It shall be provisioned at the rate of 40 %.

An additional amount of the EU guarantee may be provided for the purposes of the Member State compartment referred to in point (b) of Article 8(1), subject to the allocation by Member States, pursuant to [Article 10(1)] of Regulation [[CPR] number] 28 and Article [75(1)] of Regulation [[CAP plan] number] 29 , of the corresponding amounts.

The contributions from third countries referred to in Article 5 shall also increase the EU guarantee referred to in the first subparagraph, providing a provisioning in cash in full in accordance with [Article 218(2] of the [Financial Regulation].

2. The indicative distribution of the amount referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 is set out in Annex I to this Regulation. The Commission may modify the amounts referred to in that Annex I, where appropriate, by up to 15 % for each objective. It shall inform the European Parliament and the Council of any modification.

3. The financial envelope for the implementation of the measures provided in Chapters V and VI shall be EUR 525 000 000 (current prices).

4. The amount referred to in paragraph 3 may also be used for technical and administrative assistance for the implementation of the InvestEU Programme, such as preparatory, monitoring, control, audit and evaluation activities including corporate information technology systems.

Article 5 - Third countries associated to the InvestEU Fund

The EU compartment of the InvestEU Fund referred to in point (a) of Article 8(1) and each of the policy windows referred to in Article 7(1) may receive contributions from the following third countries in order to participate in certain financial products pursuant to [Article 218(2)] of the [Financial Regulation]:

(1)European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members which are members of the European Economic Area (EEA), in accordance with the conditions laid down in the EEA agreement;

(2)acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidates, in accordance with the general principles and general terms and conditions for their participation in Union programmes established in the respective framework agreements and Association Council decisions, or similar agreements, and in accordance with the specific conditions laid down in agreements between the Union and them;

(3)countries covered by the European Neighbourhood Policy, in accordance with the general principles and general terms and conditions for the participation of those countries in Union programmes established in the respective framework agreements and association council decisions, or similar agreements, and in accordance with the specific conditions laid down in agreements between the Union and those countries;

(4)third countries, in accordance with the conditions laid down in a specific agreement covering the participation of the third country to any Union programme, provided that the agreement:

(5)ensures a fair balance as regards the contributions and benefits of the third country participating in the Union programmes;

(6)lays down the conditions of participation in the programmes, including the calculation of financial contributions to individual programmes and their administrative costs. These contributions shall constitute assigned revenues in accordance with Article [21(5)] of the [Financial Regulation];

(7)does not confer to the third country a decisional power on the programme;

(8)guarantees the rights of the Union to ensure sound financial management and to protect its financial interests.

Article 6 - Implementation and forms of Union funding

1. The EU guarantee shall be implemented in indirect management with bodies referred to in [Article 62(1)(c)(ii) to (vii)] of the [Financial Regulation]. Other forms of EU funding under this Regulation shall be implemented in direct or indirect management in accordance with the [Financial Regulation], including grants implemented in accordance with its [Title VIII].

2. Financing and investment operations covered by the EU guarantee which form part of the blending operation combining support under this Regulation with support provided under one or more other Union programmes or by the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) Innovation Fund shall:

(a)    be consistent with the policy objectives and comply with the eligibility criteria set out in the rule on the Union programme under which the support is decided;

(b)    comply with this Regulation. 

3. Blending operations including a financial instrument fully financed by other Union programmes or by the ETS Innovation Fund without use of the EU guarantee under this Regulation shall comply with the policy objectives and eligibility criteria set out in the rules of the Union programme under which the support is provided.

4. In accordance with Article 6(2), the non-repayable forms of support and/or financial instruments from the Union budget forming part of the blending operation referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 shall be decided under the rules of the relevant Union programme and shall be implemented within the blending operation in accordance with this Regulation and with [Title X] of the [Financial Regulation].

   The reporting shall also include the elements on the consistency with the policy objectives and eligibility criteria set out in the rules of the Union programme under which support is decided as well on the compliance with this Regulation.

CHAPTER II - InvestEU Fund

Article 7 - Policy windows

1. The InvestEU Fund shall operate through the following four policy windows that shall address market failures or sub-optimal investment situations within their specific scope:

(a)    sustainable infrastructure policy window: comprises sustainable investment in the areas of transport, energy, digital connectivity, supply and processing of raw materials, space, oceans and water, waste, nature and other environment infrastructure, equipment, mobile assets and deployment of innovative technologies that contribute to the environmental or social sustainability objectives of the Union, or to both, or meet the environmental or social sustainability standards of the Union;

(b)    research, innovation and digitisation policy window: comprises research and innovation activities, transfer of research results to the market, demonstration and deployment of innovative solutions and support to scaling up of innovative companies other than SMEs as well as digitisation of Union industry;

(c)    SMEs policy window: access to and availability of finance for SMEs and, in duly justified cases, for small mid-cap companies;

(d)    social investment and skills policy window: comprises microfinance, social enterprise finance and social economy; skills, education, training and related services; social infrastructure (including social and student housing); social innovation; health and long-term care; inclusion and accessibility; cultural activities with a social goal; integration of vulnerable people, including third country nationals.

2. Where a financing or investment operation proposed to the Investment Committee referred to in Article 19 falls under more than one policy window, it shall be attributed to the window under which its main objective or the main objective of most of its sub-projects fall, unless the investment guidelines define otherwise.

3. Financing and investment operations under the sustainable infrastructure policy window referred to in point (a) of paragraph (1) shall be subject to climate, environmental and social sustainability proofing with a view to minimise detrimental impacts and maximise benefits on climate, environment and social dimension. For that purpose, promoters requesting financing shall provide adequate information based on guidance to be developed by the Commission. Projects below a certain size defined in the guidance shall be excluded from the proofing.

   The Commission guidance shall allow to:

a) as regards adaptation, ensure the resilience to the potential adverse impacts of climate change through a climate vulnerability and risk assessment, including relevant adaptation measures, and, as regards mitigation, integrate the cost of greenhouse gas emissions and the positive effects of climate mitigation measures in the cost-benefit analysis;

b) account for consolidated project impact in terms of the principal components of the natural capital relating to air, water, land and biodiversity;

c) estimate the impact on the social inclusion of certain areas or populations.

4. Implementing partners shall provide the information necessary to allow the tracking of investment that contributes to meeting the Union objectives on climate and environment, based on guidance to be provided by the Commission.

5. Implementing partners shall target that at least 50 % of the investment under the sustainable infrastructure policy window contribute to meeting the Union objectives on climate and environment.

6. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 26 to define the investment guidelines for each of the policy windows.

Article 8 - Compartments

1. Each policy window referred to in Article 7(1) shall consist of two compartments addressing specific market failures or sub-optimal investment situations as follows:

(9)the EU compartment shall address any of the following situations:

(i)    market failures or sub-optimal investment situations related to Union policy priorities and addressed at the Union level;

(ii)    Union wide market failures or sub-optimal investment situations; or

(iii)    new or complex market failures or sub-optimal investment situations with a view to developing new financial solutions and market structures;

(10)the Member State compartment shall address specific market failures or sub-optimal investment situations in one or several Member States to deliver objectives of the contributing Funds under shared management.

2. The compartments referred to in paragraph 1 may be used in a complementary manner to support a financing or investment operation, including by combining support from both compartments.

Article 9 - Specific provisions applicable to the Member State compartment

1. Amounts allocated by a Member State under Article [10(1)] of Regulation [[CPR] number] or Article [75(1)] of Regulation [[CAP plan] number] shall be used for the provisioning of the part of the EU guarantee under the Member State compartment covering financing and investment operations in the Member State concerned.

2. The establishment of that part of the EU guarantee under the Member State compartment shall be subject to the conclusion of a contribution agreement between the Member State and the Commission.

The Member State and the Commission shall conclude the contribution agreement or an amendment to it within four months following the Commission Decision adopting the Partnership Agreement or the CAP plan or simultaneously to the Commission Decision amending a programme or a CAP plan.

Two or more Member States may conclude a joint contribution agreement with the Commission.

By derogation from [Article 211(1)] of the [Financial Regulation], the provisioning rate of the EU guarantee under the Member State compartment shall be set at 40 % and maybe adjusted downwards or upwards in each contribution agreement to take account of the risks attached to the financial products intended to be used.

3. The contribution agreement shall at least contain the following elements:

a) the overall amount of the part of the EU guarantee under the Member State compartment pertaining to the Member State, its provisioning rate, the amount of the contribution from Funds under shared management, the constitution phase of the provisioning in accordance with an annual financial plan and the amount of the resulting contingent liability to be covered by a back-to-back guarantee provided by the Member State concerned;

b) the strategy consisting of the financial products and their minimum leverage, the geographical coverage, the investment period and, where applicable, the categories of final recipients and of eligible intermediaries;

c) the implementing partner or partners which have expressed their interest and the obligation of the Commission to inform the Member State about the implementing partner or partners selected;

d) the possible contribution from Funds under shared management to the InvestEU Advisory Hub;

e) the annual reporting obligations towards the Member State, including reporting in accordance with the indicators referred to in the contribution agreement;

f) provisions on the remuneration of the part of the EU guarantee under the Member State compartment;

g) possible combination with resources under the EU compartment, including in a layered structure to achieve better risk coverage in accordance with Article 8(2).

4. The contribution agreements shall be implemented by the Commission through guarantee agreements signed with implementing partners pursuant to Article 14.

Where, within nine months from the signature of the contribution agreement, no guarantee agreement has been concluded or the amount of a contribution agreement is not fully committed through one or more guarantee agreements, the contribution agreement shall be terminated in the first case or amended accordingly in the second case and the unused amount of provisioning re-used pursuant to [Article 10(5)] of Regulation [[CPR] number] and Article [75(5)] of Regulation [[CAP plan] number].

Where the guarantee agreement has not been duly implemented within a period specified in Article [10(6)] of Regulation [[CPR] number] or in Article [75(6)] of Regulation [[CAP plan] number], the contribution agreement shall be amended and the unused amount of provisioning re-used pursuant to [Article 10(6)] of the [[CPR] number] and Article [75(6)] of Regulation [[CAP plan]] number].

5. The following rules shall apply to the provisioning for the part of the EU guarantee under the Member State compartment established by a contribution agreement:

(a)after the constitution phase referred to in point (a) of paragraph 3 of this Article, any annual surplus of provisions, calculated by comparing the amount of provisions required by the provisioning rate and the actual provisions, shall be re-used pursuant to [Article 10(6)] of the [CPR] and to Article [75(6)] of the [[CAP plan] number];

(b)by derogation from [Article 213(4)] of the [Financial Regulation], after the constitution phase referred to in point (a) of paragraph 3 of this Article, the provisioning shall not give rise during the availability of that part of the EU guarantee under the Member State compartment to annual replenishments;

(c)the Commission shall immediately inform the Member State where, as a result of calls on that part of the EU guarantee under the Member State compartment, the level of provisions for that part of the EU guarantee falls below 20 % of the initial provisioning;

(d)if the level of provisions for that part of the EU guarantee under the Member State compartment reaches 10 % of the initial provisioning, the Member State concerned shall provide to the common provisioning fund up to 5 % of the initial provisioning upon request by the Commission.

CHAPTER III - EU guarantee

Article 10 - EU guarantee

1. The EU guarantee shall be granted to the implementing partners in accordance with [Article 219(1)] of the [Financial Regulation] and managed in accordance with [Title X] of the [Financial Regulation].

2. Support of the EU guarantee may be granted for financing and investment operations covered by this Regulation for an investment period ending on 31 December 2027. Contracts between the implementing partner and the final recipient or the financial intermediary or other entity referred to in Article 13(1)(a) shall be signed by 31 December 2028.

Article 11 - Eligible financing and investment operations

1. The InvestEU Fund shall only support financing and investment operations that

(a)comply with the conditions set out in [points (a) to (e) of Article 209(2)] of [the Financial Regulation], in particular with the additionality requirement set out in [point (b) of Article 209(2)] of [the Financial Regulation] and, where appropriate, maximising private investment in accordance with [point (d) of Article 209(2)] of the [Financial Regulation];

(b)contribute to the Union policy objectives and fall under the scope of the areas eligible for financing and investment operations under the appropriate window in accordance with Annex II to this Regulation; and

(c)are consistent with the investment guidelines.

2. In addition to projects situated in the Union, the InvestEU Fund may support the following projects and operations through financing and investment operations:

(a)cross-border projects between entities located or established in one or more Member States and extending to one or more third countries, including acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidates, countries covered by the European Neighbourhood Policy, the European Economic Area or the European Free Trade Association, or to an overseas country or territory as set out in Annex II to the TFEU, or to an associated third country, whether or not there is a partner in those third countries or overseas countries or territories;

(b)financing and investment operations in countries referred to in Article 5 which have contributed to a specific financial product.

3. The InvestEU Fund may support financing and investment operations providing finance to recipients which are legal entities established in any of the following countries:

(a)a Member State or an overseas country or territory linked to it;

(b)a third country or territory associated to the InvestEU Programme in accordance with Article 5;

(c)a third country referred to in point (a) of paragraph 2, where applicable;

(d)other countries where needed for financing a project in a country or territory referred to in points (a) to (c).

Article 12 - Selection of implementing partners

1. The Commission shall select, in accordance with [Article 154] of the [Financial Regulation], the implementing partners or a group of them, as referred to in the second subparagraph of this paragraph, from among eligible counterparts.

For the EU compartment, the eligible counterparts shall have expressed their interest and shall be able to cover financing and investment operations in at least three Member States. The implementing partners may also cover together financing and investment operations in at least three Member States by forming a group.

For the Member State compartment, the Member State concerned may propose one or more eligible counterparts as implementing partners from among those that have expressed their interest pursuant to Article 9(3)(c).

Where the Member State concerned does not propose an implementing partner, the Commission shall proceed in accordance with the second subparagraph of this paragraph among those implementing partners that can cover financing and investment operations in the geographical areas concerned.

2. When selecting implementing partners, the Commission shall ensure that the portfolio of financial products under the InvestEU Fund:

(a)maximises the coverage of the objectives laid down in Article 3;

(b)maximises the impact of the EU guarantee through the own resources committed by the implementing partner;

(c)maximises, where appropriate, private investment;

(d)achieves geographical diversification;

(e)provides sufficient risk diversification;

(f)promotes innovating financial and risk solutions to address market failures and sub-optimal investment situations.

3. When selecting the implementing partners, the Commission shall also take into account:

(a)the possible cost and remuneration to the Union budget;

(b)the capacity of the implementing partner to implement thoroughly the requirements of [Article 155(2)] of the [Financial Regulation] related to tax avoidance, tax fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, terrorism financing and non-cooperative jurisdictions.

4. National promotional banks or institutions may be selected as implementing partners, subject to fulfilling the requirements laid down in this Article and in the second subparagraph of Article 14(1).

Article 13 - Eligible types of financing

1. The EU guarantee may be used towards risk coverage for the following types of financing provided by the implementing partners:

(a)loans, guarantees, counter-guarantees, capital market instruments, any other form of funding or credit enhancement, including subordinated debt, or equity or quasi-equity participations, provided directly or indirectly through financial intermediaries, funds, investment platforms or other vehicles to be channelled to final recipients;

(b)funding or guarantees by an implementing partner to another financial institution enabling the latter to undertake financing activities referred to in point (a).

In order to be covered by the EU guarantee, the financing referred to in points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall be granted, acquired or issued for the benefit of financing or investment operations referred to in Article 11(1), where the financing by the implementing partner has been granted in accordance with a financing agreement or transaction signed or entered into by the implementing partner after the signature of the guarantee agreement between the Commission and the implementing partner and which has not expired or been cancelled.

2. Financing and investment operations through funds or other intermediate structures shall be covered by the EU guarantee in accordance with provisions to be laid down in the investment guidelines even if such structure invests a minority of its invested amounts outside the Union and in the countries referred to Article 11(2) or into assets other than those eligible under this Regulation.

Article 14 - Guarantee agreements

1. The Commission shall conclude a guarantee agreement with each implementing partner on the granting of the EU guarantee in accordance with the requirements of this Regulation up to an amount to be determined by the Commission.

In case implementing partners form a group referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 12(1), a single guarantee agreement shall be concluded between the Commission and each implementing partner within the group or with one implementing partner on behalf of the group.

2. The guarantee agreements shall contain, in particular, provisions concerning:

(a)the amount and the terms of the financial contribution which is to be provided by the implementing partner;

(b)the terms of the funding or the guarantees which are to be provided by the implementing partner to another legal entity participating in the implementation, whenever that is the case;

(c)in accordance with Article 16, detailed rules on the provision of the EU guarantee, including coverage of portfolios of specific types of instruments and the respective events triggering possible calls on the EU guarantee;

(d)the remuneration for risk-taking that is to be allocated in proportion to the respective share in the risk-taking of the Union and the implementing partner;

(e)the payment conditions;

(f)the commitment of the implementing partner to accept the decisions by the Commission and the Investment Committee as regards the use of the EU guarantee for the benefit of a proposed financing or investment operation, without prejudice to the decision-making of the implementing partner on the proposed operation without the EU guarantee;

(g)provisions and procedures relating to the recovery of claims that is to be entrusted to the implementing partner;

(h)financial and operational reporting and monitoring of the operations under the EU guarantee;

(i)key performance indicators, in particular as regards the use of the EU guarantee, the fulfilment of the objectives and criteria laid down in Articles 3, 7 and 11 as well as the mobilisation of private capital;

(j)where applicable, provisions and procedures relating to blending operations;

(k)other relevant provisions in compliance with the requirements of [Title X] of the [Financial Regulation].

3. A guarantee agreement shall also provide that remuneration attributable to the Union from financing and investment operations covered by this Regulation is to be provided after the deduction of payments due upon calls on the EU guarantee.

4. In addition, a guarantee agreement shall provide that any amount due to the implementing partner related to the EU guarantee shall be deducted from the overall amount of remuneration, revenues and repayments due by the implementing partner to the Union from financing and investment operations covered by this Regulation. Where this amount is not sufficient to cover the amount due to an implementing partner in accordance with Article 15(3), the outstanding amount shall be drawn from the provisioning of the EU guarantee.

5. Where the guarantee agreement is concluded under the Member State compartment, it may provide for the participation of representatives from the Member State or the regions concerned in the monitoring of the implementation of the guarantee agreement.

Article 15

Requirements for the use of the EU guarantee


1. The granting of the EU guarantee shall be subject to the entry into force of the guarantee agreement with the relevant implementing partner.

2. Financing and investment operations shall be covered by the EU guarantee only where they fulfil the criteria laid down in this Regulation and in the relevant investment guidelines and where the Investment Committee has concluded that they fulfil the requirements for benefiting from the support of the EU guarantee. The implementing partners shall remain responsible for ensuring the compliance of the financing and investment operations with this Regulation and the relevant investment guidelines.

3. No administrative expenditure or fees related to the implementation of financing and investment operations under the EU guarantee shall be due to the implementing partner by the Commission, unless the nature of the policy objectives targeted by the financial product to be implemented allows the implementing partner to demonstrate the need for an exception. Coverage of such costs shall be laid down in the guarantee agreement and shall comply with [Article 209(2)(g)] of the [Financial Regulation].

4. In addition, the implementing partner may use the EU guarantee to meet the relevant share of any recovery costs, unless deducted from recovery proceeds, in accordance with Article 14(4).

Article 16

Coverage and terms of the EU guarantee


1. The remuneration for risk-taking shall be allocated between the Union and an implementing partner in proportion to their respective share in the risk-taking of a portfolio of financing and investment operations or, where relevant, of individual operations. The implementing partner shall have an appropriate exposure at its own risk to financing and investment operations supported by the EU guarantee, unless exceptionally the policy objectives targeted by the financial product to be implemented are of such nature that the implementing partner could not reasonably contribute its own risk-bearing capacity to it.

2. The EU guarantee shall cover:

(a)for debt products referred to in Article 13(1)(a):

(i)    the principal and all interest and amounts due to the implementing partner but not received by it in accordance with the terms of the financing operations until the event of default; for subordinated debt a deferral, reduction or required exit shall be considered to be an event of default;

(ii)    restructuring losses;

(iii)    losses arising from fluctuations of currencies other than the euro in markets where possibilities for long-term hedging are limited;

(b)for equity or quasi-equity investments referred to in Article 13(1)(a), the amounts invested and their associated funding cost and losses arising from fluctuations of currencies other than the euro;

(c)for funding or guarantees by an implementing partner to another legal entity referred to in Article 13(1)(b), the amounts used and their associated funding costs.

3. Where the Union makes a payment to the implementing partner upon a call on the EU guarantee, it shall be subrogated into the relevant rights, to the extent they continue to exist, of the implementing partner relating to any of its financing or investment operations covered by the EU guarantee.

The implementing partner shall, on behalf of the Union, pursue the recovery of claims for the amounts subrogated and reimburse the Union from the sums recovered.

CHAPTER IV - GOVERNANCE

Article 17 - Advisory Board

1. The Commission shall be advised by an advisory board which shall have two configurations, namely representatives of implementing partners and representatives of Member States.

2. Each implementing partner and each Member State may nominate one representative to the configuration concerned.

3. The Commission shall be represented within both configurations of the advisory board.

4. The advisory board meeting of the representatives of the implementing partners shall be co-chaired by a representative of the Commission and the representative nominated by the European Investment Bank.

A representative of the Commission shall be the Chairperson of the advisory board meeting of the representatives of the Member States.

The advisory board shall meet regularly and at least twice a year at the request of the Chairperson. Joint meetings of the two configurations of the advisory board may also be organised at a joint request by their Chairpersons.

The Commission shall establish the operating rules and procedures and manage the secretariat of the advisory board.

5. The advisory board shall

(a)in its configuration of the representatives of the implementing partners:

(i)    provide advice on the design of financial products to be implemented under this Regulation;

(ii)    provide advice to the Commission about market failures and sub-optimal investment situations and market conditions;

(b)in its configuration of the representatives of Member States:

(i)    inform Members States about implementation of the InvestEU Fund;

(ii)    exchange views with Member States on market developments and share best practices.

Article 18 - Project team

1. A project team consisting of experts, put at the disposal of the Commission by the implementing partners free of charge for the Union budget, shall be established.

2. Each implementing partner shall assign experts to the project team. The number of the experts shall be established in the guarantee agreement.

3. The Commission shall confirm whether the proposed financing and investment operations by the implementing partners comply with Union law and policies.

4. Subject to the confirmation by the Commission referred to in paragraph 3, the project team shall perform a quality control of the due diligence of the proposed financing and investment operations carried out by the implementing partners. Financing and investment operations shall be then submitted to the Investment Committee for approval of the coverage by the EU guarantee.

The project team shall prepare the scoreboard on the proposed financing and investment operations for the Investment Committee.

The scoreboard shall, in particular, contain an assessment of:

(a)the risk profile of the proposed financing and investment operations;

(b)the benefit for final recipients;

(c)the respect of the eligibility criteria.

Each implementing partner shall provide adequate and harmonised information to the project team in order for it to be able to carry out its risk analysis and prepare the scoreboard.

5. A project team expert shall not assess the due diligence or appraisal relating to a potential financing or investment operation submitted by the implementing partner that has put the expert at the disposal of the Commission. That expert shall also not prepare the scoreboard in relation to those proposals.

6. Each project team expert shall declare to the Commission any conflict of interest and shall communicate without delay to the Commission all information needed to check on an ongoing basis the absence of any conflict of interest.

7. The Commission shall lay down detailed rules for the functioning of the project team and for the verification of conflict of interest situations.

8. The Commission shall lay down detailed rules for the scoreboard to enable the Investment Committee to approve the use of the EU guarantee for a proposed financing or investment operation.

Article 19 - Investment Committee

1. An Investment Committee shall be established. It shall

(a)examine the proposals for financing and investment operations submitted by implementing partners for coverage under the EU guarantee;

(b)verify their compliance with this Regulation and the relevant investment guidelines, giving particular attention to the additionality requirement referred to in [Article 209(2)(b)] of the [Financial Regulation] and to the requirement to crowd in private investment referred to in [Article 209(2)(d)] of the [Financial Regulation]; and

(c)check whether the financing and investment operations that would benefit from the support of the EU guarantee comply with all the relevant requirements.

2. The Investment Committee shall meet in four different configurations, corresponding to the policy windows referred to in Article 7 (1).

Each configuration of the Investment Committee shall be composed of six remunerated external experts. The experts shall be selected in accordance with [Article 237] of the [Financial Regulation] and be appointed by the Commission for a fixed term of up to four years. Their term shall be renewable but shall not exceed seven years in total. The Commission may decide to renew the term of office of an incumbent member of the Investment Committee without availing itself of the procedure laid down in this paragraph.

The experts shall have a high level of relevant market experience in project structuring and financing or financing of SMEs or corporates.

The composition of the Investment Committee shall ensure that it has a wide knowledge of the sectors covered by the policy windows referred to in Article 7(1) and of the geographic markets in the Union and that it is gender-balanced as a whole.

Four members shall be permanent members of all four configurations of the Investment Committee. In addition, the four configurations shall each have two experts with experience in investment in sectors covered by that policy window. At least one of the permanent members shall have expertise in sustainable investment. The Commission shall assign the Investment Committee members to its appropriate configuration or configurations. The Investment Committee shall elect a chairperson from among its permanent members.

The Commission shall adopt the rules of procedure and manage the secretariat for the Investment Committee.

3. When participating in the activities of the Investment Committee, its members shall perform their duties impartially and in the sole interest of the InvestEU Fund. They shall not seek or take instructions from the implementing partners, the institutions of the Union, the Member States, or any other public or private body.

CVs and declarations of interest of each member of the Investment Committee shall be made public and constantly updated. Each member of the Investment Committee shall communicate without delay to the Commission all information needed to check on an ongoing basis the absence of any conflict of interest.

The Commission may remove a member from his or her functions if he or she does not respect the requirements laid down in this paragraph or for other duly justified reasons.

4. When acting in accordance with this Article, the Investment Committee shall be supported by the documentation provided by the implementing partners and any other document the Investment Committee considers relevant. Any project assessment conducted by an implementing partner shall not be binding on the Investment Committee for the purposes of a financing or investment operation benefiting from the coverage by the EU guarantee.

The Investment Committee shall use in its assessment and verification of the proposals a scoreboard of indicators referred to in Article 18(3).

5. Conclusions of the Investment Committee shall be adopted by simple majority of all members. In case of a draw, the chair of the Investment Committee has the casting vote.

Conclusions of the Investment Committee approving the support of the EU guarantee to a financing or investment operation shall be publicly accessible and shall include the rationale for the approval. The publication shall not contain commercially sensitive information.

The scoreboard shall be publicly available after the signature of a financing or investment operation or sub-project, if applicable. The publication shall not contain commercially sensitive information or personal data not to be disclosed under the Union data protection rules.

Twice a year, the conclusions of the Investment Committee rejecting the use of the EU guarantee shall be transmitted to the European Parliament and to the Council, subject to strict confidentiality requirements.

6. Where the Investment Committee is requested to approve the use of the EU guarantee for a financing or investment operation that is a facility, programme or structure which has underlying sub-projects, that approval shall comprise the underlying sub-projects, unless the Investment Committee decides to retain the right to approve them separately.

CHAPTER V - InvestEU Advisory Hub


Article 20

InvestEU Advisory Hub


1. The InvestEU Advisory Hub shall provide advisory support for the identification, preparation, development, structuring, procuring and implementation of investment projects, or enhance the capacity of promoters and financial intermediaries to implement financing and investment operations. Its support may cover any stage of the life-cycle of a project or financing of a supported entity, as appropriate.

The InvestEU Advisory Hub shall be available as a component under each policy window referred to in Article 7(1) covering all the sectors under that window. In addition, cross-sectoral advisory services shall be available.

2. The InvestEU Advisory Hub shall in particular provide the following services:

(a)providing a single point of entry for project development assistance for authorities and project promoters for centrally managed Union programmes;

(b)assisting project promoters, where appropriate, in developing their projects to fulfil the objectives and eligibility criteria set out in Articles 3, 7 and 11 and facilitating development of aggregators for small-scale projects; however, such assistance does not prejudge the conclusions of the Investment Committee on the coverage of the support of the EU guarantee to such projects;

(c)supporting actions and leveraging local knowledge to facilitate the use of the InvestEU Fund support across the Union and contributing actively where possible to the objective of sectorial and geographical diversification of the InvestEU Fund by supporting the implementing partners in originating and developing potential financing and investment operations;

(d)facilitating the establishment of collaborative platforms for peer-to-peer exchange and sharing of data, knowhow and best practices to support project pipeline and sector development;

(e)providing proactive advisory support on the establishment of investment platforms, in particular cross-border investment platforms involving several Member States;

(f)supporting actions for capacity building to develop organisational capacities, skills and processes and accelerate investment readiness of organisations in order for promoters and authorities to build investment project pipelines and to manage projects and for financial intermediaries to implement financing and investment operations for the benefit of entities that face difficulties in obtaining access to finance, including through support to develop risk assessment capacity or sector specific knowledge.

3. The InvestEU Advisory Hub shall be available for public and private project promoters and to financial and other intermediaries.

4. Fees may be charged for the services referred to in paragraph 2 to cover part of the costs for providing those services.

5. In order to achieve the objective referred to in paragraph 1 and to facilitate the provision of advisory support, the InvestEU Advisory Hub shall build upon the expertise of the Commission and the implementing partners.

6. The InvestEU Advisory Hub shall have local presence, where necessary. It shall be established in particular in Member States or regions that face difficulties in developing projects under the InvestEU Fund. The InvestEU Advisory Hub shall assist in the transfer of knowledge to the regional and local level with a view to building up regional and local capacity and expertise for support referred to in paragraph 1.

7. The implementing partners shall propose to project promoters applying for financing, including in particular smaller-sized projects, to refer their projects to request the InvestEU Advisory Hub support in order to enhance, where appropriate, the preparation of their projects and to allow for the assessment of the possibility of bundling projects.

The implementing partners shall also inform promoters, where relevant, of the possibility of listing their projects on the InvestEU Portal referred to in Article 21.

CHAPTER V - I


Article 21

InvestEU Portal


1. The InvestEU Portal shall be established by the Commission. It shall be an easily accessible and user-friendly project database, providing relevant information for each project.

2. The InvestEU Portal shall provide a channel for project promoters to bring their projects for which they are seeking finance visible and thus provide information on them to investors. The inclusion of projects in the InvestEU Portal shall be without prejudice to the decisions on the final projects selected for support under this Regulation, under any other instrument of the Union, or for public funding.

3. Only projects that are compatible with Union law and policies shall be listed on the Portal.

4. Projects meeting the conditions set out in paragraph 3 shall be transmitted by the Commission to the relevant implementing partners.

5. Implementing partners shall examine projects falling within their geographic and activity scope.

CHAPTER VII - monitoring and reporting, evaluation and control

Article 22 - Monitoring and reporting

1. Indicators to report on progress of the InvestEU Programme implementation towards the achievement of the general and specific objectives set out in Article 3 are set in Annex III to this Regulation.

2. To ensure effective assessment of progress of the InvestEU Programme towards the achievement of its objectives, the Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 26 to amend Annex III to this Regulation to review or complement the indicators where considered necessary and to supplement this Regulation with provisions on the establishment of a monitoring and evaluation framework.

3. The performance reporting system shall ensure that data for monitoring implementation and results are collected efficiently, effectively and in a timely manner. To that end, proportionate reporting requirements shall be imposed on implementing partners and other recipients of Union funds, as appropriate.

4. The Commission shall report on the implementation of InvestEU Programme in accordance with [Articles 241 and 250] of the [Financial Regulation]. For that purpose, the implementing partners shall provide annually the information necessary to allow the Commission to comply with its reporting obligations.

5. In addition, each implementing partner shall submit every six months a report to the Commission on the financing and investment operations covered by this Regulation, broken down by the EU compartment and the Member State compartment by Member State, as appropriate. The report shall include an assessment of compliance with the requirements on the use of the EU guarantee and with the key performance indicators laid down in Annex III to this Regulation. The report shall also include operational, statistical, financial and accounting data on each financing and investment operation and at the compartment, policy window and the InvestEU Fund level. One of those reports shall contain the information the implementing partners shall provide in accordance with [Article 155(1)(a)] of the [Financial Regulation].

Article 23

Evaluation


1. Evaluations shall be done in a timely manner to feed into the decision-making process.

2. By 30 September 2025, the Commission shall carry out an interim evaluation on the InvestEU Programme, in particular on the use of the EU guarantee.

3. At the end of the implementation of the InvestEU Programme, but no later than four years after the end of the period specified in Article 1, the Commission shall carry out a final evaluation of the InvestEU Programme, in particular on the use of the EU guarantee.

4. The Commission shall communicate the conclusions of the evaluations, accompanied by its observations, to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of Regions.

5. The implementing partners shall contribute to and provide the Commission with the information necessary to perform the evaluations referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2.

6. In accordance with [Article 211(1)] of the [Financial Regulation], the Commission shall every three years include in the annual report referred to in [Article 250] of the [Financial Regulation] a review of the adequacy of the provisioning rate laid down in Article 4(1) of this Regulation against the actual risk profile of the financing and investment operations covered by the EU guarantee. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 26 in order to adjust, on the basis of that review, the provisioning rate laid down in Article 4(1) of this Regulation by up to 15%.

Article 24

Audits


Audits on the use of the Union funding carried out by persons or entities, including by others than those mandated by the Union institutions or bodies, shall form the basis of the overall assurance pursuant to [Article 127] of the [Financial Regulation].

Article 25 - Protection of the financial interests of the Union

Where a third country participates in the InvestEU Programme by a decision under an international agreement or by virtue of any other legal instrument, the third country shall grant the necessary rights and access required for the authorizing officer responsible, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), the European Court of Auditors to comprehensively exert their respective competences. In the case of OLAF, such rights shall include the right to carry out investigations, including on-the-spot checks and inspections, provided for in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning investigations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).

Article 26 - Exercise of delegation

1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.

2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Articles 7(6), 22(2) and 23(6) shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years from [entry into force of this Regulation]. The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of that five-year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period.

3. The delegation of power referred to in Articles 7(6), 22(2) and 23(6) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.

4. Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making of 13 April 2016.

5. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

6. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Articles 7(6), 22(2) and 23(6) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or by the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.

CHAPTER VIII - TransParency and visibility


Article 27

Information, communication and publicity


1. The implementing partners shall acknowledge the origin and ensure the visibility of the Union funding (in particular when promoting the actions and their results), by providing coherent, effective and targeted information to multiple audiences, including the media and the public.

2. The Commission shall implement information and communication actions relating to the InvestEU Programme and its actions and results. Financial resources allocated to the InvestEU Programme shall also contribute to the corporate communication of the political priorities of the Union, as far as they are related to the objectives referred to in Article 3.

CHAPTER IX - TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 28 - Transitional provisions

1. Revenues, repayments and recoveries from financial instruments established by programmes referred to in Annex IV to this Regulation may be used for the provisioning of the EU guarantee under this Regulation.

2. Revenues, repayments and recoveries from the EU guarantee established by Regulation (EU) 2015/1017 may be used for the provisioning of the EU guarantee under this Regulation, unless used for the purposes referred to in Articles 4, 9 and 12 of Regulation (EU) 2015/1017.


Article 29

Entry into force


This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 1 January 2021.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.