Considerations on COM(2018)439 - InvestEU Programme - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2018)439 - InvestEU Programme. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2018)439  |
| date | June 6, 2018 |
(2) Evaluations have underlined that the variety of financial instruments delivered under the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework period has led to some overlaps. That variety has also produced complexity for intermediaries and final recipients who were confronted with different eligibility and reporting rules. Absence of compatible rules also hampered the combination of several Union funds although such combination would have been beneficial to support projects in need of different types of funding. Therefore, a single fund, the InvestEU Fund, should be set up in order to achieve a more efficiently functioning support to final recipients by integrating and simplifying the financial offer under a single budgetary guarantee scheme, thereby improving the impact of Union intervention while reducing the cost to the Union budget.
(3) In the last years, the Union has adopted ambitious strategies to complete the Single Market and to stimulate sustainable growth and jobs, such as the Capital Markets Union, the Digital Single Market Strategy, the Clean Energy for all Europeans package, the Union Action Plan for the Circular Economy, the Low-Emission Mobility Strategy, the Defence and the Space Strategy for Europe. The InvestEU Fund should exploit and reinforce synergies between those mutually reinforcing strategies through providing support to investment and access to financing.
(4) At Union level, the European Semester of economic policy coordination is the framework to identify national reform priorities and monitor their implementation. Member States develop their own national multiannual investment strategies in support of those reform priorities. The strategies should be presented alongside the yearly National Reform Programmes as a way to outline and coordinate priority investment projects to be supported by national or Union funding, or by both. They should also serve to use Union funding in a coherent manner and to maximise the added value of the financial support to be received notably from the European Structural and Investment Funds, the European Investment Stabilisation Function and the InvestEU Fund, where relevant.
(5) The InvestEU Fund should contribute to improving the competitiveness of the Union, including in the field of innovation and digitisation, the sustainability of the Union's economic growth, the social resilience and inclusiveness and the integration of the Union capital markets, including solutions addressing their fragmentation and diversifying sources of financing for the Union enterprises. To that end, it should support projects that are technically and economically viable by providing a framework for the use of debt, risk sharing and equity instruments underpinned by a guarantee from the Union's budget and by contributions from implementing partners. It should be demand-driven while support under the InvestEU Fund should at the same time focus on contributing to meeting policy objectives of the Union.
(6) The InvestEU Fund should support investments in tangible and intangible assets to foster growth, investment and employment, and thereby contributing to improved well-being and fairer income distribution in the Union. Intervention through the InvestEU Fund should complement Union support delivered through grants.
(7) The Union endorsed the objectives set out in the United Nations Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement in 2015 as well as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. To achieve the agreed objectives, including those embedded in the environmental policies of the Union, action pursuing sustainable development is to be stepped up significantly. Therefore, the principles of sustainable development should feature prominently in the design of the InvestEU Fund.
(8) The InvestEU Programme should contribute to building a sustainable finance system in the Union which supports the re-orientation of private capital towards sustainable investments in accordance with the objectives set out in the Commission Action Plan for Financing Sustainable Growth 13 .
(9) Reflecting the importance of tackling climate change in line with the Union's commitments to implement the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the InvestEU Programme will contribute to mainstream climate actions and to the achievement of an overall target of 25 % of the Union budget expenditures supporting climate objectives. Actions under the InvestEU Programme are expected to contribute 30 % of the overall financial envelope of the InvestEU Programme to climate objectives. Relevant actions will be identified during the InvestEU Programme's preparation and implementation and reassessed in the context of the relevant evaluations and review processes.
(10) The contribution of the InvestEU Fund to the achievement of the climate target will be tracked through an EU climate tracking system developed by the Commission in cooperation with implementing partners and using in an appropriate way the criteria established by [Regulation on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment 14 ] for determining whether an economic activity is environmentally sustainable.
(11) According to the 2018 Global Risks Report issued by the World Economic Forum, half of the ten most critical risks threatening the global economy relate to the environment. Such risks include air, soil and water pollution, extreme weather events, biodiversity losses and failures of climate-change mitigation and adaptation. Environmental principles are strongly embedded in the Treaties and many of the Union's policies. Therefore, the mainstreaming of environmental objectives should be promoted in the InvestEU Fund related operations. Environmental protection and related risk prevention and management should be integrated in the preparation and implementation of investments. The EU should also track its biodiversity-related and air pollution control-related expenditure in order to fulfil the reporting obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity and Directive (EU) 2016/2284 of the European Parliament and of the Council 15 Investment allocated to environmentally sustainability objectives should therefore be tracked using common methodologies coherent with that developed under other Union programmes applying to climate, biodiversity and air pollution management in order to allow assessing the individual and combined impact of investments on the key components of the natural capital, including air, water, land and biodiversity.
(12) Investment projects receiving substantial Union support, notably in the area of infrastructure, should be subject to sustainability proofing in accordance with guidance that should be developed by the Commission in cooperation with implementing partners under the InvestEU Programme and, using in an appropriate way the criteria established by [Regulation on establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment] for determining whether an economic activity is environmentally sustainable and coherently with the guidance developed for other programmes of the Union. Such guidance should include adequate provisions to avoid undue administrative burden.
(13) Low infrastructure investment rates in the Union during the financial crisis undermined the Union's ability to boost sustainable growth, competitiveness and convergence. Sizeable investments in the European infrastructure are fundamental to meet the Union's sustainability targets, including the 2030 energy and climate targets. Accordingly, support from the InvestEU Fund should target investments into transport, energy, including energy efficiency and renewable energy, environmental, climate action, maritime and digital infrastructure. To maximise the impact and the value added of Union financing support, it is appropriate to promote a streamlined investment process enabling visibility of the project pipeline and consistency across relevant Union programmes. Bearing in mind security threats, investment projects receiving Union support should take into account principles for the protection of citizens in public spaces. This should be complementary to the efforts made by other Union funds such as the European Regional Development Fund providing support for security components of investments in public spaces, transport, energy and other critical infrastructure.
(14) Whereas the level of overall investment in the Union is increasing, investment in higher-risk activities such as research and innovation is still inadequate. The resulting underinvestment in research and innovation is damaging to the industrial and economic competitiveness of the Union and the quality of life of its citizens. The InvestEU Fund should provide the appropriate financial products to cover different stages in the innovation cycle and a wide range of stakeholders, in particular to allow the upscaling of and deployment of solutions at a commercial scale in the Union, in order to make such solutions competitive on world markets.
(15) A significant effort is urgently needed to invest in digital transformation and to distribute the benefits of it to all Union citizens and businesses. The strong policy framework of the Digital Single Market Strategy should now be matched by investment of a similar ambition, including in artificial intelligence.
(16) Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in the Union. However, they face challenges when accessing finance because of their perceived high risk and lack of sufficient collateral. Additional challenges arise from SMEs' need to stay competitive by engaging in digitisation, internationalisation and innovation activities and skilling up their workforce. Moreover, compared to larger enterprises, they have access to a more limited set of financing sources: they typically do not issue bonds, have only limited access to stock exchanges or large institutional investors. The challenge in accessing finance is even greater for those SMEs whose activities focus on intangible assets. SMEs in the Union rely heavily on banks and debt financing in the form of bank overdrafts, bank loans or leasing. Supporting SMEs that face the above challenges and providing more diversified sources of funding is necessary for increasing the ability of SMEs to finance their creation, growth and development, withstand economic downturns, and for making the economy and the financial system more resilient during economic downturn or shocks. This is also complementary to the initiatives already undertaken in the context of the Capital Markets Union. The InvestEU Fund should provide an opportunity to focus on specific, more targeted financial products.
(17) As set out in the reflection paper on the social dimension of Europe 16 and the European Pillar of Social Rights 17 , building a more inclusive and fairer Union is a key priority for the Union to tackle inequality and foster social inclusion policies in Europe. Inequality of opportunities affects in particular access to education, training and health. Investment in the social, skills and human capital-related economy, as well as in the integration of vulnerable populations in the society, can enhance economic opportunities, especially if coordinated at Union level. The InvestEU Fund should be used to support investment in education and training, help increase employment, in particular among the unskilled and long-term unemployed, and improve the situation with regard to intergenerational solidarity, the health sector, homelessness, digital inclusiveness, community development, the role and place of young people in society as well as vulnerable people, including third country nationals. The InvestEU Programme should also contribute to the support of European culture and creativity. To counter the profound transformations of societies in the Union and of the labour market in the coming decade, it is necessary to invest in human capital, microfinance, social enterprise finance and new social economy business models, including social impact investment and social outcomes contracting. The InvestEU Programme should strengthen nascent social market eco-system, increasing the supply of and access to finance to micro- and social enterprises, to meet the demand of those who need it the most. The report of the High-Level Task-Force on Investing in Social Infrastructure in Europe 18 has identified investment gaps in social infrastructure and services, including for education, training, health and housing, which call for support, including at the Union level. Therefore, the collective power of public, commercial and philanthropic capital, as well as support from foundations, should be harnessed to support the social market value chain development and a more resilient Union.
(18) The InvestEU Fund should operate under four policy windows, mirroring the key Union policy priorities, namely sustainable infrastructure; research, innovation and digitisation: SMEs; and social investment and skills.
(19) Each policy window should be composed of two compartments, that is to say an EU compartment and a Member State compartment. The EU compartment should address Union-wide market failures or sub-optimal investment situations in a proportionate manner; supported actions should have a clear European added value. The Member State compartment should give Member States the possibility to contribute a share of their resources of Funds under shared management to the provisioning of the EU guarantee to use the EU guarantee for financing or investment operations to address specific market failures or sub-optimal investment situations in their own territory, including in vulnerable and remote areas such as the outermost regions of the Union, to deliver objectives of the Fund under shared management. Actions supported from the InvestEU Fund through either EU or Member State compartments should not duplicate or crowd out private financing or distort competition in the internal market.
(20) The Member State compartment should be specifically designed to allow the use of funds under shared management to provision a guarantee issued by the Union. That combination aims at mobilising the high credit rating of the Union to promote national and regional investments while ensuring a consistent risk management of the contingent liabilities by implementing the guarantee given by the Commission under indirect management. The Union should guarantee the financing and investment operations foreseen by the guarantee agreements concluded between the Commission and implementing partners under the Member State compartment, the Funds under shared management should provide the provisioning of the guarantee, following a provisioning rate determined by the Commission based on the nature of the operations and the resulting expected losses, and the Member State would assume losses above the expected losses by issuing a back-to-back guarantee in favour of the Union. Such arrangements should be concluded in a single contribution agreement with each Member State that voluntarily chooses such option. The contribution agreement should encompass the one or more specific guarantee agreements to be implemented within the Member State concerned. The setting out of the provisioning rate on a case by case basis requires a derogation from [Article 211(1)] of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No XXXX 19 (the Financial Regulation). This design provides also a single set of rules for budgetary guarantees supported by funds managed centrally or by funds under shared management, which would facilitate their combination.
(21) The InvestEU Fund should be open to contributions from third countries that are members of the European Free Trade Association, acceding countries, candidates and potential candidates, countries covered by the Neighbourhood policy and other countries, in accordance with the conditions laid down between the Union and those countries. This should allow continuing cooperating with the relevant countries, where appropriate, in particular in the fields of research and innovation as well as SMEs.
(22) This Regulation lays down a financial envelope for other measures of the InvestEU Programme than the provisioning of the EU guarantee, which is to constitute the prime reference amount, within the meaning of [reference to be updated as appropriate according to the new inter-institutional agreement: point 17 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 2 December 2013 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management 20 ], for the European Parliament and the Council during the annual budgetary procedure.
(23) The EU guarantee of EUR 38 000 000 000 (current prices) at Union level is expected to mobilise more than EUR 650 000 000 000 of additional investment across the Union and should be indicatively allocated between the policy windows.
(24) The EU guarantee underpinning the InvestEU Fund should be implemented indirectly by the Commission relying on implementing partners with outreach to final recipients. A guarantee agreement allocating guarantee capacity from the InvestEU Fund should be concluded by the Commission with each implementing partner, to support its financing and investment operations meeting the InvestEU Fund objectives and eligibility criteria. The InvestEU Fund should be provided with a specific governance structure to ensure the appropriate use of the EU guarantee.
(25) An Advisory Board consisting of representatives of the implementing partners and of representatives of Member States should be established in order to exchange information and for exchanges on the take-up of the financial products deployed under the InvestEU Fund and to discuss on evolving needs and new products, including specific territorial market gaps.
(26) The Commission should assess the compatibility of investment and financing operations submitted by the implementing partners with Union law and policies whereas the decisions on financing and investment operations should ultimately be taken by an implementing partner.
(27) A Project Team consisting of experts put at the disposal of the Commission by the implementing partners in order to provide professional expertise in financial and technical assessment of proposed financing and investment operations should score those submitted by the implementing partners to be assessed by the Investment Committee.
(28) An Investment Committee composed of independent experts should conclude on the granting of the support from the EU guarantee to financing and investment operations fulfilling the eligibility criteria, thereby providing external expertise in investment assessments in relation to projects. The Investment Committee should have different configurations to best cover different policy areas and sectors.
(29) In selecting implementing partners for the deployment of the InvestEU Fund, the Commission should consider the counterpart's capacity to fulfil the objectives of the InvestEU Fund and contribute its own resources, in order to ensure adequate geographical coverage and diversification, to crowd-in private investors and to provide sufficient risk diversification as well as new solutions to address market failures and sub-optimal investment situations. Given its role under the Treaties, its capacity to operate in all Member States and the existing experience under the current financial instruments and the EFSI, the European Investment Bank (‘EIB’) Group should remain a privileged implementing partner under the InvestEU Fund's EU compartment. In addition to the EIB Group, national promotional banks or institutions should be able to offer a complementary financial product range given that their experience and capabilities at regional level could be beneficial for the maximisation of the impact of public funds on the territory of the Union. Moreover, it should be possible to have other international financial institutions as implementing partners, in particular when they present a comparative advantage in terms of specific expertise and experience in certain Member States. It should also be possible for other entities fulfilling the criteria laid down in the Financial Regulation to act as implementing partners.
(30) In order to ensure that interventions under the EU compartment of the InvestEU Fund focus on market failures and sub-optimal investment situations at Union level, but, at the same time, satisfy the objectives of best possible geographic outreach, the EU guarantee should be allocated to implementing partners, which alone or together with other implementing partners, can cover at least three Member States. However, it is expected that around 75 % of the EU guarantee under the EU compartment would be allocated to implementing partner or partners that can offer financial products under the InvestEU Fund in all Member States.
(31) The EU guarantee under the Member State compartment should be allocated to any implementing partner eligible according to [Article 62(1)(c)] of the [Financial Regulation], including national or regional promotional banks or institutions, the EIB, the European Investment Fund and other multilateral development banks. When selecting implementing partners under the Member State compartment, the Commission should take into account the proposals made by each Member State. In accordance with [Article 154] of the [Financial Regulation], the Commission must carry out an assessment of the rules and procedures of the implementing partner to ascertain that they provide a level of protection of the financial interest of the Union equivalent to the one provided by the Commission.
(32) Financing and investment operations should ultimately be decided by an implementing partner in its own name, implemented in accordance with its internal rules and procedures and accounted for in its own financial statements. Therefore, the Commission should exclusively account for any financial liability arising from the EU guarantee and disclose the maximum guarantee amount, including all relevant information on the guarantee provided.
(33) The InvestEU Fund should, where appropriate, allow for a smooth and efficient blending of grants or financial instruments, or both, funded by the Union budget or by the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) Innovation Fund with that guarantee in situations where this is necessary to best underpin investments to address particular market failures or sub-optimal investment situations.
(34) Projects submitted by implementing partners for support under the InvestEU Programme, which include blending with support from another Union programmes, should as a whole also be consistent with the objectives and eligibility criteria contained in the rules of the relevant Union programmes. The use of the EU guarantee should be decided under the rules of the InvestEU Programme.
(35) The InvestEU Advisory Hub should support the development of a robust pipeline of investment projects in each policy window. In addition, a cross-sectoral component under the InvestEU Programme should be foreseen to ensure a single-entry point and cross-policy project development assistance for centrally managed Union programmes.
(36) In order to ensure a wide geographic outreach of the advisory services across the Union and to successfully leverage local knowledge about the InvestEU Fund, a local presence of the InvestEU Advisory Hub should be ensured, where needed, taking into account existing support schemes, with a view to provide tangible, proactive, tailor-made assistance on the ground.
(37) In the context of the InvestEU Fund, there is a need for capacity building support to develop the organisational capacities and market making activities needed to originate quality projects. Moreover, the aim is to create the conditions for the expansion of the potential number of eligible recipients in nascent market segments, in particular where the small size of individual projects raises considerably the transaction cost at the project level, such as for the social finance ecosystem. The capacity building support should therefore be complementary and additional to actions undertaken under other Union programmes that cover a specific policy area.
(38) The InvestEU Portal should be established to provide for an easily accessible and user-friendly project database to promote visibility of investment projects searching for financing with enhanced focus on the provision of a possible pipeline of investment projects, compatible with Union law and policies, to the implementing partners.
(39) Pursuant to paragraphs 22 and 23 of the Inter-institutional agreement for Better Law-Making of 13 April 2016 21 , there is a need to evaluate the InvestEU Programme on the basis of information collected through specific monitoring requirements, while avoiding overregulation and administrative burdens, in particular on Member States. These requirements, where appropriate, can include measurable indicators, as a basis for evaluating the effects of the InvestEU Programme on the ground.
(40) A solid monitoring framework, based on output, outcome and impact indicators should be implemented to track progress towards the Union's objectives. In order to ensure accountability to European citizens, the Commission should report annually to the European Parliament and the Council on the progress, impact and operations of the InvestEU Programme.
(41) Horizontal financial rules adopted by the European Parliament and the Council on the basis of Article 322 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union apply to this Regulation. These rules are laid down in the Financial Regulation and determine in particular the procedure for establishing and implementing the budget through grants, procurement, prizes, indirect implementation, and provide for checks on the responsibility of financial actors. Rules adopted on the basis of Article 322 TFEU also concern the protection of the Union's budget in case of generalised deficiencies as regards the rule of law in the Member States, as the respect for the rule of law is an essential precondition for sound financial management and effective EU funding.
(42) Regulation (EU, Euratom) No [the new FR] applies to InvestEU Programme. It lays down rules on the implementation of the Union budget, including the rules on budgetary guarantees.
(43) In accordance with the Financial Regulation, Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council 22 , Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2988/95 23 , Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 24 and Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 25 , the financial interests of the Union are to be protected through proportionate measures, including the prevention, detection, correction and investigation of irregularities and fraud, the recovery of funds lost, wrongly paid or incorrectly used and, where appropriate, the imposition of administrative sanctions. In particular, in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 and Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) may carry out administrative investigations, including on-the-spot checks and inspections, with a view to establishing whether there has been fraud, corruption or any other illegal activity affecting the financial interests of the Union. In accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/1939, the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) may investigate and prosecute fraud and other criminal offences affecting the financial interests of the Union as provided for in Directive (EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council 26 . In accordance with the Financial Regulation, any person or entity receiving Union funds is to fully cooperate in the protection of the Union’s financial interests, to grant the necessary rights and access to the Commission, OLAF, the EPPO and the European Court of Auditors and to ensure that any third parties involved in the implementation of Union funds grant equivalent rights.
(44) Third countries which are members of the European Economic Area (EEA) may participate in Union programmes in the framework of the cooperation established under the EEA agreement, which provides for the implementation of the programmes by a decision under that agreement. Third countries may also participate on the basis of other legal instruments. A specific provision should be introduced in this Regulation to grant the necessary rights for and access to the authorising officer responsible, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) as well as the European Court of Auditors to comprehensively exert their respective competences.
(45) Pursuant to [reference to be updated as appropriate according to a new decision on OCTs: Article 88 of Council Decision 2013/755/EU], persons and entities established in overseas countries and territories (OCTs) are eligible for funding subject to the rules and objectives of InvestEU Programme and possible arrangements applicable to the Member State to which the relevant OCT is linked.
(46) In order to supplement the non-essential elements of this Regulation with investment guidelines with which financing and investment operations should comply, to facilitate a prompt and flexible adaptation of the performance indicators and to adjust of the provisioning rate, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the TFEU should be delegated to the Commission in respect of drawing-up the investment guidelines for the financing and investment operations under different policy windows, the amendment of Annex III to this Regulation to review or complement the indicators and the adjustment of the provisioning rate. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making of 13 April 2016. In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States' experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.
(47) The InvestEU Programme should address EU-wide market failures and sub-optimal investment situations and provide for Union-wide market testing of innovative financial products, and systems to spread them, for new or complex market failures. Therefore, action at Union level is warranted,