Regulation (EU) 2015/1017 on the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the European Investment Advisory Hub and the European Investment Project Portal

What it is

to establish the European Fund for Strategic Investments aiming to mobilise funding for projects of at least EUR 315 billion to help promote growth and employment. PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council. BACKGROUND: as a consequence of the economic and financial crisis, the level of investment in the EU has dropped by about 15% since its peak in 2007. General uncertainty about the economic situation, high levels of public and private debt in parts of the EU economy and their impact on credit risk limit the room for manoeuvre. However, significant levels of savings and high levels of financial liquidity exist. The Council discussed a proposal for a regulation on a European fund for strategic investments (EFSI) which is expected to mobilise EUR 315 billion in private and public investment. The EFSI is one of the core elements of the Commission's " investment plan for Europe ", published in November 2014. The presidency confirmed its intention for the Council to reach agreement in March 2015 in accordance with the scheduled timeframe which would allow for new investments as early as mid-2015. The Council broadly supported the approach outlined by the presidency on certain key issues: · review clause : the presidency proposes that a review take place after the first few years of operation, on the basis of an independent assessment, to determine whether the EFSI should be made a permanent instrument; · redeployment of EU funds to finance the EFSI : the presidency proposes that no change be made to the Commission's proposal on this point; · governance structure : delegations supported a lean governance structure ensuring an independent decision-making process. The presidency confirmed its objective for the Council to reach agreement in March 2015 . In the light of the remarks made by the Ministers, a draft proposal will be presented. The Council agreed its negotiating stance on a proposed regulation on a European fund for strategic investments (EFSI). This will allow the presidency, on behalf of the Council, to start negotiations with the European Parliament as soon as the EP has agreed its own negotiating stance. The aim is to reach an overall agreement by June , so that new investments can begin as early as mid-2015. Financing : the Council agreed that the fund would be built on €16 billion in guarantees from the EU budget and €5 billion from the EIB . To facilitate the payment of potential guarantee calls, a guarantee fund would be established that would gradually reach €8 billion (i.e. 50% of total EU guarantee obligations) by 2020. EU funding would mostly come from the redeployment of grants from the Horizon 2020 programme (research and innovation) and the Connecting Europe Facility (transport, energy and digital networks), as well as unused margins in the budget. The EFSI would enhance risk-bearing capacity . By taking on part of the risk of new projects through a first-loss liability, the fund would enable private investors to join under more…

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