Report from the Commission. Interim report on the pilot phase of the Europe 2020 project bond initiative

This Interim Report to the European Parliament and the Council is required by Regulation (EU) No 670/2012 to evaluate the progress of the pilot phase of the Europe 2020 Project Bond Initiative (PBI).

The PBI is a risk-sharing instrument created by the European Commission (EC) and the European Investment Bank (EIB). The aim is to enable project companies to issue project bonds that are attractive to debt capital market investors in the sectors of trans-European networks in transport (TEN-T) and energy (TEN-E) as well as telecommunication and broadband networks.

Due to the significant lead time needed to launch an innovative instrument of such scale and to prepare, procure and close new infrastructure projects, the PBI pilot was set up with EU budget of €230 million to allow stakeholders to familiarise themselves with the new instrument on the basis of concrete transactions during an initial pilot phase. In the pilot phase, which started on 7 November 2012, projects may be approved by the EIB until 31 December 2014 and must reach financial close by 31 December 2016. The full roll-out is foreseen within the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) forming part of the 2014-2020 Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF).

This report, prepared in cooperation with the EIB, covers the first 12 month period from November 2012 to November 2013 and shows the progress made on project approval and financing. The report analyses lessons learnt during the pilot phase and highlights possible synergies and economies of scale that could be achieved within the framework of the CEF. The CEF role could be maximized by creating synergies through the combination of grants and financial instruments, such as the PBI, Loan Guarantee for TEN-Transport (LGTT) and programme support actions.

The report is supported by the draft results of an independent external assessment, which aims to evaluate the achievements of the PBI in relation to policy objectives and capital market financing in a broader context and which will be completed in Q1 2014. The pilot phase is also subject to an independent evaluation in 2015, which will provide a fuller picture on the effectiveness and efficiency of the use of EU funds.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)929: Follow the progress of this report through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:929:FIN

ESO: Background information: EU-EIB Project Bond Initiative launched with start of pilot phase http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-eu-eib-project-bond-initiative-launched-with-start-of-pilot-phase/

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