Communication: Investment Plan for Europe: evaluations give evidence to support its reinforcement

President Juncker’s State of the Union address of 14 September 2016 underlined the need for Europe to strengthen its economic recovery and invest strongly in its youth and jobseekers, as well as in its start-ups and SMEs. Against that background, the Annual Growth Survey 2017 outlined the most pressing economic and social priorities on which the European Union and its Member States need to focus their attention in the coming months.

Europe is experiencing a fragile but relatively resilient and job-intensive recovery. Its GDP is now higher than before the crisis. Unemployment is decreasing and investment is growing again. However, there is no room for complacency. Some of the tailwinds that have supported the recovery so far are fading. The legacies of the crisis, notably the social impact, high levels of public and private debt, and the share of non-performing loans, are still far-reaching.

The Investment Plan for Europe has proven useful in encouraging a sustainable increase in investment in Member States. The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) has mobilised €154 billion across 27 Member States in just over one year, which is expected to benefit almost 377,000 SMEs. The EFSI is making a real difference by supporting innovative and strategic projects that contribute to job creation and growth.

Given the concrete results of the EFSI, and as announced in President Juncker’s State of the Union address, the Commission proposed in September 2016 to reinforce and expand it through the so-called EFSI 2.0 proposal. With a view to doubling the duration and capacity of the EFSI, in a first step the proposal extends the duration until the end of 2020, increasing the total investment target from 315 billion to at least half a trillion euro. The proposal also puts a greater focus on private sector contributions and additionality and on enhancing transparency in the selection of projects.

The current EFSI Regulation mandates three evaluations:
(i) an evaluation from the Commission on the use of the EU guarantee and the functioning of the EFSI guarantee fund accompanied by an opinion of the Court of Auditors;
(ii) an evaluation from the EIB on the functioning of the EFSI; and
(iii) an independent external evaluation on the application of the EFSI Regulation.

Those evaluations allow stakeholders to gain a comprehensive view of the functioning of the EFSI so far, and are already feeding into the ongoing legislative discussions on EFSI 2.0. The EFSI 2.0 proposal addresses the issues identified in the evaluations and will ensure a smooth continuation of EFSI operations, without disruptions in financing, assuring project promoters that they can still prepare projects even after the initial investment period.

ESO: Background information: Investment Plan for Europe: evaluations give evidence to support its reinforcement http://www.europeansources.info/record/investment-plan-for-europe-evaluations-give-evidence-to-support-its-reinforcement/

---