Expert Evaluation Network 2012 – The use of the ERDF to support financial engineering instruments

Summary:

The use of Financial engineering instruments (FEIs) as a means of providing support through the Structural Funds has been increasingly encouraged by the European Commission over recent years and is set to be further prioritised in the next programming period. At the same time, the European Court of Auditors has recently produced a report on FEIs which was critical in a number of respects of the way that the ERDF was being employed to assist SMEs through these means. Against this background, the purpose of the exercise which this report summarises was to obtain an informed overview of the use of the ERDF to co-finance FEIs, the rationale for Member States adopting this means of investment support and the way that the schemes set up are operating in practice. The national experts who form the independent evaluation network set up by DG Regional Policy to monitor the implementation and performance of Cohesion policy in the present programming period were, therefore, asked to examine and report on these issues in their own countries on the basis of published information and interviews with Managing Authorities in April-May 2012. This report synthesises the findings of the 27 national reports which were produced as a result.