Interim report on the participation of the European Union in the capital increase of the European Investment Fund and the pertinent increase of the Fund’s support of actions in favour of enterprises

The European Investment Fund (EIF) was established in 1994 by the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Community (now the European Union), and several public and private financial institutions.

The EIF's mission is to support Europe's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by helping them to gain access to finance. The EIF designs, develops and deploys venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments that specifically target the SME and mid-cap market segments, seeking to catalyse further investments in the EU and increase the leverage effect of EU budgetary resources and Member States' contributions, in cooperation with the relevant Commission services.

The EIF fosters EU objectives to support innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth and employment by addressing financial products to financial intermediaries such as banks, guarantee, leasing and microfinance institutions, private equity and venture capital funds.

As required by Article 4 of Decision No 562/2014/EU on the participation of the European Union in the capital increase of the European Investment Fund, this interim report assesses how the objective of increasing the EIF's support of actions which complement Member States' actions in favour of enterprises, particularly SMEs, has been achieved between 2014 and 3rd quarter 2016.