The InvestEU Fund supports private and public investments in four policy areas which represent important priorities for the Union and bring high EU added value: sustainable infrastructure; research, innovation and digitisation; small and medium-sized businesses; and social investment and skills. The €26.2 billion EU budget guarantee is divided between the four InvestEU policy windows as follows:
What does it finance?
- Transport, in particular clean and sustainable transport modes, multimodal transport, road safety, renewal and maintenance of rail and road infrastructure
- Energy, in particular renewable energy, energy efficiency and building renovation projects focused on energy savings and the integration of buildings into a connected energy source, storage, digital and transport system, improving energy infrastructure interconnection levels
- Digital connectivity and access including in rural areas
- Supply and processing of raw materials, space, oceans, water, including inland waterways, waste management in line with the waste hierarchy and the circular economy
- Nature and other environment infrastructure
- Cultural heritage, tourism
- Equipment, mobile assets and deployment of innovative technologies that contribute to the environmental climate resilience or social sustainability objectives of the EU, and meet the environmental or social sustainability standards of the EU
- Research, product development and innovation activities
- Transfer of technologies and research results to the market, supporting market enablers and cooperation between enterprises
- Demonstration and deployment of innovative solutions and support to scaling up of innovative companies as well as digitisation of EU industry
- Access to and availability of finance primarily for SMEs, including innovative ones and those operating in the cultural and creative sectors, as well as for small mid-cap companies
- Supporting businesses with difficulties of access to finance: start-ups, younger and smaller companies. Such companies are perceived as higher risk for regular commercial lenders.
- Microfinance
- Social enterprise finance and social economy
- Measures to promote gender equality skills, education, training and related services
- Social infrastructure (including health and educational infrastructure and social and student housing)
- Social innovation, including social impact, impact investing and social outcome contracting
- Health and long-term care
- Inclusion and accessibility
- Cultural and creative activities with a social goal
- Integration of vulnerable people, including third country nationals
All four areas may cover strategic investments including Important Projects of Common European Interest to support final recipients whose activities are of strategic importance to the EU, in particular in view of the green and digital transitions, of enhanced resilience and of strengthening strategic value chains.
The Member State compartment
The InvestEU Programme will support 4 main policy areas:
- Sustainable infrastructure
- Research, innovation and digitisation
- Small and medium-sized businesses and
- Social investment and skills
These policy areas can generate investments under 2 compartments.
- An EU compartment, with a main focus on EU policy priorities and investments with EU value added.
- A Member State compartment, with a main focus on specific national priorities. EU countries have the possibility to contribute a part of their shared management funds to the InvestEU Fund, when setting up a “Member State compartment”. At the beginning of the programming period the Member States can choose to contribute up to 2% of their shared management fund allocation via their Partnership Agreements. If the Member States do not make use of this possibility, as of 1.01.2023 they can still contribute to InvestEU up to 3% of their shared management fund allocation via programme modification. With this voluntary contribution, EU countries can benefit from the EU guarantee's high credit rating, giving national and regional investments more firepower, while cutting red tape.
Under the Member State compartment, loans, guarantees or equity investments can be offered as a complement to other public and private investments.
How are the compartments managed?
For the EU compartment, the Commission signs specific guarantee agreements with the selected implementing partners. This includes the EIB Group for 75% of the EU guarantee and international financing institutions and national promotional banks for the remaining 25%.
For the Member State compartment to be activated, the EU country needs first to indicate their intention in a programming document. A partnership agreement and or a programme amendment. The Commission must then sign a ‘contribution agreement’ with the EU country concerned. This document sets out details of the financing and implementation, including
- the Member State strategy (products used, the targeted multiplier, etc.)
- the implementing partners proposed by the national authorities
- possible combinations with the EU compartment
Furthermore, EU countries can use the Member State compartment of InvestEU as a tool to implement their recovery and resilience plans under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), if they so wish.
How is the Member State compartment financed?
Through their ‘compartment’, EU countries would complement the EU guarantee with a voluntary contribution of a part of their shared management funds. This means that €26.2 billion guarantee available under the EU compartment is supplemented by the budget of a Member State compartment. This increases the risk-bearing capacity for implementing partners. This budget should contribute to the delivery of the policy objectives identified by the EU country under shared management.
What kind of products does the Member State compartment offer?
Depending on an EU country’s national investment priorities, the Member State compartment could offer
- Financial products and advisory initiatives currently being prepared for the EU compartment by the Commission in consultation with potential implementing partners
- Tailor-made products that address very specific national needs
- Products combining the EU guarantee under the Member State compartment with the EU compartment
- Member States can on a voluntary basis use the InvestEU Fund and the InvestEU Advisory Hub as a tool to implement part of their Recovery and Resilience Plans in line with the RRF objectives
How much investment is the Member State compartment expected to trigger?
The multiplier expected under the EU compartment is €11.4 of total investment generated for every euro of the EU budgetary guarantee. The multiplier under the Member State compartment may be lower or higher, depending on the level of risk of the projects involved and the policy objectives financed.
Documents
Technical guidance on sustainability proofing for the InvestEU Fund