InvestEU also to support social infrastructures.

The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) was launched in 2015 as part of the ‘Juncker Plan’. In its now expanded version (EFSI 2.0), it will mobilise additional investments of €500 billion by the end of 2020, mainly through guarantees from the European Investment Bank and state guarantees. The fund was created as a result of the global financial and debt crisis, in order to offset the collapse of public investment in certain areas.

According to the EU Commission, the programme has been a major success. By mid-2018, €256 billion was effectively mobilised, of which 80% was private capital. 80% was invested in the poorer Member States. New types of financial instruments now allow for riskier investments in companies and other social economy institutions. One particular issue relates to transparency in terms of meeting the requirement of ‘additionality’ for the projects funded. This means that private investors could not have been won over without public funds and guarantees.

The next medium-term financial framework (2021-2027) will see EFSI 2.0 being replaced with the broader InvestEU Programme. It will consolidate existing EU funding instruments and mobilise an additional €650 billion over the period of the programme. At its core is an EU budget guarantee of €38 billion with the EIBG Group as the major partner. InvestEU is primarily intended to promote higher risk projects.

 

One of the four main policy areas will be social investment and skills with an allocated €4 billion. The programme is intended to help implement the European Pillar of Social Rights and modernise Europe’s education and healthcare infrastructure. The latest example of promoting health infrastructure is a €20 million EIB loan to the Finnish company Nightingale Health for the development of innovative blood analysis techniques aimed at preventing chronic diseases.