Haarlem, 18/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - Grants are tending to lose ground to financial instruments, noted a number of worried speakers at the high-level conference on obstacles to investment in the blue economy, organised by the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) in Haarlem, Netherlands on Thursday 18 February.
Following several presentations on European investment in support of the blue economy, a number of interventions from the floor highlighted the change in the nature of the European financial aid which is directly affecting projects in the sector of the blue economy. This is a trend that has been noted by Pierre Karleskind, Deputy President of the Brittany region. The European Commission would seem to be pushing more and more towards financial instruments, according to one of the participants. Jonathan Wills from the Shetland Islands Regional Council went even further, seeing, behind this shift, austerity policies on the one hand and the “criminal activities of the banks” on the other.
These assertions were immediately rejected by Wolfgang Streitenberger, Senior Adviser to the European Commission's DG Regional Policy (DG Regio). He said that the low absorption rate in some member states is a real problem. He made the point that it is difficult to argue in the European Parliament or the Council for an ambitious budget when the funding available for the previous period has not been fully absorbed.
In the view of Patrick Brouns, who is in charge of economic affairs in the region of Groningen, Netherlands, grants have to be obtained for particularly risky projects for which the banks are unwilling to provide finance. He said that grants are needed to support especially risky projects and also to speed up access to the market, with financial instruments following on to fill in any funding gaps once the projects have reached maturity.
This is a view that would appear to be shared by Giorgio Chiarion Casoni, Head of Unit within DG Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), who made a presentation on how the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI) works. He said that grants must not be seen in opposition to financial instruments, the two being complementary. “The important thing is to articulate them effectively”, he said.
The issue of access to finance is particularly important in the area of the maritime economy where many sectors which have strong potential for innovation, such as water turbines, are emerging, said Damien Perissé, Head of Maritime Affairs at the CPMR. Breakthrough technologies need substantial initial investment with outcomes uncertain - hence the reluctance of banks to become involved. Several speakers also highlighted the “cold feet” attitude shown by, for example, the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Mario Aymerich, a manager in the EIB, argued, on the contrary, that the bank makes up for the lack of commitment on the part of commercial banks. Evaluation of projects by the EIB is based on three criteria: eligibility, technical and economic feasibility and financial viability. The EIB also takes account of the macroeconomic context surrounding the project, he pointed out. For Chiarion Casoni, what is important is the structural viability of the projects.
“Articulation between the European funds and loans, between grants and financial instruments has to be improved”, said Eleni Marianou, CPMR Secretary General, to address the needs of projects on the ground. It is crucial, she told EUROPE that grants be maintained through cohesion policy “because they play a unique role in investment and support for high-risk projects”. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)