UEAPME considers that the new InvestEU fund, which was presented by the European Commission on Wednesday 6 June, is “positive”: all financial instruments will now be governed by the same rules, which will make their implementation easier for SMEs, the director of the organisation in charge of economic policy, Gerhard Huemer, told EUROPE.
However, this expert still feels that it will continue to be necessary in future for the competent Directorates General of the European Commission to be involved in the programmes concerning them. For instance, the DG for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (e.g. GROW) should be involved in the part of the fund devoted to the Single Market Programme (see EUROPE 12036), which represents some €2 billion.
BusinessEurope also welcomed the Commission's proposal, as it continues the logic of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), namely using public money to raise private funds. However, the organisation stresses the importance of continued subsidies to support particularly innovative but risky investment projects.
InvestEU, the successor to the Juncker plan, is expected to raise more than €650 billion over seven years, according to the Commission's calculations, thanks to a public guarantee of €47.5 billion (see EUROPE 12035). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)