The Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU would like European Finance Ministers to give their opinion on Tuesday, 22 January on two provisions relating to the proposal for a Regulation setting up the InvestEU programme after 2020.
Although it cannot be completely ruled out, with political agreement in principle by the Member States unlikely on this issue, the stated objective is to reach an interinstitutional political agreement before the European elections.
One of the questions to be put to the ministers will involve governance of the future InvestEU Fund, which will, by providing a public guarantee based on the EU budget, support risky private investment projects in the same way as the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the financial arm of the Juncker investment plan.
This is a sensitive issue. The EIB, which currently manages the EFSI, does not want the European Commission to play the role of banker in the management of InvestEU (see EUROPE 12065). However, as the InvestEU programme brings together 14 existing financial instruments, the Commission does not want to be deprived of some of its prerogatives.
The latest compromise proposal on the proposal for a Regulation, which was sent to the Member States in mid-December 2018 by the previous Austrian Presidency of the Council, suggests “a partnership” negotiated bilaterally between the Commission and the EIB. In particular, the EIB will be called upon to contribute to shaping investment guidelines and assessing the management systems put in place by other partners responsible for implementing the public guarantee, such as national development banks.
To build on the positive experience with the EFSI, Member States believe it is essential to set up a steering committee for the InvestEU Fund. They propose that this committee should consist of four representatives from the Commission, two representatives from the EIB, two representatives from the other implementing partners, and one representative from an ad hoc advisory board.
The composition of the advisory board should also be streamlined, in the opinion of Member States.
Allocation of the EU public guarantee. The other question to be put to the ministers will involve the breakdown of management of the EU public guarantee shown below: 75% of this guarantee to be managed by the EIB and 25% by the other partners.
A note from the Romanian Presidency dated 15 January, explains that greater access of this kind to the public guarantee can be particularly explained by the desire to allow the InvestEU Fund to intervene in under-represented areas of activity as part of the “Juncker” plan.
Next Tuesday, ministers will be asked to decide how the 25% of the EU public guarantee should be distributed gradually and smoothly between InvestEU’s implementing partners in order to facilitate a geographical balance of projects and encourage risk-taking in under-exploited sectors.
See the note from the Romanian Presidency: http://bit.ly/2Fus8IJ. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)