On the occasion of the BlueInvest Days 2022 on Monday 28 March in Brussels, Virginijus Sinkevičius and the Deputy Chief Executive of the European Investment Fund (EIF), Roger Havenith, announced a new equity initiative dedicated to the blue economy under InvestEU.
This initiative will make it possible to donate an additional €500 million of European funds to financial intermediaries investing in this sector. Mr Sinkevičius also announced that the European Commission’s highly successful BlueInvest initiative will continue beyond 2022, until 2026.
Mr Sinkevičius, who is the Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, welcomed the achievements of the BlueInvest initiative. The initiative has resulted in the signing of a large number of financing agreements, increased investment in the blue economy, and increased investor awareness.
InvestEU Blue Economy, the large-scale equity initiative that builds on the BlueInvest Fund pilot project (under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI)), brings together the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF), the EIB Group and InvestEU Finance, mobilising an additional €500 million of European funding for financial intermediaries investing in the sector. This will result in €1.5 billion of risk-financing available to innovative and sustainable blue economy SMEs and start-ups. The call for expressions of interest will be published soon. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)