At its halfway point, the InvestEU programme, which aims to attract additional private investment through a €26.2 billion financial guarantee from the European Union budget, is facing such strong demand that its financial allocation will be insufficient to continue granting aid after 2025, according to the European Commission in a report published on Tuesday 1 October.
By 31 December 2023, the programme had mobilised €218 billion of investment, of which 65% came from private funds and 80% of the public guarantee had been allocated to the various partners implementing the programme, including the EIB and national development banks.
“The budget is inadequate relative to the high demand and significant investment needs. Without budgetary reinforcements, new approvals for some policy priority [financial] products will cease post-2025. (....) The Commission should consider ways to enhance the financial capacity of InvestEU in the remaining programming period”, notes the EU institution in its report.
According to the Commission, demand for the financial products (venture debt, quasi-equity) developed by the EIB to attract private investors in projects linked to the climate transition demonstrates the need to reduce the risks inherent in these projects.
InvestEU is contributing to the emergence of new markets in sectors such as space, semiconductors, quantum computing, green technologies and affordable housing. A specific guarantee has been set up to facilitate exports from European companies to Ukraine. It pays particular attention to the needs of innovative SMEs.
The stated aim of the InvestEU programme is to mobilise more than €372 billion in additional public and private investment.
See the Commission’s mid-term report: https://aeur.eu/f/dnt (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)