The European Commission published a Communication on 13 October 2020 (C(2020) 7127 final) that extends the duration of the State aid Temporary Framework to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak by six months until 30 June 2021. The Temporary Framework introduced additional measures to support companies to meet their fixed costs and to clarify the operation of the existing rules.

Tune in to our new podcast episode on how ESIF Financial instruments help the city of The Hague to transition to renewable energy and to regenerate its urban areas. A discussion with Ton Overmeire – manager of The Hague’s Holding Fund, hosted by Chiara Continenza from the fi-compass team at EIB.

The FOSTER TPE-PME fund of funds was set up by the Occitanie region of France with ERDF and EAFRD resources. Through four different financial instruments it provides a range of finance adapted to meet the needs of SMEs in different sectors of the region’s economy.

The IFRRU 2020 fund of funds uses ESIF resources together with public and private sector co-investment to support energy efficiency and urban development projects in Portugal. New video resources have been published on the fi-compass website to complement and enhance the video case study featuring the financial instruments.

A major new study on the potential to use ERDF financial instruments to finance energy efficiency projects has been published on the fi-compass website. The major study contains an analysis of the key data in relation to the financing gap for energy efficiency in each of the 27 Member States. It is expected that the study will be used by Member States to design financial instruments to support this sector in the 2021-2027 programming period.

The EquiFund financial instruments in Greece have recently demonstrated the potential of ESIF backed equity funds to support high growth companies and deliver financial returns for reinvestment.

Three successful trade sales have been announced that have enabled EquiFund financial intermediaries to exit their investments, whilst at the same time securing additional investment to support further growth and expansion of additional companies.

“Just do it”, is Ton Overmeire of The City of The Hague’s response when asked if he has any advice to cities and managing authorities thinking about using financial instruments to invest European Structural Investment Funds (ESIF).

When: 1-2 December

Where: digital event

fi-compass host an online ERDF conference entitled, ‘Financial instruments under European Regional Development and Cohesion Funds’ to be held on Tuesday 1 December – Wednesday 2 December 2020.