Regulation (EU) 2017/2396 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2017 amending Regulations (EU) No 1316/2013 and (EU) 2015/1017 as regards the extension of the duration of the European Fund for Strategic Investments as well as the introduction of technical enhancements for that Fund and the European Investment Advisory Hub

‘1 For the purposes of this Regulation, ‘additionality’ means support by the EFSI for operations which address market failures or sub-optimal investment situations and which could not have been carried out during the period in which the EU guarantee can be used, or not to the same extent, by the EIB, the EIF or under existing Union financial instruments, without EFSI support. Projects supported by the EFSI shall support the general objectives laid down in Article 9(2), shall strive to create employment and sustainable growth and shall typically have a higher risk profile than projects supported by normal EIB operations. Overall, the EFSI portfolio shall have a higher risk profile than the portfolio of investments supported by the EIB under its normal investment policies before the entry into force of this Regulation. To better address market failures or sub-optimal investment situations, and to facilitate, in particular, the use of investment platforms for small-scale projects, thereby ensuring complementarity and thus avoiding crowding out participants in the same market, EIB special activities supported by the EFSI shall, as a preferred way and if duly justified: (a) have features of subordination, including the taking of junior positions vis-à-vis other investors; (b) participate in risk-sharing instruments; (c) demonstrate cross-border characteristics; (d) be exposed to specific risks; or (e) have other aspects as further described in point (d) of Section 3 of Annex II. Without prejudice to the requirement to meet the definition of additionality as set out in the first subparagraph, the following elements are strong indications of additionality: projects that carry a risk corresponding to EIB special activities, as defined in Article 16 of the EIB Statute, especially if such projects present country-, sector- or region-specific risks, in particular those experienced in less developed regions and transition regions and/or if such projects present risks associated with innovation, in particular in growth-, sustainability- and productivity-enhancing unproven technologies, projects that consist of physical infrastructure, including e-infrastructure, linking two or more Member States or of the extension of such infrastructure or services linked to such infrastructure from one Member State to one or more Member States.’;

‘2 There shall be no restriction on the size of projects eligible for EFSI support for the operations conducted by the EIB or the EIF via financial intermediaries. In order to ensure that EFSI support also covers small-scale projects, the EIB and the EIF shall, where necessary and to the extent possible, extend cooperation with national promotional banks or institutions and support the possibilities provided, including through facilitating the creation of investment platforms.’;

‘1a All institutions and bodies involved in EFSI governing structures shall endeavour to ensure gender balance in relevant EFSI governing bodies.’;

‘3 The Steering Board shall comprise five members: three appointed by the Commission, one by the EIB and one expert appointed as a non-voting member by the European Parliament. That expert shall not seek or take instructions from Union institutions, bodies, offices or agencies, from any Member State government or from any other public or private body, and shall act in full independence. The expert shall perform his or her duties impartially and in the interest of the EFSI. The Steering Board shall elect a Chairperson from among its voting members for a fixed term of three years, renewable once. The Steering Board shall discuss and take the utmost possible account of the positions of all members. If the members cannot converge in their position, the Steering Board shall take its decisions by unanimous vote among its voting members. The minutes of Steering Board meetings shall provide a substantive account of the positions of all members. The detailed minutes of Steering Board meetings shall be published as soon as they have been approved by the Steering Board. The European Parliament shall be immediately notified of their publication.’;

‘14 The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 23(1) to (3) and (5) to supplement this Regulation by establishing a scoreboard of indicators to be used by the Investment Committee to ensure an independent and transparent assessment of the potential and actual use of the EU guarantee. Such delegated acts shall be prepared in close dialogue with the EIB. The Steering Board shall, as part of the strategic orientation of the EFSI, establish a minimum score for each pillar in the scoreboard with a view to enhancing the assessment of projects. The Steering Board may, upon request from the EIB, allow the Investment Committee to examine a project whose score in any of the pillars is below the minimum score when the global assessment contained in the scoreboard concludes that the operation related to that project would either address a significant market failure or present a high level of additionality.’;

‘2 The EU guarantee shall be granted for EIB financing and investment operations approved by the Investment Committee or for funding or guarantees to the EIF in order to conduct EIB financing and investment operations in accordance with Article 11(3). The EIB shall, where appropriate, delegate the appraisal, selection and monitoring of small-scale sub-projects to financial intermediaries or approved eligible vehicles, in particular investment platforms and national promotional banks or institutions as a means to increase and facilitate the access to finance for small-scale projects. Notwithstanding the third subparagraph of paragraph 5 of this Article, the Investment Committee shall not retain the right to approve the use of the EU guarantee for sub-projects delegated to financial intermediaries or approved eligible vehicles where the EFSI contribution to such sub-projects is below EUR 3000000. Where necessary, the Steering Board shall provide guidance on the procedure by which the Investment Committee is to decide on the use of the EU guarantee for sub-projects for which the EFSI contribution is equal to or above EUR 3000000. The operations concerned shall be consistent with Union policies and support any of the following general objectives:’;

‘3 The investment period during which the EU guarantee may be granted for supporting financing and investment operations covered by this Regulation shall last until: (a) 31 December 2020, for EIB operations for which a contract between the EIB and the beneficiary or financial intermediary has been signed by 31 December 2022; (b) 31 December 2020, for EIF operations for which a contract between the EIF and the financial intermediary has been signed by 31 December 2022.’;

‘4 The EIB shall, where necessary and to the extent possible, cooperate with national promotional banks or institutions and investment platforms.’;

‘1 The EU guarantee shall not, at any time, exceed EUR 26000000000, of which a part may be allocated for EIB funding or guarantees to the EIF in accordance with paragraph 3. Aggregate net payments from the general budget of the Union under the EU guarantee shall not exceed EUR 26000000000 and not exceed EUR 16000000000 before 6 July 2018.’;

‘3 Where the EIB provides funding or guarantees to the EIF in order to conduct EIB financing and investment operations, the EU guarantee shall provide for a full guarantee on such funding or guarantees up to an initial limit of EUR 6500000000, provided that an amount of at least EUR 4000000000 of funding or guarantees is gradually provided by the EIB without coverage by the EU guarantee. Without prejudice to paragraph 1, the limit of EUR 6500000000 may, where appropriate, be adjusted by the Steering Board up to a maximum of EUR 9000000000, without an obligation on the EIB to match the amounts above EUR 4000000000.’;

‘5 Endowments to the guarantee fund referred to in paragraph 2 shall be used to reach an appropriate level (target amount) to reflect the total EU guarantee obligations. The target amount shall be set at 35 % of the total EU guarantee obligations.’;

‘7 From 1 July 2018, if as a result of calls on the EU guarantee, the level of the guarantee fund falls below 50 % of the target amount, or it could fall below that level within a year according to a risk assessment by the Commission, the Commission shall submit a report on any exceptional measures that could be required.

8 After a call on the EU guarantee, endowments to the guarantee fund provided for in points (b) and (d) of paragraph 2 of this Article above the target amount shall be used within the limits of the investment period provided for in Article 9 to restore the EU guarantee to its full amount.

9 Endowments to the guarantee fund provided for in point (c) of paragraph 2 shall be used to restore the EU guarantee to its full amount.

10 In the event that the EU guarantee is fully restored to an amount of EUR 26000000000, any amount in the guarantee fund in excess of the target amount shall be paid to the general budget of the Union as internal assigned revenue in accordance with Article 21(4) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 for any budget lines which could have been used as a source of redeployment to the guarantee fund.’;

‘5 In order to achieve the objective referred to in paragraph 1 and to facilitate the provision of advisory support at local level, the EIAH shall seek to use the expertise of the EIB, the Commission, national promotional banks or institutions, and the managing authorities of the European Structural and Investment Funds.’;

‘5a The EIB shall propose to project promoters applying for EIB financing, including in particular small-scale projects, to refer their projects to the EIAH in order to enhance, where appropriate, the preparation of their projects and/or to allow for the assessment of the possibility of bundling projects through investment platforms. It shall also inform promoters of projects for which EIB financing has been denied, or which are experiencing a financing gap in spite of possible EIB financing, of the possibility of listing their projects on the European Investment Project Portal.’;

‘6a In order to develop a wide geographic outreach of the advisory services across the Union and to successfully leverage local knowledge about the EFSI, a local presence of the EIAH shall be ensured where necessary, taking into account existing support schemes, with a view to providing tangible, proactive, tailor-made assistance on the ground. It shall be established in particular in Member States or regions that face difficulties in developing projects under the EFSI. The EIAH shall assist in the transfer of knowledge to the regional and local level with a view to building up regional and local capacity and expertise.’;

‘7 An annual reference amount of EUR 20000000 shall be made available from the general budget of the Union to contribute towards covering the costs of EIAH operations until 31 December 2020 for the services referred to in paragraph 2, insofar as those costs are not covered by the remaining amount from fees referred to in paragraph 4.’;

‘1 The EIB, in cooperation with the EIF where appropriate, shall submit every six months a report to the Commission on EIB financing and investment operations covered by this Regulation. The report shall include an assessment of compliance with the requirements on the use of the EU guarantee and with the key performance indicators referred to in Article 4(2)(f)(iv). The report shall also include statistical, financial and accounting data on each EIB financing and investment operation and on an aggregated basis. Once a year, the report shall also include information on barriers to investment encountered by the EIB when carrying out investment operations covered by this Regulation.’;

‘1 At the request of the European Parliament or of the Council, the Chairperson of the Steering Board and the Managing Director shall report on the performance of the EFSI to the requesting institution, including, where the European Parliament makes such a request, by participating in a hearing before the European Parliament. In addition, at the request of the European Parliament or of the Council, the Managing Director shall report on the work of the Investment Committee to the requesting institution.’;

‘2 The Chairperson of the Steering Board and the Managing Director shall reply orally or in writing to questions addressed to the EFSI by the European Parliament or by the Council, in any event within five weeks of the date of receipt of a question. In addition, the Managing Director shall reply orally or in writing to the European Parliament or to the Council to questions regarding the work of the Investment Committee.’;

‘6 Both before the tabling of any new proposal in the framework of the multiannual financial framework starting in 2021 and at the end of the investment period, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and to the Council a report containing an independent evaluation of the application of this Regulation, which shall include: (a) an assessment of the functioning of the EFSI, the use of the EU guarantee and the functioning of the EIAH; (b) an assessment of whether the EFSI consists of a good use of resources of the general budget of the Union, mobilises a sufficient level of private capital, and crowds-in private investment; (c) an assessment of whether maintaining a scheme for supporting investment is useful from a macroeconomic point of view; (d) at the end of the investment period, an assessment of the application of the procedure referred to in Article 4(2)(a)(v).’;

‘7 Taking due account of the first report containing an independent evaluation as referred to in paragraph 6, the Commission shall, if appropriate, put forward a legislative proposal together with an appropriate financing under the multiannual financial framework starting in 2021.’;

‘8 The reports referred to in paragraph 6 of this Article shall include an evaluation concerning the use of the scoreboard referred to in Article 7(14) and Annex II, in particular with regard to the consideration of the appropriateness of each pillar and their respective roles in the assessment. The report shall, if appropriate and duly justified by its findings, be accompanied by a proposal for a revision of the delegated act referred to in Article 7(14).’;

‘2 For the purpose of paragraph 1 of this Article, the Court of Auditors shall, at its request and in accordance with Article 287(3) TFEU, be granted full access to any document or information necessary to carry out its task.’;

‘1 In their financing and investment operations covered by this Regulation, the EIB and the EIF shall comply with applicable Union legislation and agreed international and Union standards and, therefore, shall not support projects under this Regulation that contribute to money laundering, terrorism financing, tax avoidance, tax fraud or tax evasion. In addition, the EIB and the EIF shall not enter into new or renewed operations with entities incorporated or established in jurisdictions listed under the relevant Union policy on non-cooperative jurisdictions, or that are identified as high-risk third countries pursuant to Article 9(2) of Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council , or that do not effectively comply with Union or internationally agreed tax standards on transparency and exchange of information. When concluding agreements with financial intermediaries, the EIB and the EIF shall transpose the requirements referred to in this Article into the relevant agreements and shall request the financial intermediaries to report on their observance. The EIB and the EIF shall review their policy on non-cooperative jurisdictions at the latest following the adoption of the Union list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes. Every year thereafter, the EIB and the EIF shall submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the implementation of their policy on non-cooperative jurisdictions in relation to EFSI financing and investment operations including country-by-country information and a list of intermediaries with which they cooperate.

‘1 The financial envelope for the implementation of the CEF for the period 2014 to 2020 is set at EUR 30192259000 in current prices. That amount shall be distributed as follows: (a) transport sector: EUR 24050582000, of which EUR 11305500000 shall be transferred from the Cohesion Fund to be spent in line with this Regulation exclusively in Member States eligible for funding from the Cohesion Fund; (b) telecommunications sector: EUR 1066602000; (c) energy sector: EUR 5075075000. Those amounts are without prejudice to the application of the flexibility mechanism provided for under Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 .

‘5 By way of derogation from the second and third subparagraphs of Article 140(6) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012, revenues and repayments from the financial instruments established under this Regulation and from the financial instruments established under Regulation (EC) No 680/2007 which have been merged with financial instruments established under this Regulation in accordance with paragraph 3 of this Article shall, up to a maximum of EUR 125000000, constitute internal assigned revenue within the meaning of Article 21(4) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 for the European Fund for Strategic Investments established by Regulation (EU) 2015/1017 of the European Parliament and of the Council .

6 By way of derogation from the second and third subparagraphs of Article 140(6) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012, revenues and repayments from the 2020 European Fund for Energy, Climate Change & Infrastructure (‘Marguerite Fund’), established in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 680/2007, shall, up to a maximum of EUR 25000000, constitute internal assigned revenue within the meaning of Article 21(4) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 for the European Fund for Strategic Investments established by Regulation (EU) 2015/1017.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.