Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Operational context

3. Financial accounts

4. Management of the EFSIGF in 2015

5. Assessment of the adequacy of the target amount and the level of the EFSIGF

1.Introduction

The legal basis for this report is Regulation (EU) 2015/1017 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 June 2015 on the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the European Investment Advisory Hub and the European Investment Project Portal and amending Regulations (EU) No 1291/2013 and (EU) No 1316/2013 — the European Fund for Strategic Investments (the "EFSI Regulation"). The agreement on the management of the EFSI and on the granting of the EU guarantee (the "EFSI Agreement") was signed by the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (the "EIB") on 22 July 2015.

Article 16(6) of the EFSI Regulation provides that the Commission shall, by 31 May of each year, submit to the European Parliament, to the Council and to the European Court of Auditors an annual report on the management of the EFSI Guarantee Fund (the "EFSIGF") in the previous calendar year, including an assessment of the adequacy of the target amount and the level of the EFSIGF and of the need for its replenishment. This annual report shall contain the presentation of the financial position of the EFSIGF at the end of the previous calendar year, the financial flows during the previous calendar year as well as the significant transactions and any relevant information on the financial accounts. The report shall also include information about the financial management, the performance and the risk of the EFSIGF at the end of the previous calendar year.

The EFSI Regulation also provides, in Article 16(2), that the EIB, in cooperation with the European Investment Fund (the "EIF") where appropriate, shall submit a separate annual report to the European Parliament and to the Council on EIB financing and investment operations covered by the Regulation ("EFSI operations"), which shall be made public. To date, the EIB has not yet adopted the annual report for 2015.

2.Operational context

The EU Guarantee covers financing and investment operations signed by the EIB under the Infrastructure and Innovation Window and by the EIF under the SME Window. Part of these operations is covered by the EU Guarantee while a part is carried out at the own risk of the EIB Group.

In 2015, total signatures under EFSI amounted to EUR 3 billion covering 19 Member States, of which EUR 1.2 billion signed by the EIB (10 operations) and EUR 1.8 billion signed by the EIF (83 operations). Of these signatures, as of end 2015, EUR 1,553 million was covered by the EU Guarantee (EUR 1,155 million from EIB and EUR 398 million from EIF). The total outstanding exposure covered by the EU Guarantee in terms of disbursements was around EUR 202 million.

The EIB and the EIF are responsible for assessing and monitoring the risk of the individual operations and reported back to the Commission and the European Court of Auditors in line with Article 16(3) of the EFSI Regulation in March 2016. On the basis of this reporting, the Commission will review the adequacy of the target amount and the level of the EFSIGF.

Pursuant to Article 16(2) of the EFSI Regulation, the annual report of the EIB to the European Parliament and Council shall contain specific information on the aggregate risk associated with the financing and investment operations carried out under EFSI as well on guarantee calls.

According to Article 12 of the EFSI Regulation, the EFSIGF shall constitute a liquidity cushion from which the EIB shall be paid in the event of a call on the EU guarantee. In accordance with the EFSI Agreement between the EU and the EIB, calls are paid by the EFSIGF if their amount is in excess of the funds at the disposal of the EIB on the EFSI Account. The EFSI Account, managed by the EIB, has been established for the purposes of collecting the EU revenues resulting from EFSI guaranteed operations and recovered amounts and to the extent of the available balance, for the payment of calls under the EU guarantee.

The EFSIGF is provisioned progressively taking into account the increase in exposure borne by the EU Guarantee.