REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Comprehensive Report to the European Parliament and the Council on the use of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) EU guarantee and the functioning of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) guarantee fund
Date: 2018-06-29
Institutions: Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: European Fund for Strategic Investments, European Investment Bank, financing, innovation, investment, small and medium-sized enterprises

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 29.6.2018 COM(2018) 497 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Comprehensive Report to the European Parliament and the Council on the use of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) EU guarantee and the functioning of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) guarantee fund  
 
 
Contents 
1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 2 

2. The EU Guarantee ............................................................................................................................... 3 

3. The use of the EU Guarantee .............................................................................................................. 4 

3.1. Infrastructure and Innovation Window (IIW) .............................................................................. 5 

3.1.1. IIW Debt Portfolio ................................................................................................................. 6 

3.1.2. IIW Equity Portfolio .............................................................................................................. 6 

3.2. SME Window (SMEW) ............................................................................................................... 7 

4. The functioning of the EU Guarantee Fund under EFSI ..................................................................... 8 

4.1. The provisioning mechanism of the Guarantee Fund ................................................................... 9 

4.2. Annual and cumulative flows ....................................................................................................... 9 

4.3. Composition and key characteristics of the portfolio ................................................................. 10 

4.4. Performance ................................................................................................................................ 11 

4.5. Assessment of the adequacy of the Target Rate and the level of the Guarantee Fund ............... 11 

5. Conclusions ....................................................................................................................................... 12 

1 

 
 
 
 
 
1. Introduction 

In 2014 the Commission announced the Investment Plan for Europe, a new initiative that was 
established in 2015 to support investment in Europe after the financial and economic crisis.  

The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) was set up, together with the European 
Investment Advisory Hub and the European Investment Project Portal, under Regulation (EU) 
No  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 Project Investment Portal and amending Regulations (EU) No 1291/2013 and (EU) 
No  1316/2013  –  the  European  Fund  for  Strategic  Investments1  (the  EFSI  Regulation),  with 
the aim of kick-starting investments in the Union through the mobilisation of private finance.  

The agreement on the management of the EFSI and on the granting of the EU Guarantee (the 
EFSI  Agreement)  was  signed  by  the  Commission  and  the  European  Investment  Bank  (the 
EIB)  on  22  July  2015.  The  first  amendment  and  restatement  of  the  EFSI  Agreement  was 
signed on 21 July 2016. The second amendment and restatement of the EFSI Agreement was 
signed on 21 November 2017. 

At the end of 2017, the EFSI Regulation was amended by Regulation (EU) 2017/2396 of the 
European  Parliament  and  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  Hub2  (the  EFSI  2.0  Regulation).  The  EFSI  2.0 
Regulation  has,  inter  alia,  increased  the  size  of  the  EU  Guarantee  and  adjusted  the 
provisioning  target  rate.  A  third  amendment  and  restatement  of  the  EFSI  Agreement  was 
signed on 9 March 2018 to reflect the EFSI 2.0 Regulation. 

Article 18(3)(b) of the EFSI Regulation provides that the Commission shall, by 30 June 2018 
and  every  three  years  thereafter  publish  a  comprehensive  report  on  the  use  of  the  EU 
Guarantee and the functioning of the Guarantee Fund.  

Additional detailed information on the implementation of the EFSI can be found in the Staff 
Working  Document3  accompanying  the  Commission  proposal  for  a  Regulation  of  the 
European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  establishing  an  InvestEU  Fund  for  the  period 
2021-2027, presenting the results of an independent external evaluation of the application of 
the EFSI Regulation. 

1. 
2. 
3  

OJ L 169, 1.7.2015, p. 1–38 
OJ L 345, 27.12.2017, p. 34. 
Placeholder reference 

2 

 
 
                                                            
The cut-off date for all figures in this report is 31 December 2017. 

2. The EU Guarantee     

The Union provides an irrevocable and unconditional guarantee to the EIB for financing and 
investment operations under the EFSI. The EU Guarantee is the cornerstone of the EFSI. By 
providing  higher  risk  bearing  to  the  EIB,  the  EU  Guarantee  allows  for  an  increase  in  the 
volume of higher risk projects supported by EIB financing and investment operations under 
the  Infrastructure  and  Innovation  Window  (IIW)  and,  as  a  result,  helps  addressing  market 
failures  and  sub-optimal  investment  situations.  The  EU  Guarantee  also  allows  for  a  greater 
volume of lending and a larger number of companies to be covered under the SME Window 
by the European  Investment Fund (EIF) and thereby facilitates access to finance4 for SMEs 
and small mid-cap companies. 

Part of the overall EFSI operations is covered by the EU Guarantee while a part is carried out 
at the own risk of the EIB. The initial endowment of the EU Guarantee was of EUR 16 billion 
from  the  Union  budget,  complemented  by  an  allocation  of  EUR  5  billion  of  EIB’s  own 
resources. These amounts were increased to EUR 26 billion and EUR 7.5 billion, respectively, 
by the EFSI 2.0 Regulation. 

The EU Guarantee covers financing and investment operations signed by the EIB under the 
Infrastructure  and  Innovation  Window  (IIW)  and  by  the  EIF  under  the  SME  Window 
(SMEW). The initial repartition between the two windows was of up to a maximum of EUR 
13.5 billion for the IIW and up to a maximum of EUR 2.5 billion for the SMEW. Given the 
particularly strong response to the SMEW, the EFSI Steering Board, composed of members 
representing  the  Commission  and  the  EIB,  decided  to  use  the  flexibility  provided  in  the 
Regulation5 to reinforce the latter through the reassignment of EUR 500 million from the IIW 
to  the  SMEW  in  July  2016.  The  EFSI  2.0  Regulation  further  increased  the  share  of  the 
SMEW, setting a limit of EUR 6.5 billion that can be adjusted by the Steering Board up to a 
maximum of EUR 9 billion6. 

The nature of the EU Guarantee is revolving within the lifespan of EFSI, in that the available 
cover  under  the  EU  Guarantee  may  be  made  available  to  new  operations  following  the 
amortisation of existing ones, provided that the EU Guarantee never exceeds EUR 26 billion 
as of 6 July 2018 (or EUR 16 billion prior to that) and that aggregate net payments from the 
general budget of the Union under the EU Guarantee do not exceed EUR 26 billion as of 6 
July 2018 (or EUR 16 billion prior to that). 

4  
5  
6  

Article 3 of the Regulation 
Article 11(1) and (3) of the Regulation 
Article 11(3) of Regulation, as amended 

3 

 
 
                                                            
Table 1 - The split of the EU Guarantee and its development over time 

(in billion EUR) 

EFSI 1.0 

EFSI 
adjustment 

1.0 

EFSI 2.0 

IIW  

SME 

13.5 

13.0 

19.5  

2.5 

3.0 

6.5 

Total EU Guarantee 

16.0 

16.0 

26.0 

EIB risk bearing capacity 

5.0 

5.0 

7.5 

Total EFSI 

21.0 

21.0 

33.5 

Source: Commission services 

3. The use of the EU Guarantee 

The  present  section  reviews  the  use  of  the  EU  Guarantee  under  the  different  activities 
supported by the EFSI. The EU Guarantee covers different products under the two windows 
(IIW and SMEW). 

As  of  end-2017,  the  EIB  group  (EIB  and  EIF)  had  signed  606  operations  under  EFSI  for  a 
total financing of EUR 37.4 billion. These operations are expected to mobilise invesments of 
EUR 207.3 billion in all 28 EU Member States and across all objectives set out in the EFSI 
Regulation (see Figure 1). 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 1: EFSI investment mobilised for signed operations under IIW and SMEW (by sector as of 31 December 
2017) 

Source: EIB 

At the end of 2017, the exposure of the EU budget to possible future payments under the EU 
Guarantee in terms of signed operations (disbursed and undisbursed) amounted to EUR 13.5 
billion,  whereas  the  overall  outstanding  disbursed  exposure  covered  by  the  EU  Guarantee 
amounted to nearly EUR 10.1 billion.  

No  guarantee  calls  on  the  Union  budget  due  to  defaulting  operations  were  made  during  the 
period covered by this report. The EU Guarantee was only used to cover EIB funding costs, 
which were paid out of revenues from IIW operations.  

3.1. Infrastructure and Innovation Window (IIW) 

Under the IIW, the allocation of EIB operations to the debt or equity portfolio is based on the 
EIB's system of loan grading and the EIB's standard risk assessment. Under the IIW, the EU 
Guarantee amounting to EUR 13 billion is broken down as follows: 

I. 
II. 

up to EUR 10.5 billion for debt-type operations.  
up to EUR 2.5 billion for equity-type operations. 

As  of  31  December  2017,  under  the  IIW,  the  EIB  had  signed  278  operations  for  a  total 
financing  of  EUR  27.4  billion,  which  are  expected  to  mobilise  invesments  of  EUR  131.4 
billion in 27 EU Member States. 

3.1.1. IIW Debt Portfolio 

The IIW Debt Portfolio includes all signed and not cancelled debt-type operations. For each 
debt-type operation, the EIB conducts its standard risk assessment, involving the computation 

5 

 
 
 
of  the  probability  of  default  and  the  recovery  rate,  without  taking  into  account  the  EU 
Guarantee (in order to reflect the overall risk of the transaction7). The operations supported by 
the EU Guarantee typically have a higher risk profile than EIB normal operations and hence 
fall  within  the  scope  of  special  activities8.  Less  risky  transactions  may  be  incorporated  into 
the  EFSI  portfolio,  provided  that  a  high  added-value  is  clearly  demonstrated  and  their 
inclusion is consistent with the criterion of providing additionality.  

Under the IIW Debt Portfolio, the Union budget provides a 100 % first-loss piece guarantee 
for the debt portfolio implemented by the EIB under the EFSI. The first-loss piece is expected 
to  be  approximately  25  %  for  the  IIW  Debt  Portfolio-Standard  and  33%  for  the  IIW  Debt 
Portfolio-Hybrid9 of the volume of the overall portfolio of operations financed by the EIB at 
the end of the investment period, whereas the residual risk is fully borne by the EIB.  

The EU Guarantee may be called in case of defaults by EIB's obligors or, if a restructuring 
process is undertaken, to cover restructuring losses in relation to debt-type operations. 

EIB  debt  operations  generate  revenues  established  in  accordance  with  EIB  pricing 
methodology. Risk-related revenues are shared between the Union and the EIB on the basis of 
the risk taken, in accordance with the risk- and revenue-sharing principles set out in the EFSI 
Agreement. 

As of 31 December 2017, 207 debt-type operations (of which 14 hybrid operations) had been 
signed under the IIW for a total financing of EUR 24.1 billion. 

3.1.2. IIW Equity Portfolio 

The IIW Equity Portfolio includes all signed and not cancelled equity-type operations. Under 
this  portfolio,  the  EU  Guarantee  may  be  used  to  support  direct  investments  in  individual 
companies  or  projects  (equity-type  direct  investments)  or  financing  for  funds  or  analogous 
portfolio risks (equity-type portfolio).  

The EIB performs its standard assessment and determines whether an operation bears equity-
type risks or not, irrespective of its legal form and nomenclature. Equity-type investments are 
to  be  priced  in  line  with  the  market,  absent  which  market  testing  or  benchmarking  is  to  be 
used. 

7  
8  
9  

Annex II of the Regulation, point 6. 
Special activities are defined in Article 16 of the EIB Statute. 
A hybrid compartment within the IIW Debt Portfolio was created to accommodate specific operations such 
as risk-sharing operations, which EIB delegates fully to financial intermediaries, Asset Backed Securities, 
etc. As of 31 December 2017, the allocation of EU Guarantee to this portfolio was EUR 1 billion. 

6 

 
 
                                                            
Under the IIW Equity Portfolio–Standard, for each operation the EU Guarantee covers 100 % 
of  the  amounts  financed  by  the  EIB  provided  that  the  EIB  invests  on  a  pari  passu  basis  an 
equivalent amount on its own.  

The  EU  Guarantee  may  be  called  to  cover  negative  value  adjustments10  (unrealised  losses), 
realised losses at divestment and the EIB funding costs, for the part of the equity investment 
guaranteed by the EU.  

All the cash amounts considered as revenues, which are received in respect of the IIW Equity 
Portfolio–Standard, are used to remunerate the EU Guarantee.  

The third amendment and restatement of the EFSI Agreement of 9 March 2018 foresees the 
creation  of  an  IIW  Equity  Portfolio–NPBs.  On  a  portfolio  basis,  the  EU  Guarantee  shall 
provide 95 % of the first-loss piece, whereas the EIB shall retain the remaining 5% as well as 
the full residual risk.  

As of 31 December 2017, 77 equity-type operations had been signed under the IIW for a total 
financing of EUR 3.3 billion. 

3.2. SME Window (SMEW) 

The SME Window (SMEW) of EFSI facilitates access to loan and equity financing for small 
and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and, to a limited extent, also small mid-cap companies. 
It is implemented by the EIF.  

In  the  area  of  support  to  loan  financing,  the  part  of  the  SMEW  benefitting  from  the  EU 
guarantee under EFSI boosts existing EU financial instruments for SMEs in such a way that 
their intervention is faster and that they can support a greater volume of lending and a larger 
number  of  companies.  Specifically,  the  support  is  provided  to  the  COSME  Loan  Guarantee 
Facility  that  enhances  access  to  finance  for  riskier  SMEs,  to  the  InnovFin  SME  Guarantee 
Facility that focuses on innovative and research-intensive enterprises, to the EaSI Guarantee 
Facility which supports microfinance and social enterprises and to the CCS Guarantee Facility 
which  provides  dedicated  support  to  SMEs  in  the  cultural  and  creative  sectors.  Under  these 
products,  EFSI  supports  guarantees  that  the  EIF  issues  to  banks,  ensuring  that  they  extend 
lending  to  the  target  beneficiaries,  with  either  greater  overall  portfolio  volumes  or  at  better 
terms than without the EU Guarantee. 

10   Value adjustment means change in the aggregate book value of the equity-type operations. 

7 

 
 
                                                            
In  the  area  of  equity  financing,  the  part  of  the  SMEW  benefitting  from  the  EU  Guarantee 
under EFSI supports a facility that the EIF uses to invest in equity funds, funds of funds or co-
investment vehicles that channel equity financing to early stage companies (e.g. start-ups) and 
also growth and expansion stage companies (e.g. scale ups). 

The  EU  Guarantee  allocated  to  the  SMEW  under  the  EFSI  Regulation  amounts  to  EUR  3 
billion  (following  the  transfer  from  IIW  described  in  section  2).  With  the  EFSI  2.0 
Regulation,  the  EU  Guarantee  extended  to  the  SMEW  was  expanded  by  another  EUR  3.5 
billion  available  for  deployment  over  the  period  2018-2020.  Apart  from  the  instruments 
covered  by  the  EU  Guarantee  under  EFSI,  the  SMEW  also  benefits  from  a  direct  EIB 
contribution of EUR 2.5 billion which has served to extend the EIB's Risk Capital Resources 
mandate  to  the  EIF  in  support  of  equity  financing  for  SMEs  and  mid-caps.  This  direct  EIB 
contribution to EFSI was extended by another EUR 1.5 billion in the context of EFSI 2.0. 

As  of  the  end  of  2017,  the  EIF  had  signed  SMEW  operations  with  305  financial 
intermediaries  for  a  total  EIF  financing  of  almost  EUR  10  billion.  These  operations  are 
expected to mobilise investment of EUR 76 billion in all 28 Member States of the EU. By the 
end  of  2017,  a  total  of  135,785  companies  had  already  received  EFSI-supported  financing 
under the SMEW and 1.5 million jobs were created or supported.   

4. The functioning of the EU Guarantee Fund under EFSI 

The Guarantee Fund under the EFSI (the Guarantee Fund) was established under Article 12 of 
the EFSI Regulation and it is funded mainly from payments from the Union general budget 
and  revenues  originating  from  operations  under  the  EU  Guarantee.  The  Guarantee  Fund 
constitutes a liquidity cushion from which the EIB is to be paid in the event of a call on the 
EU Guarantee. The Guarantee Fund has to be maintained at a certain percentage11 (the Target 
Rate) of the total amount of the obligations under the EU Guarantee, currently 35%. Thus, the 
liquidity  cushion  is  intended  to  provide  an  appropriate  safety  margin  avoiding  exposing  the 
Union  budget  to  sudden  guarantee  calls,  which  could  entail  spending  cuts  or  budget 
amendments. Therefore, it contributes to the predictability of the budgetary framework. 

In accordance with the EFSI Agreement, calls are paid by the Guarantee Fund 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 Union revenues 
resulting from operations under the EU Guarantee and recovered amounts and, to the extent of 

11  

The  Target  Rate  was  originally  set  by  Article  12(5)  of  the  EFSI  Regulation  at  50%  of  the  total  EU 
Guarantee obligations. As of the entry in force of the EFSI 2.0 Regulation, the Target Rate is set at 35% of 
the total EU Guarantee obligations. 

8 

 
 
                                                            
the available balance, for the payment of calls under the EU Guarantee and for the payment of 
EIB recoverable administrative costs and recovery costs. 

4.1. The provisioning mechanism of the Guarantee Fund 

The Guarantee Fund is provisioned through: 

  Contributions  from  the  general  budget  of  the  Union;  the  budget  allocated  for  the 

Guarantee Fund provisioning amounts to EUR 8 425 million; 

  Revenues and any other payments received by the Union in accordance with the EFSI 
Agreement  (i.e.  projects  benefitting  from  EFSI  support);  these  assigned  revenues  to 
the Guarantee Fund amount to EUR 675 million; 

  Returns (interests) on Guarantee Fund resources invested in the financial markets; 
  Amounts  recovered  from  projects  for  which  the  EU  Guarantee  was  called  (i.e. 

defaulting debtors). 

The Guarantee Fund is provisioned progressively taking into account the increase in exposure 
borne by the EU Guarantee and it is directly managed by the Commission; its resources are 
invested  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  sound  financial  management  and  appropriate 
prudential rules. 

4.2. Annual and cumulative flows 

The  payment  schedule  of  the  budget  item  provisioning  the  Guarantee  Fund  is  presented  in 
table 1. In 2016, an amount of EUR 1 018 million was made available to the Fund. Of this, the 
bulk came from payment appropriations of the Union budget (EUR 1 012 million) while an 
amount  of  EUR  6.33  million,  resulting  from  operations  under  the  EU  Guarantee,  was 
recovered from the EFSI Account (as assigned revenue). In 2017, an amount of EUR 2 490 
million was made available to the Guarantee Fund. Of this, the amount of EUR 39.2 million, 
resulting from operations under the EU Guarantee, was recovered from the EFSI Account (as 
assigned revenue).  

9 

Table 1: Payment schedule to the Guarantee Fund from the Union budget(EUR million)20152016201720182019202020212022TotalCommitments1 3502 1042 6412 0101671538 425Payments 1 0122 4501 8001 1501 0885254008 425Note: The payment profile of year 2018 and onward is provisional.             The payment amounts presented for 2016 and 2017 do not include assigned revenues 
 
 
As of 31 December 2017, the cumulative amount of EUR 3 508 million was paid and invested 
in bonds. 

As  of  31  December  2017,  EFSI  operations  managed  by  the  EIB  under  the  IIW  generated 
revenue of EUR 78.5 million for the EU12, of which EUR 61.0 million during the year 2017. 

As of 31 December 2017, an amount of EUR 0.4 million was paid to cover the EIB's funding 
costs.  Moreover,  an  amount  of  EUR  1,0  million  was  paid  to  cover  adminstrative  fees  and 
other costs for the EFSI operations managed by the EIF under the SMEW, in accordance with 
the  EFSI  Regulation  and  EFSI  Agreement.  These  amounts  were  paid  out  of  the  EFSI 
Account. 

4.3. Composition and key characteristics of the portfolio 

The  Guarantee  Fund’s  investment  portfolio  is  invested  in  accordance  with  the  management 
principles laid down in Commission Decision C(2016)165 of 21 January 2016 approving the 
asset  management  guidelines  of  the  guarantee  fund  of  the  European  Fund  for  Strategic 
Investments.  

These  guidelines  foresee  that  the  assets  in  the  investment  portfolio  shall  provide  sufficient 
liquidity in relation to the potential guarantee calls, while still aiming at optimising the return 
and risk level that is compatible with maintaining a high degree of security and stability.  

Investment and risk management strategies were adopted reflecting the investment objectives 
and outlook of market conditions. The investment approach aims at enhanced diversification 
across various fixed income asset classes.  

At the end of December 2017, the investment portfolio was made predominantly of securities 
issued  by  Sovereigns  (42.5%  of  market  value) as  well as  by  Sub-sovereigns,  supranationals 
and agencies (SSA) (21.5% of market value) and covered bonds (25.5% of market value). The 
remainder  was  mainly  allocated  to  unsecured  bonds  issued  by  corporates  and  financial 
institutions.  About  18%  of  the  portfolio  was  invested  in  liquid  and  highly-rated  (AA/AAA) 
USD  denominated  investments.  The  currency  risk  exposure  of  these  investments  has  been 
hedged. 

The portfolio duration13 at the end of 2017 was 3.47 years. Average credit rating is A-. 

12  

See the Reports from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the Court of Auditors 
on the management of the Guarantee Fund of the EFSI in 2016 and 2017. 

13   Duration figures refer to 'modified duration' which measures the price sensitivity of a bond to interest rate 
movements. This figure is based on the concept that a security price and interest rates are inversely related. 

10 

 
 
                                                            
The bulk of the portfolio is invested in liquid securities and an adequate part (16% of the total 
portfolio value) matures in less than 12 months. 

The profile of the portfolio, in terms of duration, credit risk and liquidity, has been calibrated 
in  line  with  the  forecasted  cash-flows  arising  from  the  EFSI  operations  under  the  EU 
Guarantee (e.g. projected calls, revenues). 

4.4. Performance 

Performance is calculated on a time-weighted basis in order not to be affected by the size of 
the portfolio, which grew considerably during the two years. 

Since inception in April 2016, the Guarantee Fund delivered an absolute performance of 0.2% 
percent at the cut-off date of this report, end of December 2017. This close to zero return was 
achieved  against  a  background  of  negative  rates  (especially  for  what  is  perceived  by  the 
markets as "credit risk free" and liquid exposures in Europe14) and rising interest rates in the 
United States15. 

4.5. Assessment of the adequacy of the Target Rate and the level of the Guarantee 
Fund 

The Target Rate of the Guarantee Fund was originally set at 50% of the total EU guarantee 
obligations. This target was estimated before the start of EFSI.  

In  2016,  the  Commission's  internal  evaluation  of  EFSI16  concluded  that  the  provisioning  of 
the Guarantee Fund could be adjusted. The risk assessment of the different products supported 
by  the  EU  Guarantee  showed  that  overall  the  Union  budget  would  be  adequately  shielded 
from potential calls under the EU Guarantee with an adjusted Target Rate for provisioning the 
Guarantee Fund of 35% taking into consideration recoveries, revenues and reflows from EFSI 
operations.  

The  Council  and  European  Parliament  approved  the  Commission  proposal  and  the  Target 
Rate has been set at the level of 35% of the total EU Guarantee obligations as of the entry into 
force of the EFSI 2.0 Regulation. The adequacy of the Target Rate was confirmed based on 
the EFSI portfolio end of 2017.  

14  
15  

16. 

For example, the average yield of German 5 year bonds was – 34 basis points during 2017. 
For example 2-year US treasury yields increased by 69 basis points during 2017. While increasing yields 
offer better reinvestment opportunities over time, they lead to an initial negative revaluation effect.  
SWD(2016) 297 

11 

 
 
                                                            
5. Conclusions 

The  independent  evaluation  of  the  application  of  the  EFSI  Regulation  that  underpins  the 
Proposal  for  a  Regulation  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  establishing  the 
InvestEU  Programme17  concluded  to  the  overall  relevance  and  effectiveness  of  the  EU 
Guarantee.  

Between  2014  and  2017,  EIB  Special  Activities  experienced  an  almost  five-fold  increase, 
with EFSI operations under the EU Guarantee accounting for 95% of EIB Special Activities 
in  2016  and  2017,  thereby  demonstrating  the  value-added  of  the  EU  Guarantee.  Providing 
additional risk bearing capacity to the EIB and the EIF did lead to additional and higher risk 
financing by the EIB Group.  

The  evaluation  further  confirmed  that  the  levels  of  the  EU  Guarantee  and  of  the  EIB 
contribution were appropriately sized for the period 2015-2018 as it allowed the EIB Group to 
mobilise a level of investment in line with expectations. The adjustment of the Target Rate for 
the  Guarantee  Fund  under  EFSI  2.0  resulted  in  a  more  efficient  use  of  the  EU  budget. 
Moreover,  as  a  large  part  of  the  additional  funds  required  to  provision  the  extension  of  the 
Guarantee  Fund  will  originate  from  EFSI  revenues  and  reflows  from  other  financial 
instruments,  the  impact  on  other  parts  of  the  EU  budget  was  limited,  thereby  leading  to  an 
increased efficiency of EU budget support. 

Finally,  the  evaluation  considered  that  overall,  the  approach  to  modelling  the  EFSI  Target 
Rate appears to be adequate and in line with industry practice. 

17. 

COM(2018) 439 

12