REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of the public sector loan facility under the Just Transition Mechanism in 2022, as referred in Article 16 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1229
Date: 2023-02-07
Institutions: Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, European Commission
Subjects: EU aid, EU environmental policy, EU loan, carbon neutrality, circular economy, climate change, green economy, public sector, regional aid, regional development

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 7.2.2023  COM(2023) 60 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of the public sector loan facility under the Just Transition Mechanism in 2022, as referred in Article 16 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1229  
 
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE 
COUNCIL 

on the implementation of the public sector loan facility under the Just Transition 
Mechanism in 2022, as referred in Article 16 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1229 

1. 

INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT 

In December 2019, the Commission set out a European Green Deal for the European Union and its 
citizens1, recalling  the Commission’s commitment  to  tackling climate and environmental-related 
challenges  and  outlining  the  need  for  a  transition  conducted  in  a  fair  and  inclusive  way.  The 
Commission detailed in January 2020 a Just Transition Mechanism as part of the European Green 
Deal Investment Plan2, to make sure that no one and no region is left behind in the transition to a 
climate-neutral  economy.  The  primary  goal  of  the  mechanism  is  to  provide  support  to  the  most 
negatively affected regions and people and to help them alleviating the socio-economic costs of the 
transition.  The  Just  Transition  Mechanism  consists  of  three  pillars:  the  first  pillar  is  the  Just 
Transition Fund, the second pillar is a dedicated scheme under the InvestEU Programme, while the 
third pillar is the public sector loan facility (the Facility).  

Under the Facility, loans (provided by the European Investment Bank as finance partner) will be 
combined with grants (provided by the Union) to support public sector entities with resources to 
meet the development needs in the transition towards a climate neutral economy.  

The Facility will support projects that do not generate a sufficient stream of revenues to cover their 
investment costs and address the development needs of the territories identified in the Territorial 
just transition plans3. Supported investments will cover a wide range of development needs, from 
energy and transport infrastructure, district-heating networks, energy efficiency, as well as up- and 
re-skilling, training and social infrastructure, including social housing.  

1.1.  Legal  and  budgetary  framework  of  the  public  sector  loan  facility  under  the  Just 

Transition Mechanism 

The Facility was established by Regulation (EU) 2021/1229 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council  of  14  July  2021  on  the  public  sector  loan  facility  under  the  Just  Transition  Mechanism 
(hereafter the "PSLF Regulation").  

The PSLF Regulation provides a total maximum budget of €1 525 million of Union support for the 
grant component of the Facility (including technical assistance and advisory support).  

In addition, the European Investment Bank will provide up to €10 billion for the loan component of 
the Facility.  

1.2. 

Scope of the 2022 Implementation Report  

According to Article 16(3) of the PSLF Regulation, "by 31 October of each calendar year, starting 
with 2022, the Commission shall issue a report on the implementation of the Facility. That report 

1  Communication from the Commission – The European Green Deal – COM(2019) 640 final, 11.12.2019. 
2  Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social 
Committee  and  the  Committee  of  the  Regions  –  Sustainable  Europe  Investment  Plan-European  Green  Deal 
Investment Plan – COM(2020) 21 final, 14.1.2020. 

3  As defined in Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1056 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 

2021 establishing the Just Transition Fund (OJ L 231, 30.6.2021, p. 1). 

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shall provide information on the level of implementation of the Facility with respect to its objectives, 
conditions and performance indicators." 

As detailed below, the publication of the first call for proposals under the Facility was subject to the 
completion of a number of preparatory steps including: the adoption of the financing decision (see 
point 2.1.1), the delegation of the implementation of the Facility to CINEA (see point 2.1.2), the 
signing  of  the  administrative  agreement  with  the  finance  partner  (see  point  2.1.3)  and  the 
establishment  of  the  advisory  support  under  the  InvestEU  Advisory  Hub  (see  point  2.1.4).  In 
addition, the publication of the first call for proposals was  subject to the adoption of a sufficient 
number of Territorial just transitions plans, as these plans are required for potential applicants to 
identify relevant projects and submit their proposals.  

On 16 June 2022, the Commission adopted the first Just Transition Fund programmes and related 
Territorial  just  transition  plans  for  the  2021-2027  programming  period4.  This  enabled  the 
Commission  to  proceed  with  the  publication  of  the  first  call  for  proposals  under  the  Facility  on 
19 July 2022 with the first submission deadline occurring on 19 October 2022.  

Therefore,  the  implementation  of  the  Facility  has  only  just  started  and  there  are  only  limited 
elements to report about.  

Hence, this first report will focus on describing the main preparatory steps that led to publishing the 
first call for proposals and the features of the call.  

In order to include in this report elements related to the actual implementation of the Facility, it was 
decided to finalise and issue this report only after the first submission deadline,  hence the slight 
delay compared to the regulatory deadline set out in the PSLF Regulation. 

2. 

REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FACILITY  

2.1. 

Preparations of the publication of the first call for proposals under the Facility  

2.1.1.  Adoption of the financing decision 

Pursuant  to  Article  14  of  the  PSLF  Regulation  (Work  programmes),  the  Facility  shall  be 
implemented  by  work  programmes  established  in  accordance  with  Article  110  of  the  Financial 
Regulation and adopted by means of Commission implementing acts under comitology procedure. 

The financing decision including the multi-annual work programme for the Facility for the 2021-
2025 period received a positive opinion from the Committee for the Common Provisions Regulation 
Funds on 6 May 20225 and was adopted on 17 June 2022. 

The financing decision including the multi-annual work programme is publicly available: 

- on the Commission’s website for Cohesion policy: Publication of Financing Decisions and Annual 

Work Programme - DG REGIO - Regional Policy - European Commission (europa.eu) 

- on the "Funding&Tenders portal", the entry point for participants in funding programmes by the 

European Commission: 2022_public_loan_facility_annex.pdf (europa.eu) 

4  EU Cohesion Policy: €1.63 billion for a just climate and energy transition in Greece - Regional Policy - European 

Commission (europa.eu) 

5  Comitology Register (europa.eu) 

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2.1.2.  Delegation of the implementation of the Facility to CINEA 

The  management  of  the  Facility  was  delegated6  by  the  Commission’s  Directorate-General  for 
Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) to the European Climate Infrastructure and Environment 
Executive  Agency  (CINEA)7  and  the  final  split  of  tasks  was  agreed  through  a  Memorandum  of 
Understanding signed on 5 September 2022.  

CINEA is responsible for the implementation of specific tasks concerning the granting of Union 
financial  aid  and  the  implementation  of  the  corresponding  appropriations  entered  in  the  Union 
budget, under the supervision of DG REGIO acting as parent DG. DG REGIO remains in charge of 
the policy aspects and the final selection of the projects to be supported by the Facility.  

2.1.3.  Administrative agreement with the finance partner (European Investment Bank) 

Pursuant to Article 8 of the PSLF Regulation (Administrative agreement), the Commission and the 
finance partner shall sign an administrative agreement, prior to the implementation of the Facility.  

Following negotiations with the European Investment Bank, the administrative agreement between 
the Commission and the European Investment Bank entered into force on 1 September 2022.  

2.1.4.  Advisory support under the InvestEU Advisory Hub  

Pursuant  to  Article  3  (Objectives)  and  Article  13  (Advisory  support  services)  of  the  PSLF 
Regulation,  advisory  support  should  be  provided  (for  the  preparation,  development  and 
implementation of eligible projects) and implemented in indirect management, in accordance with 
the rules and implementation methods for the InvestEU Advisory Hub.  

Up to €35 million shall be provided for advisory support activities, out of which at least €10 million 
shall support the administrative capacity of beneficiaries, in particular in the less developed regions. 

The  Commission  and  the  European  Investment  Bank  signed  on  4  March  20228  an  advisory 
agreement in respect of the advisory activities and operational support to be implemented by the 
European Investment Bank under the InvestEU Advisory Hub in the period 2021-2024.  

This agreement details and implements the advisory support in respect of the Facility. In practice, 
advisory support can be requested by potential beneficiaries through the InvestEU Advisory Hub’s 
central entry point9.  

The  availability  of  the  advisory  support  was  widely  disseminated  as  part  of  the  communication 
activities supporting the publication of the first call for proposals under the Facility. 

As of the time of drafting this report, there has been no request for support. However, the European 
Investment Bank has been advising potential beneficiaries with respect to potential projects under 
the  Just  Transition  Mechanism  through  JASPERS10,  Project  Advisory  Support  and  Advisory 
Services.  

6  Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/173 of 12 February 2021  
7 
8  European  Commission  and  EIB  Group  sign  InvestEU  agreements  unlocking  billions  for  investment  across  the 

Public sector loan facility on CINEA's website 

European Union 
InvestEU Advisory Hub (europa.eu).  

9 
10  A joint Commission/EIB initiative providing advisory services (About JASPERS (eib.org)) 

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2.1.5.  Horizontal principles 

Pursuant  to  Article  4  of  the  PSLF  Regulation  (Horizontal  principles),  the  compliance  with  the 
horizontal principles shall be ensured when implementing the Facility.  

This has been reflected in different ways in the documentation, in line with Commission practices. 
The compliance with the horizontal principles has been included in the text of the call for proposals 
as eligibility condition and as part of the award criteria. Consequently, the model of the application 
form includes dedicated questions on the compliance with these principles.  

In addition,  in  accordance with  its own rules, policies and procedures,  the  European  Investment 
Bank also includes the compliance with these principles in its assessment of the loans to be provided 
by the European Investment Bank.  

2.2. 

Start of the implementation of the Facility 

2.2.1.  Establishing the parameters for the implementation of the Facility 

Pursuant  to  Article  7  of  the  PSLF  Regulation  (Availability  of  resources),  the  total  of  the  grants 
awarded to eligible projects in a given Member State pursuant to the call for proposals published 
not later than 31 December 2025 shall not exceed the corresponding national share allocated to such 
Member State. These national shares are set out in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2021/1056 of the 
European Parliament and of the Council11 and in the financing decision including the multi-annual 
work programme. 

The Commission decided to start the implementation of the Facility with a first multi-annual call 
for proposals. This call for proposals will be the only one published to cover the period 2022-2025. 
The entire national share of each Member State will be available under this first multi-annual call 
for proposals.  

The Commission will publish a second multi-annual call for proposals to cover the period 2026-
2027.  This  second  call  for  proposals  will  have  a  budget  consisting  of  any  amount  remaining 
available under each national share at the end of the first call for proposals and will award grants on 
a competitive basis at Union level.  

2.2.2.  Publication of the first call for proposals under the Facility  

As accessing funding under the Facility is conditional to the existence of an approved Territorial 
just transition plan, it was decided to publish the first call for proposals only after the adoption of a 
sufficient number of Territorial just transition plans.  

On 16 June 2022, the Commission adopted the first Just Transition Fund programmes and related 
Territorial just transition plans for the 2021-2027 programming period.  

This enabled the Commission to proceed with the publication of the first call for proposals under 
the Facility on 19 July 2022. The first submission deadline occurred on 19 October 2022, and it will 
be followed by three submission deadlines per calendar year (in January, April and September 2023, 
2024 and 2025), as explained in the table below.  

11  Regulation (EU) 2021/1056 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 establishing the Just 

Transition Fund (OJ L 231, 30.6.2021, p. 1). 

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Following the publication of the first call, additional Territorial just transition plans were adopted. 
At the time of the first submission deadline, 16 Territorial just transition plans were adopted for 
territories located in Austria, Czechia, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, and Sweden.  

In total, around 70 Territorial just transition plans are expected to be adopted by the first quarter of 
202312.  

2.2.3.  Availability of the call for proposals and initial communication activities  

The call for proposals is published and accessible on the Commission’s Funding&Tenders portal13. 
Information  can  also  be  found  by  potential  applicants  on  the  Just  Transition  Platform14  and  on 
CINEA’s  website15.  The  publication  of  the  first  call  for  proposals  under  the  Facility  was  also 
disseminated by other usual  means (see  Section 3.2)  including in  a joint  Commission-EIB press 
release and the social media.   

12  For updated map with adopted TJTPs access: Inforegio - Just Transition Fund (europa.eu) 
13  Funding & tenders (europa.eu) 
14 
15  CINEA - Investment areas (europa.eu) 

Just Transition platform - Regional Policy - European Commission (europa.eu) 

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In  addition,  the  Commission,  CINEA  and  the  European  Investment  Bank  organised  a  dedicated 
"Info  Day"  on  14  September  2022.  During  this  event,  the  policy  aspects  of  the  Facility  and  the 
procedures to request a grant from the Commission and a loan from the European Investment Bank 
were explained in detail and potential applicants’ questions were answered. The event was recorded 
and  the  link  to  the  replay  is  available  to  any  potential  applicant  on  the  Facility’s  webpage  of 
CINEA’s website16.  

A dedicated session on the advisory support available was also organised (including with regard to 
the Facility) under the InvestEU Advisory Hub.  

Two other  dedicated information sessions have  been held  on 21 September  2022  within the EU 
Energy Sustainable Week and on 11 October 2022 within the European Week of Regions and Cities. 

Together these sessions were attended by approximately 300 participants. 

2.3.  Results following the first submission deadline 

The first submission deadline occurred on 19 October 2022; three applications have been received, 
out of which one is admissible/eligible and is going through the evaluation process.  

This low number was expected as (i) only a limited number of Territorial just transition plans had 
been adopted, this being a  pre-condition  (i.e.  eligibility condition) to  submit a proposal, and (ii) 
potential applicants need time to familiarise themselves with the Facility and prepare proposals. 

The  Commission  will  continue  working  on  raising  the  awareness  around  the  Facility  for  the 
upcoming submission deadlines in order to increase the number of applications.  

3. 

COMMUNICATION ACTIVITIES  

3.1.  Administrative agreement with the finance partner (European Investment Bank) 

Following the signature of the administrative agreement with the European Investment Bank, press 
releases were issued by the Commission17 and the EIB18. 

3.2. 

Publication of the first call for proposals 

The Commission ensured a wide communication effort around the publication of the first call for 
proposals by issuing press releases from Commission services19 and CINEA20 and including a daily 
news item on the Commission’s press corner21.  

Video messages were recorded by both the Commissioner in charge of Regional and Urban Policy22 
and the Vice-President of the European Investment Bank23. 

16  2022 JTM PSLF Call Info Day (europa.eu) 
17  https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/newsroom/news/2022/09/09-07-2022-commission-and-european-
investment-bank-unlock-up-to-eur10-billion-to-support-public-investments-in-the-territories-in-transition-
towards-a-climate-neutral-economy 

18  https://www.eib.org/en/press/all/2022-346-just-transition-eib-to-provide-up-to-eur10-billion-in-support-of-

regions-most-affected-by-the-shift-away-from-fossil-fuels 

19  https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/newsroom/news/2022/07/19-07-2022-commission-publishes-the-first-

call-for-proposals-for-a-public-sector-loan-facility 

20  https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/news-events/news/just-transition-mechanism-european-commission-publishes-first-

calls-proposals-public-sector-loan-2022-07-19_en 

21  https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/mex_22_4612 
22  https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/SPEECH_22_4621 -   

https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-228334?lg=EN 

23  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TR4M9jojHWmfw4BLIeTEqfEXAg46cmmP/view?usp=sharing 

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3.3. 

Frequently asked questions (FAQs) 

Questions raised during the communication events are published on CINEA’s website as reference 
for the participants. The Commission has also published approximately 40 selected FAQs on the 
Funding&Tenders portal.  

A dedicated functional  mailbox was created by CINEA to answer further incoming questions of 
potential beneficiaries.  

3.4. 

2022 communication events  

10 May 2022:  

Session during the Just Transition Platform24  

14 September 2022:   Info Day organised by CINEA, Commission and the EIB25 

21 September 2022:   Session  during 
(extended programme)26 

the  European  Sustainable  Energy  Week 

11 October 2022:  

Session during the European Week of Regions and Cities27  

8-11 November 2022:  "One-to-EU" meetings during the Ecomondo event28 

Dedicated sessions have also been organised on request by Member States (Slovenia in 
March and France in October). 

4. 

NEXT STEPS 

The Commission will continue working on the evaluation and the selection of proposals after each 
submission deadline in cooperation with CINEA (see table in point 2.2.2.). 

The Commission in coordination with CINEA and the European Investment Bank will keep raising 
the awareness around the Facility in order to promote it and to show its potential. This will be done 
by, among others, organising bilateral meetings with Member States and regions with  Territorial 
just  transition  plans,  preparing  dedicated  presentations  for  relevant  Commission’s  monitoring 
committees  and  participating  in  relevant  events,  giving  an  opportunity  to  present  the  Facility. 
Overall, the Commission will take up any opportunity to promote the Facility and reach out to a 
broad audience of potentially interested stakeholders.  

In addition, the Agency will organise info days linked to the 2023 cut-off dates. 

Just Transition platform - Regional Policy - European Commission (europa.eu) 

24 
25  2022 JTM PSLF Call Info Day - Streaming Service of the European Commission (europa.eu) 
26  EUSEW: How you can make use of the public sector loan facility under the Just Transition Mechanism (europa.eu) 
27  EWRC: How you can make use of the public sector loan facility under the Just Transition Mechanism 
28  Ecomondo the event for the ecological transition - Ecomondo 2022 

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