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 2024, as referred to in Article 16 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1229
Date: 2024-09-30
Institutions: Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, European Commission
Subjects: EU aid, EU environmental policy, EU loan, carbon neutrality, climate change, green economy, public sector, regional aid, regional development, sustainable mobility

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 30.9.2024  COM(2024) 424 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 2024, as referred to 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 2024, as referred to in Article 16 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1229 

1. 

INTRODUCTION  

The Commission  announced  in  January 2020  a  Just Transition  Mechanism  (JTM)  as  part of the 
European Green Deal Investment Plan1, to make sure that no one and no region is left behind in the 
transition to a climate-neutral economy. The JTM consists of three pillars: the first pillar is the Just 
Transition  Fund,  the  second  pillar  is  a  dedicated  Just  Transition  scheme  under  the  InvestEU 
Programme, and the third pillar is the public sector loan facility (the Facility; the PSLF)2.  

This  annual report focuses on the third pillar and aims at  providing  information  on the progress 
made so far in the implementation of the Facility. The present report is cumulative from the start of 
the implementation of the Facility until 30 July 2024. The remaining part of the year 2024 will be 
reported in the next report in accordance with the PSLF’s reporting obligations (see the details in 
section 1.2). 

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

Transition Mechanism 

The  general  objective  of  the  Facility  is  to  address  serious  social,  economic,  and  environmental 
challenges deriving from the transition towards a climate-neutral economy3, for the benefit of the 
Union territories identified in the territorial just transition plans (TJTP)4.  

The specific objective of the  Facility is  to  leverage  public sector investments  which  address  the 
development needs of the territories described in the TJTPs. It does so by facilitating the financing 
of  projects  that  do  not  generate  sufficient  streams  of  revenues  to  cover  their  investment  costs, 
thereby avoiding the crowding out of potential support and investment from alternative resources. 
Support is available for a wide range of investments5.  

The PSLF Regulation provides a total maximum budget of EUR 1.525 billion of Union support for 
the  grant  component  of  the  Facility  (including  technical  assistance  and  advisory  support).  In 
February 2024, the European Parliament gave consent to, and the Council agreed at unanimity on 
the mid-term revision of the expenditure ceilings in the multiannual financial framework (MFF), 
following  the  Commission’s  proposal  of  June  2023.  The  agreement  reached  on  the  mid-term 
revision of the MFF reflects the importance of equipping the EU budget with the necessary means 
to continue delivering on the priorities for Europe and for our partners, which was underscored by 
key sectoral proposals. In this context, an overall EUR 1.1 billion redeployment was decided from 
the  direct  and  indirect  management  components  of  CAP  and  Cohesion  policy  funds.  As  a 

1  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. 

2   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 (OJ L 274, 30.7.2021). 

3  Regulation  (EU)  2021/1119  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  30  June  2021  establishing  the 
framework  for  achieving  climate  neutrality  and  amending  Regulations  (EC)  No  401/2009  and  (EU) 2018/1999 
(‘European Climate Law’) (OJ L 243, 9.7.2021). 

4  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). 
See Recital (6) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1229. 

5 

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consequence,  the  budget  of  the  PSLF  has  been  reduced  by  EUR  150  million.  After  these 
redeployments, the maximum budget available for the PSLF is EUR 1.375 billion. 

Under  the  Facility,  loans  provided  by  the  European  Investment  Bank  as  finance  partner  are 
combined with grants provided by the Union to support projects submitted by public sector entities. 
The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide around EUR 6-8 billion for the loan component 
of the Facility.  

Besides the EIB, the Commission works closely with the Climate Infrastructure and Environment 
Executive Agency (CINEA) on the implementation of the Facility. CINEA is responsible for the 
budgetary, legal, financial and operational aspects of the implementation of the grants, while the 
Commission remains fully responsible for all policy-related aspects. 

1.2. 

Scope of the 2024 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 
shall provide information on the level of implementation of the Facility with respect to its objectives, 
conditions and performance indicators.” 

The previous reports were issued on 7 February 2023 and on 21 November 2023.  

The present report provides information on (i) the results of the first PSLF call for proposals for the 
six  submission  deadlines  including  potential  projects  proposals,  (ii)  technical  assistance,  (iii) 
communication, (iv) progress done, including challenges and strenghts of the Facility, and (v) the 
next steps. 

2. 

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FACILITY 

2.1.  Results of the first PSLF call for proposals after six submission deadlines 

Three submission deadlines of the PSLF call for proposals have passed since the previous PSLF 
implementation report. 29 proposals have been submitted for these three deadlines, out of which 13 
have been selected for funding by the evaluation committee. The loans approval for some of them 
is pending6 (see Table 1). According to information provided, submitted applications represent an 
estimated  amount  of  EUR 123  milion  in  grants  by  the  Commission  and  an  estimated  amount  of 
EUR 732  milion  of  loans  by  the  EIB7.  Two  French  proposals  were  selected  for  funding  by  the 
Commission  and  put  on a  reserve  list  due  to  lack  of  remaining  resources  in  the  French  national 
budget allocation. The reserve list will be in force until the end of the first PSLF call for proposals 
(end  of  December  2025),  when  the  remaining  financial  resources  will  be  provided  without  pre-
allocated national shares. To improve efficiency, the PSLF call for proposals was amended on  1 
February 2024 to clarify that project applications submitted by Member States for which the national 
envelope  has  been  exhausted  will  not  be  considered  eligible8.  In  addition,  10  proposals  were 
inadmissible  due to  being  incomplete, one proposal (France)  was ineligible because the national 
envelope under which it was submitted was already consumed (the proposal was submitted after the 
abovementioned call for proposals amendment). Moreover, two proposals (France, Ireland) were 
not selected for funding as they failed under the award criteria and one proposal, which was selected 

6   The applicants apply separately for a loan to the EIB/financial intermediary; therefore, the loan application process 
run in parallel with the grant application. The signature of grant agreement is subject to approval of the loan. See 
more details in the PSLF call for proposals document: call-fiche_jtm-2022-2025-pslf_en.pdf (europa.eu). 

7   The amount does not include proposals placed on reserve list. 
8   See details in the PSLF call for proposals document: call-fiche_jtm-2022-2025-pslf_en.pdf (europa.eu). 

2 

 
   
 
for financing  (Czechia) was  withdrawn by the project  promotor  due to  other available financing 
sources. 

In total, since the launch of the first PSLF call for proposals on 19 July 2022, 37 proposals have 
been submitted, out of which 15 have been selected for funding by the evaluation committee (the 
approval of the loan for some of them is pending) and four PSLF grant agreements are signed (see 
more details in section 2.2). According to information provided in the submitted applications, they 
represent an estimated amount of EUR 148 milion in grants by the Commission and an estimated 
amount of EUR 863 milion of loans by the EIB9. 

Following closed submission deadlines, some of the national envelopes have been fully (France) or 
almost fully (Sweden) used.  

Figure 1 National shares (reserved until 31 December 2025) and their consumption by grants awarded or 
under assessment10 

National shares (reserved until 31 December 2025) and 
their consumption

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National share

Reserved amount

Table 1 Summary of the evaluation of proposals received under the PSLF call for proposals. 

Number of 
proposals 
submitted 

Number of 
admissible 
and eligible 
proposals 

Number of 
proposals 
selected for 
funding by the 
Commission  

Number of 
proposals which 
have secured a 
loan with the 
EIB or its 
intermediaries 

Comments 

19 October 
2022 
submission 
deadline 

19 January 
2023 

3 

1 

1 

(CZ) 

0 

1 

(CZ) 

0 

The CZ application was 
withdrawn by the applicant and 
resubmitted on 20  September 
2023 (4th submission deadline) 

- 

0 

0 

9   The amount does not include proposals placed on reserve list. 
10   The national allocations represent values after the MFF revision 2021-2027.  

3 

 
   
 
 
 
submission 
deadline 

19 April 
2023 
submission 
deadline 

20 
September 
2023 
submission 
deadline 

19 January 
2024 
submission 
deadline 

17 April 
2024 
submission 
deadline 

4 

15 

6 

8 

Grant agreements have been 
signed for the EL and SE 
proposals. Projects 
implementation is ongoing. 

The NL proposal failed under 
the 2 award criteria but was 
resubmitted on 20 September 
2023 (4th submission 
deadline).  

The CZ, two FR and the NL 
proposals were selected for 
funding by the Commission. 
The EIB is carrying out its 
evaluation. 

A grant agreement has been 
signed for one FR proposal and 
the project implementation is 
ongoing. 

Two CZ proposals were 
selected for funding by the 
Commission. One CZ proposal 
was withdrawn by the project 
promotor due to other available 
financing sources. For the 
other project the loan signature 
process is ongoing with the 
EIB’s financial intermediary. 

One PL proposal was selected 
for funding by the Commission 
and the loan was signed with 
the EIB. CINEA is preparing 
the grant agreement. 

Two FR proposals were 
selected for funding by the 
Commission and put on a 
reserve list due to lack of 
remaining resources in the FR 
national budget allocation.  

One FR proposal failed under 
the two award  criteria. 

Five CZ proposals were 
selected for funding by the 
Commission and the loan 
signature process is ongoing 
with the EIB’s financial 
intermediary.  

3 

2 

2 

(EL, NL, SE) 

(EL, SE) 

(EL, SE) 

5 

5 

1 

(CZ, FR, NL) 

(CZ, FR, NL) 

(FR) 

6 

5 

1 

(CZ, FR, PL) 

(CZ, FR, PL) 

(CZ, PL) 

1 

(CZ) 

7 

(CZ,IE) 

6 

(CZ) 

4 

 
   
One CZ proposal was selected 
for funding by the Commission 
and the loan was signed with 
the EIB. CINEA is preparing 
the grant agreement. 

The IE proposal failed under 1 
award criteria. 

The project  proposals  selected  for  funding so  far by the  PSLF  evaluation committee  cover such 
sectors  as  energy  efficiency,  culture,  social  housing,  public  health  infrastructure  and  sustainable 
mobility infrastructure, district heating and cooling, and urban renewal and regeneration. Regarding 
the type of support requested, three of the project proposals are framework loans, five are standalone 
projects and two requested intermediate lending. 

Table 2 Project proposals selected for grant funding 

Submission 
deadline 

Region/Territory 

Title of the 
project proposal 

Sector 

Amount of 
grant 
requested 
(EUR) 

Amount of 
loan 
requested 
(EUR) 

FR 

20 
September 
2023 

Région Provence-
Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 
Marseille 

Extension of the 
tramway line in 
South North 
Marseille phase 1 

sustainable 
mobility 

15 000 000 

100 000 000 

FR 

NL 

20 
September 
2023 

Hauts de France 
(Nord Pas de 
Calais), Lille 

MEL in GREEN 
Mobility 

sustainable 
mobility 

31 500 000 

210 000 000 

20 
September 
2023 

Zuid-Limburg, 
Mijnwater 

Mijnwater scale 
up Masterplan 
phase 1 

CZ 

19 January 
2024 

Usti Region, Usti 
nad Labem 

PL 

19 January 
2024 

Silesia, Dabrowa 
Gornicza 

Usti nad Labem 
Public 
Transportation 

Dabrowa 
Gornicza 
Sustainable 
Development 

CZ 

17 April 
2024 

Usti Region, Decin 

EPC Decin  

5 

sustainable 
district 
heating and 
cooling 

sustainable 
mobility, 
energy 
efficieny 

energy 
efficiency, 
sustainable 
mobility 

energy 
efficiency, 
sustainable 

13 500 000 

90 000 000 

430 612 

1 722 449 

2 784 793 

11 139 173 

391 843 

1 567 370 

 
   
 
 
 
 
 
CZ 

17 April 
2024 

Usti Region, Decin 

CZ 

17 April 
2024 

Usti Region, 
Litvinov 

CZ 

17 April 
2024 

Usti Region, Usti 
nad Labem 

Renovation of the 
historical part of 
Podmokly - stage 
D 

Construction of a 
new swimming 
hall in the 
Koldům leisure 
area in Litvínov 

Modernisation of 
selected parts of 
railway 
infrastructure in 
the Ústí nad 
Labem Region 

water 
management 

urban 
regeneration,  
sustainable 
mobility, 
sustainable 
tourism 

581 624 

2 326 498 

social 
infrastructure 

1 975 894 

7 903 576 

sustainable 
mobility 

2 348 773 

9 395 092 

CZ 

17 April 
2024 

Usti Region, 
Postoloprty 

Peace Square 
Postoloprty 

sustainable 
tourism, 
urban 
regeneration 

535 714 

2 142 857 

CZ 

17 April 
2024 

Moravia-Silesia, 
Ostrava 

Student dormitory 
- University of 
Ostrava - 
increasing the 
quality and 
expanding 
capacity of 
affordable student 
housing 

education, 
social 
infrastructure 

3 007 428 

12 029 713 

2.2.  First projects financed by the PSLF 

Table 3 Presentation of projects with signed PSLF grant agreements 

Socioeconomic Transition of Western Macedonia11 

Just 
transition 
region 

Western 
Macedonia 
(EL) 

Submission 
deadline 

Project description 

Budget 

Project 
duration 

19 April 
2023 

The project is a framework loan coordinated by the 
region of Western Macedonia. It brings together 15 
projects  in  six  municipalities  (Argos  Orestikou, 

Total costs: 
EUR 81 mln 
(100%) 

Signature of 
grant 

11   Press release Socioeconomic transition of Western Macedonia: The transition towards a greener future of Western 
Macedonia  is  the  first  project  supported  by  the  European  Union’s  Public  Sector  Loan  Facility  -  European 
Commission (europa.eu). 

6 

 
   
 
 
 
Kozani,  Kastoria,  Florina,  Eordaia  and  Grevena), 
related to: 

▪ 
▪ 
▪ 
▪ 
▪ 

8 – energy efficiency 
1 – road infrastructure 
2 – health care 
1 – culture 
1 – tourism 

Expected Emissions Savings: 8 650 metric tons of 
CO₂ per year 
Expected Energy Performance: Energy 
Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of A; 60-97% 
energy savings 
Expected Jobs Created: 200 jobs. 

EIB loan: 
EUR 59 mln 
(72%) 

PSLF grant: 
EUR 15 mln 
(18%) 

Own 
financing: 8 
mln (10%) 

agreement: 23 
October 2023 

Starting date: 
1st November 
2023 

Duration: 36 
months 

The Sustainable Mobility Infrastructures for Low Emissions and qualitative Service (SMILES)12 

Just 
transition 
region 

Submission 
deadline 

Project description 

Budget 

Project 
duration 

Pays de la 
Loire Region 
(FR) 

20 
September 
2023 

The  project  consist  of 
infrastructure in Nantes by: 

sustainable 

transport 

▪ 
▪ 
▪ 

▪ 

upgrading and renovating 3 tram lines 
renewing the tram fleet (46 new vehicles) 
constructing a technical and operational centre 
and multimodal relay/exchange hub 
developing 38 km of cycling paths 

the  project  will 

The  results  of 
the 
performance  and  quality  of  the  tram  network, 
develop 
the  public 
inter-modality,  diversify 
transportation offer and reduce road congestion. 

improve 

Expected Emissions Savings: 21 000 metric tons of 
CO₂ per year 
Expected Jobs Created: 106 jobs 
Expected  Number  of  People  reached  by  the 
project: 672 420. 

Total costs: 
EUR 388 
mln (100%) 

EIB loan: 
EUR 200 
mln (52%) 

PSLF grant: 
EUR 30mln 
(8%) 

Own 
financing: 
EUR 158 
mln (40%) 

Signature of 
grant 
agreement: 2 
April 2024 

Starting date: 
1st May 2024 

Duration: 60 
months 

Sustainable and Affordable Housing for the New Green Industry and Society (SHERIS)13 

Just 
transition 
region 

Submission 
deadline 

Västerbotten 
(SE) 

19 April 
2023 

Project description 

Budget 

The project will address the growing housing need of 
the 
the  Skelleftea  municipality  by  supporting 
construction of 7 housing complexes with around 750 
energy-efficient affordable housing units. 

The  housing  programme  will  mainly  target  the 
incoming  workers  of  the  new  battery  gigafactory 
Northvolt  as  well  as  students,  refugees  and  people 
with low income or special needs. 

Total costs: 
EUR 142 
mln 

EIB loan: 
EUR 71 mln 
(50%) 

PSLF grant: 
EUR 11 mln 
(8%) 

Project 
duration 

Signature of 
grant 
agreement: 05 
April 2024 

Starting date: 
1st January 
2023 

12   Press release SMILES:  Green mobility in Nantes receives boost thanks to EU support  - European Commission 

(europa.eu). 

13   Sustainable and affordable housing to support green growth in Sweden - European Commission (europa.eu) 

7 

 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
Expected  Energy  Performance:  20%  higher  then 
the construction standards in Sweden 
Expected Jobs Created: 1000 jobs 
Expected  Number  of  People  reached  by  the 
project: 44 000. 

Own 
financing: 
EUR 60 mln 
(42%) 

Duration: 60 
months 

Ostrava Concert Hall14 

Just 
transition 
region 

Submission 
deadline 

Project description 

Budget 

Project 
duration 

Moravian-
Silesian 
Region (CZ) 

20 
September 
2023 

The subject of the project is the construction of the 
Ostrava Concert Hall with world-class acoustics and 
a capacity of up to 1300 seats. 

This project will support the development of cultural 
infrastructure  and  contribute  to  the  revitalisation  of 
Ostrava,  a  former  mining  city  which  still  maintains 
the traditional production of steel. The establishment 
of  a  new  cultural  venue  will  strengthen  the  city’s 
attractiveness to both its inhabitants and visitors and 
facilitate  the  socio-economic  transformation  of  the 
region. 

Expected Energy Performance: EPC B 
Renewable  energy  sources  to  be  applied  in  the 
project:  approx.  392  photovoltaic  panels;  125 
geothermal wells 
Expected  Number  of  People  reached  by  the 
project: 151 200. 

Total 
costs:EUR 
116 mln 

EIB loan: 
EUR 84 mln 
(73%) 

PSLF grant: 
EUR 21 mln 
(18%) 

Own 
financing: 
EUR 10.5 
mln (9%) 

Signature of 
grant 
agreement: 16 
July 2024 

Starting date: 
19 July 2024 

Duration: 52 
months 

2.3.  Potential projects proposals 

Based on exchanges  with  the EIB and other PSLF  stakeholders,  project  proposals  located in six 
Member States are under preparation and could be submitted to the next PSLF call for proposals 
submission  deadlines.  These  potential  project  proposals  relate  to  sectors  of  renewable  energy, 
energy  efficiency,  public  health  infrastructure,  and  other  sectors  which  are  consistent  with  the 
approved TJTPs. The Commission estimates that they would represent a volume upwards of EUR 
100 million in grants. 

Additionally, demand for support under the Facility can be observed in Member States which have 
already used their national allocations. The proposals from these Member States can be submitted 
after the second PSLF call for proposals is launched (i.e. after 31 December 2025). 

3. 

COMMUNICATION ACTIVITIES  

The Commission, with the support of CINEA and the EIB, continues to raise awareness about the 
Facility.  The  joint  actions  undertaken  between  1  September  2023  and  30  July  2024  by  the 
Commission, EIB and CINEA have resulted in: 

-  20 meetings with public authorities at national, regional and local level. 

14   The  construction  of  the  Ostrava  Concert  Hall  in  Czechia  receives  European  support  worth  EUR  105  million  - 

European Commission (europa.eu) 

8 

 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
-  3 meetings with National Promotional Banks and Institutions (NPBIs). 

-  4 meetings with internal (Working Party Structural Measures and Outermost Regions) and 

external (ETUC, Bankwatch) stakeholders. 

-  presentation  of  the  PSLF  during  7  topic-related  events  (presentations,  Q&A  sessions, 
dedicated stands). Among others, European Week of Regions and Cities (10 October 2023), 
Czech presidency of the Visegrad group event ‘From Coal Regions to the Just Transition 
Future’ in Usti and Labem (11 October 2023), Convenant of Mayors Investment Forum 
(25  October  2023),  Ecomondo  (7-10  November  2023),  PSLF  coffee  corner  at  the  JTP 
Conference (16-17 April 2024), the EU Green Week (29-30 May 2024) and the European 
Sustainable Energy Week (11-13 June 2024). 

-  kick-off meeting for the Greek project in Western Macedonia, Greece (5-7 March 2024), 
grant  signature  ceremony  for  the  Swedish  project  in  Brussels  (10  April  2024),  and 
groundbreaking ceremony for Ostrava Concert Hall, Czechia (19 July 2024). 

-  82 posts, press releases, and other articles published in various topic-related newsletters, 

websites, and on social media. 

-  publication of the PSLF promotional15 and tutorial16 videos. 

-  publication of 76 FAQs on the EU Funding&Tenders portal. 

Figure 2 Events per Member State 

Number of meetings per Member State

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All Member States were approached and given the possibility to benefit from an information session 
concerning the PSLF17. In total, since the start of implementation of the PSLF, 110 meetings were 
organised,  out  of  which  66  meetings  with  Member  States  and  36  with  internal  and  external 
stakeholders;  the  Facility  was  presented  at  28  topic-related  events,  161  social  media  posts  and 
articles, including press releases, were published in various topic-related newsletters and websites 
and on social media outlets. In addition, two brochures and four videos were released.  

15   The Public Sector Loan Facility under the Just Transition Mechanism (youtube.com) 
16   https://youtu.be/_bgPXkIKU04 
17   Representatives of Cyprus, Finland, and Luxembourg did not express interest to organise a dedicated meeting. 

9 

 
   
 
 
Additionally,  CINEA  publishes  an  online  public  dashboard  which  brings  together  all  the 
programmes  it  manages,  including  the  PSLF18.  The  dashboard  contains  up-to-date  information 
about the projects supported in each programme, cross-references between them and data extraction 
for potential re-use. 

Figure 3 CINEA’s online public dashboard with an overview of PSLF projects 

Additionally, as the Facility is available for private law bodies with entrusted public service mission, 
the Commission reached out to different sectoral organisations, among others those representing 
entities from the fields of culture, district heating and cooling, distribution system operators, health, 
education,  railway,  social  infrastructure,  and  waste  management  sectors.  In  total,  nine  meetings 
were organised with organisations such as E.DSO, Lifelong learning Platform, Euroheat&Power, 
Municipal Waste Europe, CER and EIM and members of the Housing Europe.  

Figure 4 Type of reached entities 

NUMBER OF ACTIVITIES BY TYPE OF 
REACHED ENTITIES

Regional/local

National

EU

Sectoral/private 
associations

18   CINEA Project Portfolio - Welcome | Sheet - Qlik Sense (europa.eu) 

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4. 

PROGRESS DONE AND THE WAY FORWARD 

4.1.  Challenges 

After two years since the publication of the first PSLF call for proposals, a low uptake was observed 
given that its launch coincided with the programming of other funds (i.e., the Just Transition Fund, 
the European Regional Development Fund19, the Cohesion Fund20 or the Recovery and Resilience 
Facility21) offering funding for similar projects with more attractive conditions (higher proportion 
of  grant  funding  in  the  overall  projects’  budget).  Additionally,  it  was  recognised  that  the  PSLF 
implementation could widely vary among Member States based on parameters such as the volume 
of available alternative sources of funding at national level, the availability of mature projects, the 
varying level of just transition strategies and the different approach to debt-based instruments. 

Most of the constraints faced by the Facility detailed in the second annual implementation report22 
persist.  This  is  in  particular  the  case  for  Member  States  with  the  highest  national  envelopes 
(Germany,  Poland,  Romania),  where  no  or  almost  no  projects  were  submitted.  Specific  factors 
which have been identified as causing a slow uptake in these Member States include: 

- 

the PSLF national allocations follow the JTF Regulation. As a result, Member States with 
the highest allocations are identical for both instruments. Their focus is therefore placed in 
priority  on  spending  funds  available  under  the  JTF  given  the  limited  time  to  absorb  its 
funds23.  In  addition,  the  JTF  offers  a  higher  proportion  of  grant  funding  in  the  overall 
projects’ budgets (Germany, Poland, Romania). 

-  Some Member States are also typically the biggest beneficiaries of other funds, therefore 

their capacity to implement additional resources is limited (Poland, Romania). 

- 

- 

there is more attractive and accessible funding from national resources (Germany). 

the  debt  level  of  small  beneficiaries  makes  it  challenging  to  make  use  of  debt-based 
instruments  (Poland)  or  public  borrowing  national  regulations  prevent  eligible 
beneficiaries from borrowing. 

A more detailed analysis and assessment of the challenges encountered during the implementation 
of the Facility will be performed by the PSLF mid-term evaluation due by June 2025 (see section 
4.4). 

As explained in section 1.1, the PSLF was included in the revision of the MFF 2021-2027, which 
resulted in a decrease of the budget available under the Facility. The national shares under the PSLF 
are calculated proportionally to its overall budget available for grants and  were therefore revised 
downwards as well. The revision has accelerated consumption of some of the national shares where 

19   European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) (europa.eu) 
20   Cohesion Fund (CF) (europa.eu) 
21   Recovery and Resilience Facility (europa.eu) 
22   See more in section 4.1 of the second PSLF implementation report. 
23   The budget of the JTF consists of resources coming from the MFF and from the European Recovery Instrument or 
‘NextGenerationEU’ (NGEU). Within the adopted JTF programmes, the NGEU resources are concentrated in the 
budget commitments for 2022 and 2023, while the MFF resources are spread between 2021 and 2027. As a result, 
70% of the JTF budget is concentrated in the first two annual tranches. The Commission will decommit the amounts 
that  have  not  been  used  for  pre-financing  or  for  which  a  payment  application  has  not  been  submitted  by  31 
December of the third calendar year following the year of the budget commitments, the so-called ‘N+3’ rule; more 
information about the JTF: Inforegio - Just Transition Fund (europa.eu). 

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demand for the PSLF was increased (France, Sweden). On average, projects selected for the PSLF 
support have requested a EUR 9 million grant. By extrapolation, reducing EUR 150 million from 
the  PSLF  budget  would  reduce  by  16  or  17  the  number  of  projects  the  PSLF  would  be  able  to 
support.  

4.2. 

Strengths 

Despite these challenges, significant interest in the PSLF has materialised. This is particulary the 
case of France, where the PSLF contributed to cover funding needs which were not supported by 
other EU funding programmes. Furthermore, a high number of proposals has been submitted and is 
still expected from the Czech Republic. The possible reasons for high uptake in the Czech Republic 
may be explained by the possibility to finance smaller investments through intermediated financing 
provided by the agreement signed between the EIB and the Czech National Development Bank, the 
availability of technical assistance to promote the Facility, as well as the overall readiness of the 
country to absorb the Just Transition Mechanism funding. Additional projects have been submitted 
by applicants from Greece, The Netherlands, Ireland, Poland, and Sweden and further projects are 
still expected before the end of the current call for proposals in 2025.  

For  the  second  PSLF  call  for  proposals,  which  will  be  launched  in  2026,  uptake  is  expected  to 
continue  to  increase  as  other  sources  of  financing  offering  better  conditions  will  have  been 
programmed or exhausted and familiarity with the instrument continues to increase. In particular, 
EU programmes supported by  NextGenerationEU face specific time constraints. In  addition,  the 
second  PSLF  call  for  proposals  will  no  longer  be  constrained  by  national  shares,  therefore  (i) 
Member States which exhausted or are expected to have exhausted their national shares by the end 
of 2025 can continue making use of it, with more time for planning compared to when the instrument 
was launched, (ii) Member States with the lowest national shares will now have additional incentive 
to use it as the grant requested will not be limited anymore to the amount set under the national 
shares. This will allow the PSLF to better serve regions which have the highest demand and mature 
projects. 

Furthermore, after two years since the launch of the PSLF call for proposals, it has been confirmed 
that the grant component of the PSLF is a clear incentive for the use of EIB’s loans by public sector 
entities  to  support  public  investments  in  the  regions  undergoing  climate  transition.  The  Facility 
offers attractive lending conditions in comparison to instruments usually available on the market. 
This  is  of  particular  relevance  to  overcome  the  economic  constraints  which  resulted  from  the 
COVID-19  economic  crisis  and  the  ongoing  economic  consequences  of  the  Russian  war  of 
aggression against Ukraine.  

4.3.  Actions taken by the Commission to address the challenges 

A positive trend has been observed in terms of the potential beneficiaries’ awareness of the PSLF. 
This is firstly illustrated by the uptake of the Facility and its developing project pipeline, but also 
by  the  increasing  number  of  project  promoters  reaching  out  to  the  Commission  with  specific 
questions about the PSLF. To support this trend, the Commission produced additional information 
material and continued its awareness-raising communication campaign. 

Furthermore, efforts to facilitate the accessibility of the PSLF for smaller beneficiaries and projects, 
as  well  as  to  have  more  intermediated  loans  with  National  Promotional  Banks  and  Institutions 
(NPBIs) have been undertaken jointly by the Commission and the EIB by revising existing rules. 
Firstly,  the  minimum  intermediated  loan  amount  was  decreased  in  an  agreement  between  the 
Commission and the EIB from EUR 3 million to EUR 1 million since September 202324. Secondly, 
the  limitation  included  in  the  administrative  agreement  related  to  NPBIs  involvement  in  the 

24   See the amendment to the PSLF call for proposals introduced on 25 September 2023.  

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implementation of the PSLF as EIB financial intermediaries is expected to be lifted25. In line with 
these efforts, the first projects linked to intermediated loans have been submitted to the PSLF call 
for proposals, with the involvement of the Czech National Development Bank. 

4.4.  Preparatory works for the PSLF mid-term evaluation 

Pursuant to Article 17 of the PSLF Regulation, the Commission is required to conduct an interim 
evaluation to assess the implementation of the Facility and its capacity to achieve the objectives set 
out in Article 3 of the PSLF Regulation by 30 June 2025. 

The purpose of the evaluation is to draw lessons learnt which could be used to improve the PSLF 
performance  in  the  remaining  period  of  its  implementation.  The  evaluation  will  cover  the  grant 
component of the Facility from the date when the PSLF Regulation entered into force in 2021 in the 
27 Member States, until the latest available information. 

In view of the preparation of the Staff Working Document on the interim evaluation the following 
steps will be conducted to serve as a basis:  

i. 

an assessment of the PSLF to be conducted internally by the Commission;  

ii. 

a  study  to  collect  evidence,  focusing  on  issues  related  to  implementation,  technical 
assistance, coherence, synergies with other EU and national funding instruments, EU added 
value, and other topics. 

The  assessment  exercise  started  in  early  2024  and  will  continue  throughout  the  evaluation's 
preparatory timeline. A contract with T33 srl and Prognos AG was signed by the Commission in 
April 2024 to produce the study. 

5. 

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 

The  EIB  Advisory  services  are  available  under  the  InvestEU  Advisory  Hub  for  the  preparation, 
development  and  implementation  of  eligible  projects26.  Until  the  end  of  July  2024,  advisory 
assistance in support of the PSLF has been provided in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, France, Romania, 
Spain, and Sweden27.  

The support service was scoped and adapted to specific needs of individual project promoters and 
ranged  from  overall  guidance  in  identifying  suitable  projects,  upstream  support  in  preparing 
investment programmes, to project development advice and application support for PSLF grants. In 
addition,  the EIB has been engaged in  different  activities to  identify  and support projects  which 
could benefit from financing under the PSLF. 

Based on this initial experience and to support the te need to develop a demand for PSLF support in 
the  future  (see  section  4.1),  the  EIB  envisages  progressing  with  advisory  activities  along  five 
workstreams: 

i.  Direct  advisory  to  individual  promoters,  borrowers  of  stand-alone  investment  loans, 
through a broad spectrum of advisory services in preparation and implementation phases, 
including assistance with grant applications; 

25   The Commission and the EIB are preparing an amendment to the administrative agreement between the two parties.  
26   See  more  details  in  section  2.1.4  of  the  first  PSLF  implementation  report  and  section  2.2  of  the  second  PSLF 

implementation report. 

27   Some of the advisory activities in Cyprus, Greece, and France have been launched before the PSLF was in place 
and  were  hence  funded  from  other  sources,  such  as  the  European  Investment  Advisory  Hub  (Greece)  and  the 
InvestEU Advisory Hub's Sustainable Infrastructure Window (Cyprus and France). 

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ii.  Capacity building support for non-banking institutions, typically acting as aggregators of 
smaller  sized  projects,  to  develop  administrative  and  operational  capacity  to  effectively 
screen, select, prioritise, monitor or otherwise coordinate a number of sub-projects; 

iii. 

“Indirect”  advisory  support  to  end-beneficiaries  of  intermediated  or  framework  loans 
through  standardised  support  packages  scoped  to  improve  the  proposals’  soundness  and 
compliance with applicable lending policies; 

iv.  Market  development  advisory  at  Member  State  level  to  identify  potential  demand  for 

PSLF support and establish whether the available PSLF financial products are suitable;  

v. 

Screening,  scoping  and  dissemination  to  promote  the  use  of  the  Facility,  identify  and 
prioritise suitable projects and provide overall guidance on the PSLF grant applications. 

In  complementarity  with  the  services  offered  by  the  EIB  through  the  InvestEU  Advisory  Hub, 
consultancy  services  were  deployed  by  the  Commission  at  the  request  of  Czechia,  Greece  and 
Slovakia  with  the  aim  to  raise  awareness  about  the  Facility  and  to  identify  and  develop  project 
proposals.  The  technical  assistance  to  Czechia  is  provided  by  the  Commission  and  support  to 
Slovakia is provided under the Technical Support Instrument (TSI)28. A wide range of services is 
provided  under  both  contracts,  among  others  awareness  raising,  mobilisation  of  potential 
beneficiaries in the TJTP regions, as well as screening project ideas.  

Greece is benefitting from broader support under the TSI for the implementation of all three JTM 
pillars. Additionally, Greece requested support available under the JTP Groundwork29 for project 
identification and the subsequent preparation of project proposals to be submitted for PSLF funding 
in the Peloponnese region.  

The Commission and the EIB participate in the monitoring of the implementation of consultancy 
assignments to ensure their complementarity with other advisory activities in beneficiary Member 
States.  

6. 

NEXT STEPS 

The Commission in coordination with CINEA and the EIB will keep raising awareness about the 
Facility to ensure that potential applicants understand its offer and are able to apply for support. In 
particular, more detailed information about projects supported by the PSLF will be made available 
on CINEA’s public dashboard30. 

Under its InvestEU Advisory Hub mandate, the EIB will continue the implementation of the PSLF 
through the identification and screening of potential projects, the provision of advisory support to 
project promoters and relevant authorities, as well as through dedicated meetings and events at EU, 
national and regional levels. Member States can also continue to receive support through the TSI 
for the implementation of the PSLF. 

A second call for proposals will be launched in 2026, in line with the PSLF Regulation.  

Finally, the Commission will finalise the mid-term evaluation of the PSLF which will be sent to the 
Council and the European Parliament by 30 June 2025. 

28   Technical Support Instrument (TSI) (europa.eu) 
29   Inforegio - Just Transition Fund (europa.eu) 
30   Qlik Sense (europa.eu) 

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7. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The public sector loan facility is an instrument that seeks to ensure that the transition to a climate-
neutral economy happens in a just and socially sustainable way, given the key role of the public 
sector in addressing market failures.  

The large array of sectors it can support, such as energy efficiency, social and affordable housing, 
and sustainable mobility, in combination with the amount of funding available make it relevant to 
the achievement of the Union’s 2030 climate targets and the objective of climate neutrality in the 
Union by 2050 while making sure that no one and no region is left behind. 

It has been two years since the first PSLF call for proposals has been launched and an increasing 
number  of  eligible  project  proposals  has  been  submitted,  with  more  potential  projects  in  the 
preparation. The PSLF interim evaluation, which is due to be completed before 30 June 2025, will 
collect data that will allow further conclusions to be drawn on the state of implementation of the 
Facility.  

By  30  July  2024,  the  PSLF  evaluation  committee  selected  project  proposals  representing  an 
estimated grant amount of around EUR 148 milion and an estimated loan amount of around EUR 
863 milion offered by the EIB. Four grant agreements have been signed and the implementation of 
the corresponding projects has started.  

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