L 161/88
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
16.6.2022
goods, in the form of surplus to consumers and/or firms.
To the extent that these processes are disturbed by the fact that potentially successful companies may not be able to obtain finance, the wider consequences for productivity growth are likely to be negative.
Allowing a wider base of companies to enter the market and scale-up by removing undue obstacles to financing may then spur growth.
5.
Therefore, the existence of a financing gap affecting start-ups, SMEs, small mid-caps and innovative mid-caps may justify the deployment of public support measures by Member States in order to facilitate the development of risk finance in their domestic markets.
Properly targeted State aid to support the provision of risk finance can be an effective means to alleviate the identified market failure or another relevant obstacle in access to finance and to leverage private resources.
In the current context, Member States may also make use of it to foster recovery from the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
6.
Besides being indispensable for domestic economies of Member States, improved access to finance can positively contribute to some of the Union’s central policy objectives.
Access to finance constitutes a powerful tool to support the Green Deal (8) and make Europe fit for the digital age (9), as well as to ensure recovery from the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and build a Union that is more resilient also against future crises.
7.
The green transition is a core objective of the Union.
According to the most recent projections (10), achieving the current climate and energy targets for 2030 could require up to EUR 417 billion of additional annual investment, a challenge for which leveraging significant private investment will be key.
Promoting sustainable finance requires the right signals to direct financial and capital flows to green investment.
To that end, in 2018 the Commission launched the Sustainable Finance Plan (11), which has been followed recently by a new Sustainable Finance Package (12).
One element to promote green finance is improved disclosure on climate and environmental data so that investors are fully informed about the sustainability of their investments.
Within that context, a key step has been the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council (13), which classifies environmentally sustainable activities (commonly referred to as the ‘EU Taxonomy’).
8.
Concerning the digital transition, the 2030 Digital Compass Communication (14) underlines the need to support the Union’s development of critical digital technologies in a way that fosters its productivity growth and economic development in full coherence with its societal values and objectives.
National spending by Member States is crucial to enable a massive scale-up of investments, alongside relevant Union funds and private investments, in order to achieve that objective.
(8) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions ‘The European Green Deal’, COM(2019) 640 final of 11.12.2019.
(9) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions ‘Shaping Europe’s digital future’, COM(2020) 67 final of 19.2.2020.
(10) Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Directive 98/70/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the promotion of energy from renewable sources, and repealing Council Directive (EU) 2015/652, COM(2021) 557 final of 14.7.2021.
(11) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Central Bank, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions ‘Action Plan: Financing Sustainable Growth’, COM(2018) 97 final of 8.3.2018.
(12) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions ‘EU taxonomy, corporate sustainability reporting, sustainability preferences and fiduciary duties: Directing finance towards the European Green Deal’, COM(2021) 188 final of 21.4.2021.
(13) Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2020 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment, and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (OJ L 198, 22.6.2020, p. 13).
(14) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions ‘2030 Digital Compass: the European way for the Digital Decade’, COM(2021) 118 final of 9.3.2021.