How the EU budget is spent: European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI)

Briefing 03-04-2019

Created after the start of the current multiannual financial framework (MFF), the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) aims to trigger additional investment worth €500 billion in crucial sectors of the EU's economy that suffer from market failures and sub-optimal investment situations. Another major objective is to improve access to finance for European companies, with a special focus on smaller businesses. The functioning of EFSI relies on a strategic partnership with the European Investment Bank Group, which can approve and finance investment operations with a higher-risk profile than its usual portfolio, thanks to the guarantee provided by the EU budget under EFSI. For the post-2020 period, the European Commission has proposed an InvestEU Fund that should build on EFSI's results.