Financial Instruments delivering ESI Funds

On 30 October 2015, financial instruments delivering ESI Funds were discussed at a seminar in Riga, Latvia. This seminar was part of a series of seminars which will be conducted in 25 EU Member States into 2016.

At the seminar in Riga, a total of 79 people took part and these participants included representatives from managing authorities as well as the banking and consultancy sectors.

Following the opening speech by Mr Ašeradens, Parliamentary Secretary at the Latvian Ministry of Finance, practical experience on the use of financial instruments was presented. This included the state of play in Latvia; JESSICA experience in the field of energy efficiency in Lithuania; and the use of financial instruments to increase venture capital in Latvia.

The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policies in cooperation with the Directorate-General Agriculture and Rural Development presented key novelties and official guidance concerning ESIF financial instruments. This was complemented by a presentation by the European Investment Bank on how fi-compass can help Member States to advance with financial instruments. Two parallel workshops during the Riga seminar focused on hands-on work following the life cycle of financial instruments with a particular emphasis on the design phase. The participants discussed possible approaches and their own practical experience concerning a number of crucial issues in designing financial instruments, concerning the market assessment needed for the ex-ante assessment.

Overall, the seminar showed that financial instruments are progressing within the Latvian ESIF implementation. The discussions highlighted the importance of targeted advisory services for the ESIF financial instruments community as well as the usefulness of the material available at the fi-compass website.