The year 2021 has been eventful, ushering in the new programming period and bearing late fruits for the closing one. While the drafting of the 2021-2027 Operational Programme has been in full swing, we witnessed a substantial increase in the uptake of ESF financial instruments in the 2014-2020 programming period.
In fact, data at the end of 2020 show 78 financial instruments under ESF resources across the EU and correspondent committed amounts for EUR 784 million.
Against this dynamic background, fi-compass has performed a large array of services for the ESF community. The web-based event ESF+ financial instruments responding to social challenges in Europe, held in December 2021, can be regarded as the highlight of 2021.
It has provided insights on the state of art of the ESF financial instruments through implementing data and case studies, as well as a view on the new regulatory framework for the 2021-2027 period, including both shared management funds and InvestEU.
Capacity-building support has been delivered throughout 2021: six country reports have assessed the potential for ESF financial instruments in Croatia, Finland, France, Greece, Romania and Spain. Such activity has entailed a close cooperation among the European Investment Bank, European Commission services and the managing authorities in the concerned Member States, paving the way for a potential increased use of financial instruments in the social domain. Furthermore, internal workshops have favoured the knowledge sharing between the European Investment Bank and the European Commission and the exchange around the contribution of financial instruments to the policy goals of the ESF.
The fi-compass library now includes the update of the case study on the National Fund for Social Entrepreneurship, Poland, and it will soon feature three more case studies for ESF financial instruments in Germany, Slovakia and Bulgaria.
Communication has also been intense in 2021: the prominent product in this respect is the ESF financial instruments in action video, featuring recipients of ESF financial instruments who provide their views and thoughts about the benefits of the ESF support. Finally, videos on crowdfunding and on the impact achieved by the Portuguese Social Innovation Initiative show the full extent of the potential of ESF financial instruments.