Advancing with fi-compass advisory services

Feedback from nearly 400 users of the fi-compass advisory services has helped the European Commission and European Investment Bank to focus the advice that we provide about financial instruments for the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF).

Our mid-term user survey attracted respondents from many ESIF managing authorities as well as national and regional government bodies, EU institutions and public and private sector financial intermediaries.

Stakeholders highlighted demand for best practice information about debt and equity instruments. Other popular topics of interest noted by the survey include State aid and the combination of ESIF financial instruments with other resources, such as grants and the European Fund for Strategic Investments.

In addition, respondents were keen to see fi-compass provide more in-depth case studies that address the later stages of the life cycle of ESIF financial instruments. This reflects the growing maturity of the operations and expertise of the practitioners engaged with them.

Overall conclusions drawn from our mid-term user survey indicate that fi-compass is progressing well and should develop capacity building content that allows for more detailed issues to be addressed. Greater opportunities for peer–to-peer and expert interaction are also considered to be useful by users of the fi-compass advisory services.