fi-compass Knowledge Hub - Two new notes of workshop on Selection and Combination

Two new fi-compass notes of workshop have been published following ‘the fi-compass Knowledge Hub’ sessions on the selection of financial intermediaries and the combination of financial instruments with grants. This series of events was developed to meet the growing need amongst expert practitioners for events and materials that provide a more in-depth look into topics related to financial instruments.

The two reports capture insights and best practice shared between fi-compass practitioners and experts from the European Commission and European Investment Bank. By highlighting ‘real world’ solutions to common issues relating to financial instruments, the notes provide a valuable resource for practitioners designing and implementing financial instruments, identifying potential solutions to be considered for adaptation to local needs.

The document ‘fi-compass Knowledge Hub - Selection of financial intermediaries’ captures the key topics identified and discussed during the fi-compass Knowledge Hub workshop on the Selection of financial intermediaries. Some of the Selection options considered by the participants included:

• The ‘non-public procurement approach’ that may be applied to the implementation of straightforward guarantee instruments;
• Accelerated procedures, for example to respond to the COVID-19 health crisis;
• The amendment of contracts under Article 72 of the public procurement Directive; and
• The competitive procedure with negotiation and competitive dialogue procedures.

The document ‘fi-compass Knowledge Hub – Combination of financial instruments with grant’ provides insights on a series of topics related to the combination of financial instruments and grants in a single operation using EU shared management funds in the 2021-2027 programming period. The new flexibilities under the proposed 2021-2027 Common Provisions Regulation will help reduce barriers to the development of such operations and support the priority sectors of ‘Research Development and Innovation’ (RDI) and ‘Energy Efficiency’ (EE).