April newsletter 2015

 
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First European conference on FIs under EAFRD a success – Tailor-made Financial Instruments are needed for boosting EU agriculture

The first European conference on Financial Instruments under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) took place on 23 and 24 June 2015 in Dublin, Ireland, and hosted more than 200 participants from across Europe. Opening the conference, An Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Enda Kenny T.D. underlined the importance of the agri-food sector in Ireland, pointing out that funding the sector was crucial and that Financial Instruments could help fund these much needed investments. The Taoiseach added that the wider use of FIs and a more sustainable model around them would help the country in its efforts to support job creation in rural areas.
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Toolkit

EC Regulatory Guidance
The European Commission provides technical guidance on how to interpret and apply the EU rules relevant to Financial Instruments. The latest guidance document on "Requests for payment" (Article 41 CPR) is available here.

Case study: Financial Instruments for innovative firms
Fund set up in 2007 under the Catalan ERDF Operational Programme 2007-13, initially with a total allocation of EUR 50 million split equally between the ERDF (EUR 25 million) and regional government co-funding (EUR 25 million).
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Other case studies can be found here.


Publications
A number of new and helpful publications including Advice on Financial Instruments products and Developing an Action Plan will be published shortly. Make sure to check the Resources page on the fi-compass hub for the latest uploads.


European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development video
A video introducing Financial Instruments (FIs) and European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) has been developed by fi-compass. It provides examples of how FIs can support agricultural and rural development projects.
 
 
 
 
 
Journal

fi-compass expert group met for the first time on 30 April
A fi-compass expert group has been established to provide advice to European Commission services so as to ensure the overall consistency of fi-compass. Read more

EaSI microfinance: European Code of Good Conduct for Microfinance Provision
The Commission has developed the European Code of Good Conduct for Microcredit Provision with the objective of setting out good practice guidelines that will better enable the sector to face the challenges of accessing long-term finance. Read more

The difference between off-the-shelf & tailor-made instruments
Amongst the new opportunities to ease the delivery of ESI Funds to the final recipients are the so-called off-the-shelf instruments providing standard terms and conditions, which are compatible with ESI Funds regulation and State Aid rules, and seek to combine public and private resources. Read more

Ex-ante assessments
Before Managing Authorities decide to make programme contributions to a Financial Instrument, they have to carry out an ex-ante assessment. Read more
 
 
 
 
 
Milestones

Three regional events further increase awareness of FIs under ERDF and CF
Seminars were organised in Brussels, Vienna and Warsaw to further people’s understanding of how Financial Instruments can help in their efforts to deliver ESIF 2014-2020 objectives applied to the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund in particular. Read more

New seminars coming up
Three identical fi-compass seminars will be organised in Paris on 23 September, Rome on 21 October and Warsaw on 4 November, focusing on how Financial Instruments can help to deliver European Social Fund (ESF) 2014-2020 objectives. Two seminars on Financial Instruments under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) will be held in Vienna on 1 October 2015 and Riga on 29 October 2015. Participants can expect to hear concrete examples from investors and Managing Authorities on the implementation of Financial Instruments and the advisory and other support available from fi-compass and the EC and EIB in realising Financial Instruments on the ground. Strong audience interaction is foreseen through question and answer sessions as well as roundtables. All seminars will be open for registration soon, so please keep an eye on the fi-compass events calendar.

National events
A series of events on Financial Instruments delivering ESI Funds will take place in the Member States in October and November. Exact dates and locations can be found in the events calendar on the fi-compass hub. The EIB and the European Commission will be liaising with national authorities in order to fine-tune the details.
 
 
 
 
 
Points of view

ECA report on Financial Instruments in rural development 2007-2013
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) published a Special Report in May 2015 entitled "Are Financial Instruments a Successful and Promising Tool in Rural Development Area?" Read more

Jan Novak, Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic, on the added value of regional networking events
We asked Jan Novak, who was attending the seminar Financial Instruments for delivery of the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund, which took place in Vienna on 2 June 2015, what he took away from the event. Read more

Ann Phelan T.D., Irish Minister of State, on learning about FIs under EAFRD at the Dublin Conference
We asked Ann Phelan, who was attending the first fi-compass conference on FIs under the EAFRD, what she thought of the opportunities that Financial Instruments could create for rural areas in Ireland. Read more
 
 
 
Share your expertise and get involved
Sharing best practices will be a great way to improve the performance of Financial Instruments under the Investment Plan for Europe. If you have used Financial Instruments successfully or if you would like to contribute to the fi-compass platform, please get in touch via the form here.
 
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Year created
2015