Overview of EIF mandates in France
The EIF has deployed capital in France under a wide range of programmes and mandates.
COSME
COSME is the EU programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs. It facilitates access to finance for SMEs, promotes competitiveness and encourages an environment favourable to entrepreneurs. Set up in 2014 by the European Commission with a budget of EUR 2.3bn, COSME is deployed by the EIF through loan guarantee facilities (COSME LGF) and equity investments (COSME Equity Facility for Growth or EFG).
The European Guarantee Fund
The European Guarantee Fund was created by the EIB Group with contributions from France and other Member States to protect companies that are struggling in the crisis caused by COVID-19. With almost 25 billion euros in guarantees, the EGF allows the EIB and EIF to swiftly offer companies, mostly SMEs and Mid-Caps, access to loans, guarantees, asset-backed securities, capital and other financial instruments. The EGF forms part of the package of recovery measures put in place by the European Union, with the objective of providing a total of 540 billion euros to support the hardest hit sectors of the EU economy.
InvestEU
The InvestEU programme will provide the EU with crucial long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It will also help mobilise private investments for the EU's policy priorities, such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. The InvestEU Programme will bring together under one roof the multitude of EU financial instruments currently available to support investment in the EU, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible.The InvestEU Fund will be implemented through financial partners who will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of EUR 26.2 bn. The entire budgetary guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least EUR 372 bn in additional investment.
EFSI
The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) is a crucial source of financing for the EIF and SMEs in Europe. Set up in 2015 as part of the Investment Plan for Europe, EFSI addresses market-gaps in financing - whether in infrastructure, research, energy efficiency or risk finance for SMEs – and mobilises private investment into these areas. The EUR 10.75bn EFSI SME Window is implemented by the EIF on behalf of the EIB Group and deploys the resources of the EC, the EIB and the EIF to improve access to finance for SMEs and small mid-caps.
CCS GF
CCS GF is an initiative managed by EIF on behalf of the European Commission launched in 2016 in the framework of the Creative Europe programme (2014-2020). The CCS GF benefits micro-businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the cultural and creative sectors, which often face difficulties in accessing affordable debt financing for their projects.
EaSI
The European Commission’s Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) aims at contributing to the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy by supporting the EU's objective of high level employment, guaranteeing adequate social protection, fighting against social exclusion and poverty and improving working conditions.
Under EaSI, the EIF manages 3 financial instruments:
- The EaSI Guarantee Instrument to increase access to finance for social enterprises, micro-enterprises and vulnerable groups
- The EaSI Capacity Building Investments Window to build up the institutional capacity of micro-credit and social finance providers
- The EaSI Funded Instrument to support senior and subordinated loans to financial intermediaries.
InnovFin
Is an EU initiative to finance innovation in Europe. The EIF deploys capital under InnovFin, either through providing guarantees to financial institutions that will provide loans to innovative companies (InnovFin SME Guarantee, or SMEG), or through making equity investments and co- investments, to, or alongside, funds focusing on innovative companies in their pre-seed, seed and start-up phases (InnovFin Equity). InnovFin SMEG and InnovFin Equity also form part of the EFSI SME Window.
Social Impact Accelerator
The EIF’s equity instrument in the social sector. Through SIA, the EIF takes cornerstone equity investments in social funds, which, in turn, invest to build successful social enterprises. Under SIA, a social enterprise must deliver on social impact metrics as well as financial metrics.
The EIF-NPI Equity Platform
The EIF-NPI Equity Platform is a collaborative initiative launched by the EIF in 2016, which promotes knowledge sharing and best practices between the EIF and national promotional institutions (NPIs) or banks (NPBs) across EU Member States. Its goal is to enhance access to funding for SMEs and midcaps, support the defragmentation of equity markets, and match national, EU and private sources of funding. This initiative has been established in the context of the Investment Plan for Europe, responding to priorities set by EU stakeholders and NPIs. Since then, it has guided the EIF and NPIs in implementing equity investments, including EFSI-related activities. The EIF shares the objectives of NPIs with respect to supporting a well-functioning European venture capital and private equity ecosystem.
The Risk Capital Resources mandate
The Risk Capital Resources mandate, or RCR, is a mandate managed by the EIF on behalf of the EIB. It focuses on equity activity, such as early stage (venture capital and technology transfer) investments, growth and lower mid-market activities.
Skills & Education Guarantee Pilot
The Skills & Education Guarantee Pilot is a debt financing initiative dedicated to stimulating investments in education, training and skills – as part of the solution to get more people into jobs and to better respond to the European economy’s changing needs. Investments in skills contribute to growth, competitiveness and social convergence, while addressing the challenges linked to digital transformations and the transition to a carbon-free economy.
The EIF implements the S&E Pilot on behalf of the European Commission and thus, the initiative benefits from the EU’s budget support under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), main pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe.
FOSTER
FOSTER TPE-PME (Fonds Occitanie de Soutien Territorial aux Entreprises Régionales) is a new generation of Fund-of-Funds aiming to improve access to finance for final recipients, set up in cooperation with the French Region Occitanie (created following the merger of the Regions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées) using its own resources and the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) resources. FOSTER is managed by EIF under the current ESIF programming period 2014-2020.
FOSTER AGRI was launched in 2015 to help improve access to finance to SMEs in the agricultural sector in the region.
ALTER’NA
The ESIF EAFRD Nouvelle-Aquitaine Fund of Funds (ALTER’NA) is an EIF-backed guarantee instrument dedicated to facilitate access to finance for farmers and agri-businesses in this region. It promotes investments in the development, processing and marketing of agricultural products.
In order to achieve this objective, the ESIF EAFRD Nouvelle-Aquitaine Fund of Funds combines up to EUR 30m of resources from the Rural Development Programs and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It builds on the model of the EIF’s standard First Loss Portfolio Guarantee (FLPG) financial instruments deployed through selected financial intermediaries.
INAF
The French National Agricultural Initiative – L’Initiative Nationale pour l’Agriculture Française (INAF) – is a financial instrument designed by the French Ministry of Agriculture in close collaboration with the EIF. It is part of the first pillar of the French Investment Plan 2018-2022, which aims to mobilise over EUR 5bn of investments to support French farmers. Its main objective is to create lasting impact in the agricultural sector offering better access to (debt) financing to young farmers, upstream production activities and agro-ecological transition. The aim is to catalyse EUR 800–1000m of investments.
