Το έγγραφο αυτό έχει ληφθεί από τον ιστότοπο EUR-Lex
Έγγραφο d4328bfb-a214-11eb-b85c-01aa75ed71a1
Regulation (EU) 2015/1017 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 June 2015 on the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the European Investment Advisory Hub and the European Investment Project Portal and amending Regulations (EU) No 1291/2013 and (EU) No 1316/2013 — the European Fund for Strategic Investments
Ενοποιημένο κείμενο: Regulation (EU) 2015/1017 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 June 2015 on the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the European Investment Advisory Hub and the European Investment Project Portal and amending Regulations (EU) No 1291/2013 and (EU) No 1316/2013 — the European Fund for Strategic Investments
Regulation (EU) 2015/1017 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 June 2015 on the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the European Investment Advisory Hub and the European Investment Project Portal and amending Regulations (EU) No 1291/2013 and (EU) No 1316/2013 — the European Fund for Strategic Investments
02015R1017 — EN — 01.01.2021 — 002.001
This text is meant purely as a documentation tool and has no legal effect. The Union's institutions do not assume any liability for its contents. The authentic versions of the relevant acts, including their preambles, are those published in the Official Journal of the European Union and available in EUR-Lex. Those official texts are directly accessible through the links embedded in this document
|
REGULATION (EU) 2015/1017 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 25 June 2015 (OJ L 169 1.7.2015, p. 1) |
Amended by:
|
|
|
Official Journal |
||
|
No |
page |
date |
||
|
REGULATION (EU) 2017/2396 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 13 December 2017 |
L 345 |
34 |
27.12.2017 |
|
|
REGULATION (EU) 2021/523 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 24 March 2021 |
L 107 |
30 |
26.3.2021 |
|
Corrected by:
REGULATION (EU) 2015/1017 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 25 June 2015
on the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the European Investment Advisory Hub and the European Investment Project Portal and amending Regulations (EU) No 1291/2013 and (EU) No 1316/2013 — the European Fund for Strategic Investments
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY PROVISIONS
Article 1
Subject matter
Article 2
Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:
‘EFSI Agreement’ means the legal instrument whereby the Commission and the EIB specify the conditions laid down in this Regulation for the management of the EFSI;
‘EIAH Agreement’ means the legal instrument whereby the Commission and the EIB specify the conditions laid down in this Regulation for the implementation of the EIAH;
‘national promotional banks or institutions’ means legal entities carrying out financial activities on a professional basis which are given a mandate by a Member State or a Member State's entity at central, regional or local level, to carry out development or promotional activities;
‘investment platforms’ means special purpose vehicles, managed accounts, contract-based co-financing or risk-sharing arrangements or arrangements established by any other means by which entities channel a financial contribution in order to finance a number of investment projects, and which may include:
national or sub-national platforms that group together several investment projects on the territory of a given Member State;
cross-border, multi-country, regional or macro-regional platforms that group together partners from several Member States, regions or third countries interested in projects in a given geographic area;
thematic platforms that group together investment projects in a given sector;
‘small and medium-sized enterprises’ or ‘SMEs’ means micro, small and medium-sized enterprises as defined in Article 2 of the Annex to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC ( 1 );
‘small mid-cap companies’ means entities having up to 499 employees that are not SMEs;
‘mid-cap companies’ means entities having up to 3 000 employees that are not SMEs or small mid-cap companies;
‘additionality’ means additionality as defined in Article 5(1).
CHAPTER II
EUROPEAN FUND FOR STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS
Article 3
Purpose
The purpose of the EFSI shall be to support, in the Union, through the supply of risk-bearing capacity to the EIB, the following:
investments;
increased access to financing for entities having up to 3 000 employees, with a particular focus on SMEs and small mid-cap companies.
Article 4
Terms of the EFSI Agreement
The EFSI Agreement shall contain, in particular, provisions concerning:
the establishment of the EFSI, including:
the establishment of the EFSI as a distinct, clearly identifiable and transparent facility and as a separate account managed by the EIB, the operations of which are clearly distinguished from other operations of the EIB;
the amount, of no less than EUR 7 500 000 000 in guarantees or cash, and the terms of the financial contribution which is to be provided by the EIB through the EFSI;
the terms of the funding or the guarantees which are to be provided by the EIB through the EFSI to the EIF;
the pricing of operations under the EU guarantee which is to be in line with the EIB’s pricing policy;
the procedures to contribute, without prejudice to Protocol No 5 on the Statute of the European Investment Bank annexed to the TEU and to the TFEU and the EIB prerogatives set out therein, to a reduction of the financing cost of the operation borne by the beneficiary of the EIB financing under EFSI, in particular by modulating the remuneration of the EU guarantee, where necessary in particular in situations where stressed financial market conditions would prevent the realisation of a viable project or where necessary to facilitate the establishment of investment platforms or the funding of projects in sectors or areas experiencing a significant market failure or suboptimal investment situation, to the extent it does not significantly impact the necessary financing of the provisioning of the Guarantee Fund;
governance arrangements concerning the EFSI, in accordance with Article 7, without prejudice to Protocol No 5 on the Statute of the European Investment Bank annexed to the TEU and to the TFEU (the EIB Statute), including:
the composition and number of members of the Steering Board;
a provision that a representative of the Commission is to chair the Steering Board meetings;
a provision that the Steering Board is to take decisions in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 7(3);
the procedure for the appointment of the Managing Director and of the Deputy Managing Director, their remuneration and working conditions, in accordance with the Staff Regulations of the EIB, the rules and procedures on their replacement in their functions and on accountability, without prejudice to this Regulation;
the procedure for the appointment and dismissal of the members of the Investment Committee, their remuneration and working conditions and the voting arrangements within the Investment Committee, specifying the quorum and allocating one vote to each member;
the requirement that the Steering Board and the Investment Committee adopt their respective rules of procedure;
the requirement that financing and investment operations covered by this Regulation are to be ultimately approved by the EIB governing bodies in accordance with the EIB Statute;
provisions on avoidance and handling of possible conflicts of interest;
the EU guarantee, which is to be an unconditional, irrevocable, first demand guarantee in favour of the EIB, including:
in accordance with Article 11, detailed rules on the provision of the EU guarantee, including its arrangements on coverage, its defined coverage of portfolios of specific types of instruments and the respective events triggering possible calls on the EU guarantee;
requirements that remuneration for risk-taking be allocated among contributors to the EFSI in proportion to their respective share in the risk-taking and that remuneration to the Union and payments on the EU guarantee are to be made in a timely manner and only after remuneration and losses from operations have been netted;
in accordance with Article 9, requirements for the use of the EU guarantee, including the payment conditions, such as specific time frames, the interest to be paid on due amounts and the necessary liquidity arrangements;
in accordance with Article 11(5), provisions and procedures relating to the recovery of claims that is to be entrusted to the EIB;
in accordance with this Regulation, and in particular Articles 7(12) and 9(5) thereof, Annex II thereto, and any delegated act adopted pursuant to this Regulation, the arrangements for approval by the Investment Committee of the use of the EU guarantee for individual projects or for supporting investment platforms or funds, or national promotional banks or institutions;
the procedures for the submission and approval of investment proposals for the use of the EU guarantee, including:
the procedure for the transmission of investment proposals to the Investment Committee;
provisions on the information to be provided when submitting investment proposals to the Investment Committee;
the requirement that the procedure for submission and approval of investment proposals for the use of the EU guarantee be without prejudice to the EIB decision-making rules laid down in the EIB Statute, and in particular Article 19 thereof;
rules further detailing the transitional provisions which comply with Article 24 of this Regulation, and in particular the manner in which operations approved by the EIB during the period referred to in that Article are to be included under the EU guarantee coverage;
the reporting, monitoring and accountability with regard to the EFSI, including:
in accordance with Article 16, the operational reporting obligations incumbent on the EIB, where appropriate in cooperation with the EIF;
the financial reporting obligations with regard to the EFSI;
in accordance with Articles 20 and 21, rules on auditing and fraud prevention;
key performance indicators, in particular as regards the use of the EU guarantee, the fulfilment of the objectives and criteria laid down in Articles 6 and 9 and Annex II, the mobilisation of private capital, and the macro-economic impact of the EFSI, including its effect on supporting investment;
evaluations of the functioning of the EFSI in accordance with Article 18;
the communication and promotion strategy of the EFSI;
the procedures and conditions for the amendment of the EFSI Agreement, upon the initiative of the Commission or of the EIB, including the obligation to report to the European Parliament and the Council on such amendment;
any other administrative or organisational conditions necessary for the management of the EFSI in so far as they permit the proper use of the EU guarantee;
the arrangements concerning the contributions by Member States to the EFSI in the form of guarantees or cash, and by other third parties only in the form of cash, that are not to confer upon those Member States or other third parties any right to participate in the decision-making and voting of the Steering Board.
The EFSI Agreement shall also provide that:
EFSI activities conducted by the EIF are to be governed by the EIF governing bodies;
EFSI activities conducted by the EIF are to be subject to reporting requirements in accordance with Article 16;
remuneration attributable to the Union from financing and investment operations covered by this Regulation is to be provided following the deduction of payments due to calls on the EU guarantee and, subsequently, of costs in accordance with Article 9(6) and with the EIAH Agreement.
Article 5
Additionality
To better address market failures or sub-optimal investment situations, and to facilitate, in particular, the use of investment platforms for small-scale projects, thereby ensuring complementarity and thus avoiding crowding out participants in the same market, EIB special activities supported by the EFSI shall, as a preferred way and if duly justified:
have features of subordination, including the taking of junior positions vis-à-vis other investors;
participate in risk-sharing instruments;
demonstrate cross-border characteristics;
be exposed to specific risks; or
have other aspects as further described in point (d) of Section 3 of Annex II.
Without prejudice to the requirement to meet the definition of additionality as set out in the first subparagraph, the following elements are strong indications of additionality:
Where the risk level so requires, EIB special activities shall be more broadly used under this Regulation than before the entry into force thereof. This shall in particular apply with respect to those Member States where EIB special activities have not been used or have been used only exceptionally before the entry into force of this Regulation, in order to allow for the implementation of additional operations and projects, as well as additional financing by the EIB and national promotional banks or institutions or investment platforms.
Article 6
Eligibility criteria for the use of the EU guarantee
►M1 The EFSI Agreement shall provide that the EFSI is to support projects which address market failures or sub-optimal investment situations and which: ◄
are economically viable according to a cost-benefit analysis following Union standards, taking into account possible support from, and co-financing by, private and public partners to a project;
are consistent with Union policies, including the objective of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, quality job creation, and economic, social and territorial cohesion;
provide additionality;
maximise where possible the mobilisation of private sector capital; and
are technically viable.
Article 7
Governance of the EFSI
The EFSI Agreement shall provide that the EFSI is to be governed by a steering board, which, for the purpose of the use of the EU guarantee, is to determine, in conformity with the general objectives set out in Article 9(2):
the strategic orientation of the EFSI, including the allocation of the EU guarantee within the infrastructure and innovation windows and any decision to be taken under Article 11(3) and Section 7(b) of Annex II;
the operating policies and procedures necessary for the functioning of the EFSI;
the rules applicable to the operations with investment platforms and national promotional banks or institutions;
the risk profile of the EFSI.
The Steering Board shall elect a Chairperson from among its voting members for a fixed term of three years, renewable once. The Steering Board shall discuss and take the utmost possible account of the positions of all members. If the members cannot converge in their position, the Steering Board shall take its decisions by unanimous vote among its voting members. The minutes of Steering Board meetings shall provide a substantive account of the positions of all members.
The detailed minutes of Steering Board meetings shall be published as soon as they have been approved by the Steering Board. The European Parliament shall be immediately notified of their publication.
The Steering Board shall regularly organise a consultation of relevant stakeholders - in particular co-investors, public authorities, experts, education, training and research institutions, the relevant social partners and representatives of civil society - on the orientation and implementation of the investment policy carried out by the EIB under this Regulation.
The instruments used by the EIF for carrying out operations covered by this Regulation shall be approved jointly by the Steering Board and the Managing Director, after consulting the Investment Committee.
The Managing Director shall be assisted by a deputy managing director. The Managing Director and the Deputy Managing Director shall participate in the meetings of the Steering Board as observers. The Managing Director shall report every quarter on the activities of the EFSI to the Steering Board.
The European Parliament and the Council shall be kept duly informed in a timely manner at all stages of the selection procedure, subject to strict confidentiality requirements. That applies regardless of the conclusion of the agreement between the European Parliament and the EIB referred to in Article 17(5).
The European Parliament shall organise as rapidly as possible, and at the latest within four weeks from the communication of the name of a selected candidate, a hearing with the candidate for each position.
Following the approval from the European Parliament, the Managing Director and the Deputy Managing Director shall be appointed by the President of the EIB for a fixed term of three years, renewable once.
When appointing the experts of the Investment Committee, the Steering Board shall ensure that the composition of the Investment Committee is diversified, so as to ensure that it has a wide knowledge of the sectors referred to in Article 9 and of the geographic markets in the Union.
The composition of the Investment Committee shall be gender-balanced. The Steering Board shall strive to select experts having experience in investment in one or more of the following fields:
research, development and innovation;
transport infrastructures and innovative technologies for transport;
energy infrastructures, energy efficiency and renewable energy;
information and communication technologies infrastructures;
climate action, environmental protection and management;
education and training;
health and medicine;
SMEs;
cultural and creative industries;
urban mobility;
social infrastructures and the social and solidarity economy;
sustainable agriculture, forestry, fishery, aquaculture and other elements of the wider bioeconomy.
Decisions of the Investment Committee shall be taken by simple majority. ►M1 Decisions approving the use of the EU guarantee shall be public and accessible, and shall include the rationale for the decision, with particular focus on compliance with the additionality criterion. They shall also refer to the global assessment stemming from the scoreboard of indicators referred to in paragraph 14. The publication shall not contain commercially sensitive information. In reaching its decision, the Investment Committee shall be supported by the documentation provided by the EIB.
The scoreboard, which is a tool for the Investment Committee to prioritise the use of the EU guarantee for operations that display higher scores and added value, shall be publicly available after the signature of a project. The publication shall not contain commercially sensitive information.
Commercially sensitive parts of the decisions of the Investment Committee shall be forwarded by the EIB to the European Parliament upon request subject to strict confidentiality requirements. ◄
Twice a year, the EIB shall submit to the European Parliament, to the Council and to the Commission a list of all decisions of the Investment Committee as well as the scoreboards relating to all those decisions. That submission shall be subject to strict confidentiality requirements.
The Steering Board shall, as part of the strategic orientation of the EFSI, establish a minimum score for each pillar in the scoreboard with a view to enhancing the assessment of projects.
The Steering Board may, upon request from the EIB, allow the Investment Committee to examine a project whose score in any of the pillars is below the minimum score when the global assessment contained in the scoreboard concludes that the operation related to that project would either address a significant market failure or present a high level of additionality.
CHAPTER III
EU GUARANTEE AND EU GUARANTEE FUND
Article 8
EU guarantee
The Union shall provide an irrevocable and unconditional guarantee to the EIB for financing and investment operations covered by this Regulation and by the EFSI Agreement (EU guarantee) where those operations:
are carried out within the Union; or
involve entities located or established in one or more Member States and extend to one or more third countries falling within the scope of the European Neighbourhood Policy, including the Strategic Partnership, the enlargement policy, the European Economic Area or the European Free Trade Association, or to an overseas country or territory as set out in Annex II to the TFEU, whether or not there is a partner in those third countries or overseas countries or territories.
The EU guarantee shall be granted as a guarantee on demand in respect of instruments referred to in Article 10.
Article 9
Requirements for the use of the EU guarantee
The EU guarantee shall be granted for EIB financing and investment operations approved by the Investment Committee or for funding or guarantees to the EIF in order to conduct EIB financing and investment operations in accordance with Article 11(3).
The EIB shall, where appropriate, delegate the appraisal, selection and monitoring of small-scale sub-projects to financial intermediaries or approved eligible vehicles, in particular investment platforms and national promotional banks or institutions as a means to increase and facilitate the access to finance for small-scale projects. Notwithstanding the third subparagraph of paragraph 5 of this Article, the Investment Committee shall not retain the right to approve the use of the EU guarantee for sub-projects delegated to financial intermediaries or approved eligible vehicles where the EFSI contribution to such sub-projects is below EUR 3 000 000 . Where necessary, the Steering Board shall provide guidance on the procedure by which the Investment Committee is to decide on the use of the EU guarantee for sub-projects for which the EFSI contribution is equal to or above EUR 3 000 000 .
The operations concerned shall be consistent with Union policies and support any of the following general objectives:
research, development and innovation, in particular through:
projects that are in line with Horizon 2020;
research infrastructures;
demonstration projects and programmes as well as deployment of related infrastructures, technologies and processes;
support to academia including collaboration with industry;
knowledge and technology transfer;
development of the energy sector in accordance with the Energy Union priorities, including security of energy supply, and the 2020, 2030 and 2050 climate and energy frameworks, in particular through:
expansion of the use or supply of renewable energy;
energy efficiency and energy savings (with a focus on reducing demand through demand-side management and the refurbishment of buildings);
development and modernisation of energy infrastructure (in particular interconnections, smart grids at distribution level, energy storage and synchronisation of networks);
development of transport infrastructures, and equipment and innovative technologies for transport, in particular through:
projects and horizontal priorities eligible under Regulations (EU) No 1315/2013 and (EU) No 1316/2013;
smart and sustainable urban mobility projects (targeting accessibility, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and accidents);
projects connecting nodes to TEN-T infrastructures;
railway infrastructure, other rail projects, and maritime ports;
financial support through the EIF and the EIB to entities having up to 3 000 employees, with a particular focus on SMEs and small mid-cap companies, in particular through:
provision of working capital and investment;
provision of risk financing from seed to expansion stages for SMEs, start-ups, small mid-cap companies and mid-cap companies, to ensure technological leadership in innovative and sustainable sectors;
development and deployment of information and communication technologies, in particular through:
digital content;
blockchain technology;
internet of things;
cybersecurity and network protection infrastructures;
digital services;
telecommunications infrastructures of high speed;
broadband network;
environment and resource efficiency, in particular through:
projects and infrastructures in the field of environmental protection and management;
strengthening of eco-system services;
sustainable urban and rural development;
climate change actions;
human capital, culture and health, in particular through:
education and training;
cultural and creative industries, for which sector-specific financial mechanisms are to be authorised in interaction with the Creative Europe Programme established by Regulation (EU) No 1295/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 2 ) and the Cultural and Creative Sectors Guarantee Facility established pursuant to that Regulation, in order to provide fit-for-purpose loans for those industries;
innovative health solutions;
new effective medicines;
social infrastructures, social services, social and solidarity economy;
tourism;
sustainable agriculture, forestry, fishery, aquaculture and other elements of the wider bioeconomy;
within the requirements of this Regulation for less developed regions and transition regions as listed respectively in Annexes I and II to Commission Implementing Decision 2014/99/EU ( 3 ), other industry and services eligible for EIB support.
While recognising the demand-driven nature of the EFSI, the EIB shall target that at least 40 % of EFSI financing under the infrastructure and innovation window support project components that contribute to climate action, in line with the commitments made at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21). EFSI financing for SMEs and small mid-cap companies shall not be included in that computation. The EIB shall use its internationally agreed methodology to identify those climate action project components or cost shares. The Steering Board shall, where necessary, provide detailed guidance to that end.
The investment period during which the EU guarantee may be granted for supporting financing and investment operations covered by this Regulation shall last until:
31 December 2020, for EIB operations for which a contract between the EIB and the beneficiary or financial intermediary has been signed by 31 December 2022;
31 December 2020, for EIF operations for which a contract between the EIF and the financial intermediary has been signed by 31 December 2022.
The Steering Board shall specify policies, in accordance with Article 7(2), regarding eligible vehicles referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph. The Investment Committee shall evaluate the conformity of such vehicles and their specific instruments seeking support from the EFSI with the policies specified by the Steering Board.
The Investment Committee may decide to retain the right to approve new projects put forward by financial intermediaries or within approved eligible vehicles.
The EIB may use the EU guarantee within a cumulated maximum limit corresponding to 1 % of the total outstanding EU guarantee obligations to cover expenses that would have been met by beneficiaries of the financing and investment operations but which have not been recovered as of the event of default.
In addition, the EIB may use the EU guarantee to meet the relevant share of any recovery costs, unless deducted from recovery proceeds, and any costs linked to liquidity management.
In the event that the EIB provides funding or guarantees to the EIF on behalf of the EFSI which are backed by the EU guarantee in accordance with Article 11(3), fees of the EIF may be met by the general budget of the Union to the extent that they are not deducted from the remuneration referred to in Article 4(2)(c)(ii) or from revenues, recoveries or other payments received by the EIF.
The Commission shall, as appropriate, provide guidance on combining the use of Union instruments with EIB financing under the EU guarantee, so as to ensure coordination, complementarity and synergies.
Article 10
Eligible instruments
The following instruments shall be eligible for coverage by the EU guarantee:
EIB loans, guarantees, counter-guarantees, capital market instruments, any other form of funding or credit enhancement instrument, including subordinated debt, equity or quasi-equity participations, including in favour of national promotional banks or institutions, investment platforms or funds;
EIB funding or guarantees to the EIF enabling it to undertake loans, guarantees, counter-guarantees, any other form of credit enhancement instrument, capital market instruments and equity or quasi-equity participations, including in favour of national promotional banks or institutions, investment platforms or funds;
EIB guarantees to national promotional banks or institutions, investment platforms or funds under a counter-guarantee of the EU guarantee.
The instruments referred to in points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph shall be granted, acquired or issued for the benefit of operations referred to in Article 8 that meet the requirements of this Regulation, where the EIB or EIF financing has been granted in accordance with a financing agreement or transaction signed or entered into by the EIB or the EIF which has not expired or been cancelled.
Article 11
Coverage and terms of the EU guarantee
The EU guarantee shall be granted as a guarantee on demand in respect of the instruments referred to in Article 10 and shall cover:
for debt instruments referred to in Article 10(2)(a):
the principal and all interest and amounts due to the EIB but not received by it in accordance with the terms of the financing operations until the event of default; for subordinated debt a deferral, reduction or required exit shall be considered to be an event of default;
losses arising from fluctuations of currencies other than the euro in markets where possibilities for long-term hedging are limited;
for equity or quasi-equity investments referred to in Article 10(2)(a), the amounts invested and their associated funding cost and losses arising from fluctuations of currencies other than the euro;
for operations referred to in Article 10(2)(b), the amounts used and their associated funding costs.
The EU guarantee shall also cover the amounts referred to in the second and third subparagraphs of Article 9(6).
Article 11a
Combination of EFSI portfolio with other portfolios
By way of derogation from Article 11(6) of this Regulation and the second subparagraph of Article 10(2) of this Regulation, the EU guarantee may cover losses referred to in Article 11(6) of this Regulation in relation to the entire portfolio of financing and investment operations supported by the financial products referred to in Article 7(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/523 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 4 ).
Article 12
EU guarantee fund
The guarantee fund shall be endowed by:
contributions from the general budget of the Union;
returns on guarantee fund resources invested;
amounts recovered from defaulting debtors in accordance with the recovery procedure laid down in the EFSI Agreement as provided for in Article 4(2)(c)(iv);
revenues and any other payments received by the Union in accordance with the EFSI Agreement.
Following an assessment of the adequacy of the level of the guarantee fund in accordance with the report provided for in Article 16(6), the following payments shall be made:
any surplus shall be paid to the general budget of the Union as internal assigned revenue in accordance with Article 21(4) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 for any budget lines which may have been used as a source of redeployment to the guarantee fund;
any replenishment of the guarantee fund shall be paid in annual tranches during a maximum period of three years starting in the year n+1.
Article 13
Financing of the guarantee fund from the general budget of the Union
Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013 and Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013 are amended as set out in Annex I to this Regulation.
If necessary, payment appropriations may be entered in the general budget of the Union beyond 2020 and up to and including the financial year 2023 to fulfil the obligations stemming from the second subparagraph of Article 12(5).
The annual appropriations from the general budget of the Union for provisioning the guarantee fund shall be authorised by the European Parliament and by the Council within the framework of the annual budgetary procedure in full compliance with Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 ( 6 ).
CHAPTER IV
EUROPEAN INVESTMENT ADVISORY HUB
Article 14
European Investment Advisory Hub
The EIAH shall be able to provide technical assistance in the areas listed in Article 9(2), in particular energy efficiency, TEN-T and urban mobility. ►M1 It shall also support the preparation of climate action and circular economy projects or components thereof, in particular in the context of COP21, the preparation of projects in the digital sector, as well as the preparation of projects referred to in the second indent of the third subparagraph of Article 5(1). ◄
The EIAH shall provide services in addition to those already available under other Union programmes, including:
providing a single point of entry for technical assistance for authorities and project promoters;
assisting project promoters, where appropriate, in developing their projects so that they fulfil the eligibility criteria set out in Article 6;
leveraging local knowledge to facilitate EFSI support across the Union and contributing actively where possible to the objective of sectorial and geographical diversification of the EFSI referred to in Section 8 of Annex II by supporting the EIB and national promotional banks or institutions to originate and develop operations, in particular in less developed regions and transition regions, and, where necessary, by helping to structure demand for EFSI support;
providing a platform for peer-to-peer exchange and sharing of know-how regarding project development;
providing proactive, advisory support, where necessary by means of local presence, on the establishment of investment platforms, in particular cross-border and macroregional investment platforms involving several Member States and/or regions;
using the potential of attracting and financing small-scale projects, including through investment platforms;
providing advice on the combination of other sources of Union funding, such as the European Structural and Investment Funds, Horizon 2020 and the Connecting Europe Facility established by Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013, with the EFSI with a view to resolving practical problems linked to the use of such combined sources of funding;
providing proactive support to promote and encourage the operations referred to in point (b) of the first paragraph of Article 8.
The EIAH Agreement shall contain in particular provisions on the necessary financing of the EIAH in accordance with paragraph 7.
CHAPTER V
EUROPEAN INVESTMENT PROJECT PORTAL
Article 15
European Investment Project Portal
CHAPTER VI
REPORTING, ACCOUNTABILITY AND EVALUATION
Article 16
Reporting and accounting
The EIB, in cooperation with the EIF where appropriate, shall submit an annual report to the European Parliament and to the Council on EIB financing and investment operations covered by this Regulation. The report shall be made public and shall include:
an assessment of EIB financing and investment operations at operation, sector, country and regional levels and their compliance with this Regulation, in particular with the criterion of providing additionality, together with an assessment of the allocation of EIB financing and investment operations between the general objectives set out in Article 9(2);
an assessment of the added value, the mobilisation of private sector resources, the estimated and actual outputs and the outcomes and impact of EIB financing and investment operations on an aggregated basis, including the impact on employment creation;
an assessment of the extent to which operations covered by this Regulation contribute to the achievement of the general objectives set out in Article 9(2) including an assessment of the level of EFSI investments in the areas of research, development and innovation and transport (including TEN-T and urban mobility), telecommunications, energy infrastructure and energy efficiency;
an assessment of the compliance with the requirements concerning the use of the EU guarantee and with the key performance indicators referred to in Article 4(2)(f)(iv);
an assessment of the leverage effect achieved by EFSI-supported projects;
a description of the projects where the support of the European Structural and Investment Funds is combined with the support of the EFSI, and the total amount of the contributions from each source;
the financial amount transferred to beneficiaries and an assessment of EIB financing and investment operations on an aggregated basis;
an assessment of the added value of EIB financing and investment operations, and of the aggregate risk associated with those operations;
detailed information on calls on the EU guarantee, losses, returns, amounts recovered and any other payments received;
the financial reports on EIB financing and investment operations covered by this Regulation audited by an independent external auditor.
For the purposes of the Commission's accounting, its reporting of the risks covered by the EU guarantee and its management of the guarantee fund, the EIB, in cooperation with the EIF where appropriate, shall provide the Commission and the Court of Auditors annually with:
the risk assessment of the EIB and of the EIF and grading information concerning EIB financing and investment operations covered by this Regulation;
the outstanding financial obligation for the Union arising from the EU guarantee provided towards EIB financing and investment operations covered by this Regulation, broken down by individual operations;
the total profits or losses deriving from EIB financing and investment operations within the portfolios referred to in Article 4(2)(c)(i).
Article 17
Accountability
Article 18
Evaluation and Review
By 30 June 2018 and every three years thereafter:
the EIB shall publish a comprehensive report on the functioning of the EFSI, which shall include an evaluation of the impact of the EFSI on investment in the Union, employment creation and access to financing for SMEs and mid-cap companies;
the Commission shall publish a comprehensive report on the use of the EU guarantee and the functioning of the guarantee fund.
Both before the tabling of any new proposal in the framework of the multiannual financial framework starting in 2021 and at the end of the investment period, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and to the Council a report containing an independent evaluation of the application of this Regulation, which shall include:
an assessment of the functioning of the EFSI, the use of the EU guarantee and the functioning of the EIAH;
an assessment of whether the EFSI consists of a good use of resources of the general budget of the Union, mobilises a sufficient level of private capital, and crowds-in private investment;
an assessment of whether maintaining a scheme for supporting investment is useful from a macroeconomic point of view;
at the end of the investment period, an assessment of the application of the procedure referred to in Article 4(2)(a)(v).
CHAPTER VII
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 19
Transparency and public disclosure of information
In accordance with its transparency policies and general Union principles on access to documents and information, the EIB shall make publicly available on its website information relating to all EIB financing and investment operations covered by this Regulation, including on the role of financial intermediaries, and relating to the manner in which those operations contribute to the general objectives set out in Article 9(2).
The EIB and the EIF shall inform, or shall oblige financial intermediaries to inform, the final beneficiaries, including SMEs, of the existence of EFSI support by making that information visible, particularly in the case of SMEs, in the relevant agreement providing EFSI support, thereby increasing public awareness and improving visibility.
Article 20
Auditing by the Court of Auditors
Article 21
Anti-fraud measures
Where such illegal activities are proven, the EIB shall undertake recovery efforts with respect to its financing and investment operations covered by this Regulation that are concerned by such activities.
Article 22
Excluded activities and non-cooperative jurisdictions
In addition, the EIB and the EIF shall not enter into new or renewed operations with entities incorporated or established in jurisdictions listed under the relevant Union policy on non-cooperative jurisdictions, or that are identified as high-risk third countries pursuant to Article 9(2) of Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 10 ), or that do not effectively comply with Union or internationally agreed tax standards on transparency and exchange of information.
When concluding agreements with financial intermediaries, the EIB and the EIF shall transpose the requirements referred to in this Article into the relevant agreements and shall request the financial intermediaries to report on their observance.
The EIB and the EIF shall review their policy on non-cooperative jurisdictions at the latest following the adoption of the Union list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes.
Every year thereafter, the EIB and the EIF shall submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the implementation of their policy on non-cooperative jurisdictions in relation to EFSI financing and investment operations including country-by-country information and a list of intermediaries with which they cooperate.
Article 23
Exercise of the delegation
The delegation of power referred to in Article 7(13) and (14) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.
As regards any further delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 7(14), paragraph 4 of this Article shall apply mutatis mutandis.
CHAPTER VIII
TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 24
Transitional provision
Article 25
Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
ANNEX I
AMENDMENTS TO REGULATION (EU) NO 1291/2013 AND REGULATION (EU) NO 1316/2013
(1) Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013 is hereby amended as follows:
In Article 6, paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 are replaced by the following:
The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the European Parliament and by the Council within the limits of the multiannual financial framework.
The amount for activities under Title XIX TFEU shall be distributed among the priorities set out in Article 5(2) of this Regulation as follows:
Excellent science, EUR 24 232,1 million in current prices;
Industrial leadership, EUR 16 466,5 million in current prices;
Societal challenges, EUR 28 629,6 million in current prices.
The maximum overall amount for the Union financial contribution from Horizon 2020 to the specific objectives set out in Article 5(3) and to the non-nuclear direct actions of the JRC shall be as follows:
Spreading excellence and widening participation, EUR 816,5 million in current prices;
Science with and for society, EUR 444,9 million in current prices;
Non-nuclear direct actions of the JRC, EUR 1 855,7 million in current prices.
The indicative breakdown for the priorities and specific objectives set out in Article 5(2) and (3) is set out in Annex II.
Annex II is replaced by the following text:
‘ANNEX II
Breakdown of the budget
The indicative breakdown for Horizon 2020 is as follows, subject to the annual budgetary procedure:
|
|
EUR million in current prices |
|
I Excellent science, of which: |
24 232,1 |
|
1. European Research Council (ERC) |
13 094,8 |
|
2. Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) |
2 585,4 |
|
3. Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions |
6 162,3 |
|
4. Research infrastructures |
2 389,6 |
|
II Industrial leadership, of which: |
16 466,5 |
|
1. Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies (*1), (*4) |
13 035 |
|
2. Access to risk finance (*2) |
2 842,3 |
|
3. Innovation in SMEs (*3) |
589,2 |
|
III Societal challenges, of which (*4) |
28 629,6 |
|
1. Health, demographic change and well-being |
7 256,7 |
|
2. Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy |
3 707,7 |
|
3. Secure, clean and efficient energy |
5 688,1 |
|
4. Smart, green and integrated transport |
6 149,4 |
|
5. Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials |
2 956,5 |
|
6. Europe in a changing world – Inclusive, innovative and reflective societies |
1 258,5 |
|
7. Secure societies – Protecting freedom and security of Europe and its citizens |
1 612,7 |
|
IV Spreading excellence and widening participation |
816,5 |
|
V Science with and for society |
444,9 |
|
VI Non-nuclear direct actions of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) |
1 855,7 |
|
VII The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) |
2 383 |
|
TOTAL |
74 828,3 |
|
(*1)
Including EUR 7 423 million for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) of which EUR 1 549 million for photonics and micro-and nanoelectronics, EUR 3 741 million for nanotechnologies, advanced materials and advanced manufacturing and processing, EUR 501 million for biotechnology and EUR 1 403 million for space. As a result, EUR 5 792 million will be available to support Key Enabling Technologies.
(*2)
Around EUR 994 million of this amount may go towards the implementation of Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan) projects. Around one third of this may go to SMEs.
(*3)
Within the target of allocating a minimum of 20 % of the total combined budgets for the specific objective “Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies” and the priority “Societal challenges” for SMEs, a minimum of 5 % of those combined budgets will be initially allocated to the dedicated SME instrument. A minimum of 7 % of the total budgets of the specific objective “Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies” and the priority “Societal challenges” will be allocated to the dedicated SME instrument averaged over the duration of Horizon 2020.
(*4)
The Fast Track to Innovation (FTI) pilot actions will be funded from the specific objective “Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies” and from the relevant specific objectives of the priority “Societal challenges”. A sufficient number of projects will be launched in order to allow a full evaluation of the FTI pilot.’. |
|
(2) Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013 is amended as follows:
In Article 5, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:
The financial envelope for the implementation of the CEF for the period 2014 to 2020 is set at EUR 30 442 259 000 in current prices. That amount shall be distributed as follows:
transport sector: EUR 24 050 582 000 , of which EUR 11 305 500 000 shall be transferred from the Cohesion Fund to be spent in line with this Regulation exclusively in Member States eligible for funding from the Cohesion Fund;
telecommunications sector: EUR 1 041 602 000 ;
energy sector: EUR 5 350 075 000 .
These amounts are without prejudice to the application of the flexibility mechanism provided for under Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 ( *1 ).
In Article 14, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:
In Article 21, paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:
The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 26 to raise the ceiling set out in Article 14(2) up to 10 %, provided the following conditions are met:
the evaluation of the pilot phase of the Project Bond Initiative carried out in 2015 is positive; and
the take-up of financial instruments exceeds 6,5 % in terms of project contractual commitments.’.
ANNEX II
EFSI INVESTMENT GUIDELINES
1. Scope
The purpose of the investment guidelines shall be to serve together with this Regulation as a basis for the Investment Committee to decide in a transparent and independent manner on the use of the EU guarantee for EIB operations that are eligible under the EFSI in conformity with the objectives and any other relevant requirements laid down in this Regulation.
The investment guidelines are based on the principles established by this Regulation with regard to general objectives, eligibility criteria, eligible instruments and the definition of additionality. They complement this Regulation by (i) giving further guidance on eligibility, (ii) providing a risk framework for operations, (iii) defining sector and geographic diversification thresholds, and (iv) defining criteria to assess the contribution to the EFSI objectives to facilitate prioritisation.
The investment guidelines only apply to EFSI operations relating to the debt and equity instruments referred to in Article 10(2)(a) of this Regulation and are thus not applicable to EFSI operations relating to the instruments referred to in Article 10(2)(b).
2. Eligible Counterparts, Project Types and Instruments
(a) The eligible counterparts to benefit from the EU guarantee shall include:
(b) The EU guarantee shall be granted to support, directly or indirectly, the financing of new operations. In the infrastructure field, greenfield investments (asset creation) should be encouraged. Brownfield investments (extension and modernisation of existing assets) may also be supported. As a rule, the EU guarantee shall not be granted for supporting refinancing operations (such as replacing existing loan agreements or other forms of financial support for projects which have already partially or fully materialised), except in exceptional and well-justified circumstances where it is demonstrated that such a transaction will enable a new investment of an amount at least equivalent to the amount of the transaction and that would fulfil the eligibility criteria and general objectives laid down in Article 6 and Article 9(2) respectively.
EFSI support to motorways shall be limited to private and/or public investment as concerns:
EFSI support shall also be explicitly possible for maintaining and upgrading existing transport infrastructure.
(c) The EU guarantee shall support a wide range of products to allow the EFSI to adapt to market needs while encouraging private investment in projects, without crowding out private market finance. ►M1 In this context, it is expected that the EIB will provide financing under the EFSI with a view to reach an overall target of at least EUR 500 000 000 000 of public or private investment, including financing mobilised through the EIF under EFSI operations relating to the instruments referred to in Article 10(2)(b), national promotional banks or institutions and through increased access to financing for entities having up to 3 000 employees. ◄ The eligible products shall include inter alia ( 13 ) loans, guarantees /counter-guarantees, mezzanine and subordinated finance, capital market instruments including credit enhancement, and equity or quasi-equity participations, including through national promotional banks or institutions, investment platforms or funds. In this context, in order to allow a broad range of investors to invest in EFSI projects, the EIB shall be allowed to structure appropriate portfolios.
(d) National promotional banks or institutions and investment platforms or funds shall be eligible for coverage by the EIB guarantee under the counter-guarantee of the EU guarantee in accordance with Article 10(2)(c). The decision to grant that EIB guarantee shall strive to mobilise investments at both the national and regional level and to exploit the complementary expertise, the specific comparative advantages, and the scope of such entities, for the benefit of the EFSI initiative.
3. Additionality
The EU guarantee shall be granted in support of operations that meet the criterion of providing additionality as defined in Article 5(1) of this Regulation.
The following general principles shall also apply:
in order to avoid duplication of existing financial instruments, the EU guarantee may complement, be combined with, or strengthen or enhance existing Union programmes or other sources of Union funds or joint instruments;
over the course of the EFSI investment period, investment supported by the EFSI shall in principle not crowd out the use of other Union financial instruments;
attention shall be paid to the complementarity of new infrastructure and innovation window products focusing on SMEs and small mid-cap companies with existing EU financial instruments and EFSI financial instruments under the SME window so that the highest level of efficient use of financial resources is achieved. Nonetheless, a cumulative use of instruments shall be possible in particular in cases where the usual support is not sufficient to kick-start investments;
the presence of one or more of the following features would typically lead to the classification of operations as EIB special activities:
4. Added value: contribution to the EFSI objectives
Projects benefitting from the EU guarantee shall respect the eligibility criteria and general objectives set out in Article 6 and Article 9(2) respectively.
5. Scoreboard
The scoreboard referred to in Article 7 shall be used by the Investment Committee with a view to ensuring an independent and transparent assessment of the possible use of the EU guarantee. ►M1 The scoreboard shall be made public as soon as an operation under the EU guarantee is signed, with the exclusion of commercially sensitive information. ◄
6. Investment Windows
(a) The debt and equity instruments referred to in Article 10(2)(a) shall be provided under an Infrastructure and Innovation Window, which will consist of a Debt Sub-window and an Equity-Type Sub-window. Allocation of operations ( 14 ) to one of the two Sub-windows shall be based on the EIB's system of loan grading and the EIB's standard risk assessment and subject to guidance provided by the Steering Board.
(b) Infrastructure and Innovation Window - Debt Sub-window
(c) Infrastructure and Innovation Window - Equity Type Sub-window
7. Exposure limits per risk category
(a) The exposure limits for special activities categories decreases with increasing risk-level, as expressed in the Transaction Loan Grading. The limit is thus generally higher for debt-type risk than for equity-type risk.
(b) Reflecting the availability of credit enhancement provided by the EU guarantee, the exposure limits for the EFSI shall be set by the EIB at a level higher than the equivalent limit under the EIB's own risk business. The members of the Steering Board and the Investment Committee shall receive a detailed overview of the EFSI risk limits. The Steering Board shall supervise regularly the development of the risk profile of the EFSI portfolio and adopt appropriate measures if deemed necessary.
(c) Transactions for higher amounts than the specific EFSI limits can be included into the EFSI portfolio on an exceptional basis, with the agreement of the Steering Board, provided that additionality and added value is clearly demonstrated and their inclusion is unlikely to jeopardise the overall portfolio risk-level target at the end of the ►M1 ————— ◄ investment period.
8. Sectoral and geographical diversification
The EFSI is demand driven but aims to support eligible projects across the Union as well as cross-border projects, covered by Article 8 of this Regulation, without any sectoral or geographical pre-allocation. However, best efforts shall be made to ensure that at the end of the ►M1 ————— ◄ investment period a wide range of sectors and regions will be covered and excessive sectoral or geographical concentration is avoided.
(a) Sectoral Concentration
In order to manage sector diversification and concentration of the EFSI portfolio, the Steering Board shall set indicative concentration limits in respect of the volume of operations supported by the EU guarantee at the end of the ►M1 ————— ◄ investment period. The indicative concentration limits shall be made public.
The Steering Board may decide to modify these indicative limits, after consulting the Investment Committee. In that case, the Steering Board shall explain its decision to the European Parliament and to the Council in writing.
(b) Geographical Concentration
EFSI-supported operations shall not be concentrated in any specific territory at the end of the ►M1 ————— ◄ investment period. To this end the Steering Board shall adopt indicative geographical diversification and concentration guidelines. The Steering Board may decide to modify these indicative limits, after consulting the Investment Committee. The Steering Board shall explain its decisions relating to the indicative limits to the European Parliament and the Council in writing. The EFSI should aim to cover all Member States.
1. Joint statement by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on the breakdown for Horizon 2020
"The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission agree that the following budget lines will not contribute to the funding of the EFSI: "Strengthening frontier research in the European Research Council", "Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions" and "Spreading Excellence and Widening Participation". The remaining amount stemming from the additional use of the margin as compared to the Commission's proposal will be re-instated to the other Horizon 2020 budget lines in proportion to the reductions proposed by the Commission. The indicative breakdown is set out in Annex I to the EFSI Regulation."
2. Statement by the Commission on the draft budget 2016
"The Commission will analyse the potential impact of the contributions to the EFSI from the different budget lines of Horizon 2020 on the effective implementation of the respective programmes and will, if appropriate, propose an amending letter to the draft general budget of the Union for 2016 to adjust the breakdown of the Horizon 2020 budget lines."
3. Statement by the Commission on its assessment of one-off contributions within the context of the EFSI initiative for the purpose of implementing the Stability and Growth Pact
"Without prejudice to the prerogatives of the Council in the implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), one-off contributions by Member States, either by a Member State or by national promotional banks classified in the general government sector or acting on behalf of a Member State, into the EFSI or thematic or multi-country investment platforms established for the implementation of the Investment Plan, should in principle qualify as one-off measures, within the meaning of Article 5 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1466/97 and Article 3 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1467/97."
( 1 ) Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (OJ L 124, 20.5.2003, p. 36).
( 2 ) Regulation (EU) No 1295/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 establishing the Creative Europe Programme (2014 to 2020) and repealing Decisions No 1718/2006/EC, No 1855/2006/EC and No 1041/2009/EC (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 221).
( 3 ) Commission Implementing Decision 2014/99/EU of 18 February 2014 setting out the list of regions eligible for funding from the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund and of Member States eligible for funding from the Cohesion Fund for the period 2014-2020 (OJ L 50, 20.2.2014, p. 22).
( 4 ) Regulation (EU) 2021/523 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 March 2021 establishing the InvestEU Programme and amending Regulation (EU) 2015/1017 (OJ L 107, 26.3.2021, p. 30).
( 5 ) Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1).
( 6 ) Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 of 2 December 2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 884).
( 7 ) Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 September 2013 concerning investigations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (Euratom) No 1074/1999 (OJ L 248, 18.9.2013, p. 1).
( 8 ) Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 of 11 November 1996 concerning on-the-spot checks and inspections carried out by the Commission in order to protect the European Communities' financial interests against fraud and other irregularities (OJ L 292, 15.11.1996, p. 2).
( 9 ) Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 of 18 December 1995 on the protection of the European Communities financial interests (OJ L 312, 23.12.1995, p. 1).
( 10 ) Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Directive 2006/70/EC (OJ L 141, 5.6.2015, p. 73).
( 11 ) Regulation (EU) 2015/847 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on information accompanying transfers of funds and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1781/2006 (OJ L 141, 5.6.2015, p. 1).
( 12 ) Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Directive 2006/70/EC (OJ L 141, 5.6.2015, p. 73).
( *1 ) Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 of 2 December 2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-20 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 884).’;
( 13 ) This is a non-exclusive indication of products that may be offered via the EFSI.
( 14 ) The term ‘operation’ applies to both direct investment in a project (debt or equity) or an ‘operation’ (projects, programmes or facilities) with a financial or other intermediary but not, for the avoidance of doubt, to the underlying projects supported by such an intermediated operation.