Chapter II, Article 8, Paragraph 1. · Regulation (EU) 2021/523

Contents

1.The InvestEU Fund shall operate through the following four policy windows that shall address market failures or suboptimal investment situations within their specific scope:

(a)a sustainable infrastructure policy window which comprises sustainable investment in the areas of transport, including multimodal transport, road safety, including in accordance with the Union objective of eliminating fatal road accidents and serious injuries by 2050, the renewal and maintenance of rail and road infrastructure, energy, in particular renewable energy, energy efficiency in accordance with the 2030 energy framework, buildings renovation projects focused on energy savings and the integration of buildings into a connected energy, storage, digital and transport systems, improving interconnection levels, digital connectivity and access, including in rural areas, supply and processing of raw materials, space, oceans, water, including inland waterways, waste management in accordance with the waste hierarchy and the circular economy, nature and other environment infrastructure, cultural heritage, tourism, equipment, mobile assets and the deployment of innovative technologies that contribute to the environmental or climate resilience or social sustainability objectives of the Union and that meet the environmental or social sustainability standards of the Union;

(b)a research, innovation and digitisation policy window which comprises research, product development and innovation activities, the transfer of technologies and research results to the market to support market enablers and cooperation between enterprises, the demonstration and deployment of innovative solutions and support for the scaling up of innovative companies, as well as digitisation of Union industry;

(c)an SME policy window which comprises access to and the availability of finance primarily for SMEs, including for innovative SMEs and SMEs operating in the cultural and creative sectors, as well as for small mid-cap companies;

(d)a social investment and skills policy window, which comprises microfinance, social enterprise finance, social economy and measures to promote gender equality, skills, education, training and related services, social infrastructure, including health and educational infrastructure and social and student housing, social innovation, health and long-term care, inclusion and accessibility, cultural and creative activities with a social goal, and the integration of vulnerable people, including third country nationals.

Defined terms · 22

Show every defined term

advisory agreement
means a legal instrument whereby the Commission and the advisory partner specify the conditions for the implementation of the InvestEU Advisory Hub;
advisory initiative
means technical assistance and advisory services that support investment, including capacity building activities, provided by advisory partners, by external service providers contracted by the Commission, or by executive agencies;
advisory partner
means an eligible counterpart such as a financial institution or other entity with whom the Commission has concluded an advisory agreement for the purpose of implementing one or more advisory initiatives, other than advisory initiatives implemented through external service providers contracted by the Commission or through executive agencies;
blending operation
means, under the EU compartment, an operation supported by the Union budget that combines non-repayable forms of support, repayable forms of support, or both, from the Union budget with repayable forms of support from development or other public finance institutions, or from commercial finance institutions and investors;
compartment
means a part of the support provided under the InvestEU Fund defined in terms of the origin of the resources backing it;
contribution agreement
means a legal instrument whereby the Commission and one or more Member States specify the conditions for the implementation of the contribution under the Member State compartment, as laid down in Articles 10 and 10a;
financial contribution
means a contribution from an implementing partner in the form of own risk-taking capacity that is provided on a pari passu basis with the EU guarantee or in another form that allows an efficient implementation of the InvestEU Programme while ensuring appropriate alignment of interest;
financial product
means a financial mechanism or arrangement under the terms of which the implementing partner provides direct or intermediated financing to final recipients using any of the types of financing referred to in Article 16;
financing or investment operations
means operations to provide finance directly or indirectly to final recipients through financial products carried out by:
funds under shared management
means funds that provide for the possibility of allocating a portion of those funds to the provisioning for a budgetary guarantee or to a financial instrument under the Member State compartment of the InvestEU Fund, namely the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund established by Regulation (EU) 2021/1058 of the European Parliament and of the Council, the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) established by Regulation (EU) 2021/1057 of the European Parliament and of the Council (the ‘ESF+ Regulation for 2021-2027’), the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) established by Regulation (EU) 2021/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council and the European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) established by Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council (the ‘CAP Strategic Plans Regulation’);
guarantee agreement
means a legal instrument whereby the Commission and an implementing partner specify the conditions for proposing financing and investment operations in order for them to be granted the benefit of the EU guarantee or of the InvestEU financial instrument, for providing the EU guarantee or support through the InvestEU financial instrument for those operations and for implementing them in accordance with this Regulation;
implementing partner
means an eligible counterpart such as a financial institution or other financial intermediary with whom the Commission has concluded a guarantee agreement;
important project of common European interest
means a project that fulfils all the criteria laid down in the Commission Communication on Criteria for the analysis of the compatibility with the internal market of State aid to promote the execution of important projects of common European interest or any subsequent revision of that Communication;
InvestEU financial instrument
means a financial instrument as defined in Article 2, point (30), of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council that is to be implemented under the Member State compartment of the InvestEU Fund.
InvestEU Programme
means the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub, the InvestEU Portal and blending operations, collectively;
investment platform
means a special purpose vehicle, managed account, contract-based co-financing or risk-sharing arrangement or an arrangement 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:
microfinance
means microfinance as defined in the relevant provisions of the ESF+ Regulation for 2021-2027;
national promotional bank or institution
means a legal entity that carries out financial activities on a professional basis which has been given mandate by a Member State or a Member State’s entity at central, regional or local level to carry out development or promotional activities;
policy window
means a targeted area for support by the EU guarantee or the InvestEU financial instrument as laid down in Article 8(1);
small mid-cap company
means an entity that is not an SME and that employs up to 499 employees;
SME
means (a) an enterprise which, according to its last annual or consolidated accounts, employs an average number of employees during the financial year of less than 250 and has an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million;
social enterprise
means a social enterprise as defined in the relevant provisions of the ESF+ Regulation for 2021-2027;