InvestEU: Commission adopts new guidance documents and decisions to facilitate the start of the operations

The Commission has adopted various implementing acts and guidance documents in the framework of the InvestEU programme. First, the Investment Guidelines offer detailed information on the requirements that financing and investment operations must satisfy in order to receive support from the InvestEU Fund. Those guidelines are now subject to a two-month non-objection period by the European Parliament and the Council before they enter into force. Second, the Sustainability Proofing Guidance details how financing and investment operations under the InvestEU Fund are to meet the three dimensions of the EU’s sustainability commitments: climate, environmental and social. This guidance will be complemented in the coming weeks with an additional climate and environmental tracking guidance. Third, the Implementing Decision establishing the InvestEU Portal lays down simplified rules for the functioning of the easily-accessible database of investment opportunities within the EU. Finally, the Commission has taken a series of decisions related to the governance of InvestEU. The Commission Decision on the nominations to the Advisory Board will allow the consultative body to convene for the first time at the end of April. The Advisory Board will provide advice to the Commission and the Steering Board, and exchange views on market developments. The Commission also appointed its four members and four alternates to the Steering Board. Furthermore, the Commission adopted a Decision on the call to select members of the Investment Committee and will launch the call for applications on the InvestEU website in the next few days. The Investment Committee will be an independent body with 12 members tasked with decisions on the EU guarantee allocation to the financing and investment operations proposed by the implementing partners, in line with the Regulation and the Investment Guidelines. As a next step, the Commission will need to conclude the guarantee and advisory agreements and the selection of implementing partners other than the EIB Group. To this end a call for expression of interest will be launched end of April.