Marcel Bode

European Structural and Investment Funds Journal, Volume 5 (2017), Issue 4, Page 277 - 286

Financial instruments (FIs), as a means of public support in Cohesion Policy, have been enjoying increasing interest in recent years, with Member States planning to allocate double their spend on financial instruments in 2014-2020 compared to the previous programming period. Alongside a stronger legally binding framework, there is the issue of an adequate management and control system to ensure compliance with the rules. The management checks by the managing authorities and the audits carried out by the audit authorities are the foremost defence line within this governance system.

Fiona Wishlade, Rona Michie, Giovanni Familiari, Peter Schneidewind, Andreas Resch

European Structural and Investment Funds Journal, Volume 5 (2017), Issue 2, Page 111 - 119

The 2007-13 planning period saw a new and significant emphasis on the use of so-called ‘financial instruments’ as measures to implement Cohesion policy. This was justified by the Commission on the basis that such instruments are more sustainable than grants, that they can generate better quality projects and that they are a more efficient use of public funds. However, for many Member States financial instruments were a new approach to delivering Cohesion policy in 2007-13, and their increased use created significant challenges. In considering this experience, this article draws on the findings of the ex post evaluation of financial instruments for enterprise support under the ERDF and Cohesion Fund. It assesses the scale of support provided through co-financed financial instruments in 2007-13, considers the rationales of managing authorities opting to use financial instruments, outlines how financial instruments were implemented in practice and provides some initial indications of their effectiveness.