The InvestEU programme

The successor to the Juncker Plan ffor the period 2021-2027, InvestEU is a programme aimed at increasing private investment in the EU with a view to boosting competitiveness and long-term growth.

The Programme consists of three pillars:

• The InvestEU Fund offering an EU budget guarantee - amounting to approximately 26.2 billion euro - to cover the resources provided by the financial partners. The Fund supports projects that have a high added value and are in line with EU policy objectives, but which would find it difficult to access funding due to their risk profile.
• The Advisory Hub, which provides assistance and support throughout the investment cycle, facilitating the conception and development of projects and access to finance.
• The InvestEU Portal, which provides easily accessible data to promote projects that are seeking funding.

The Fund's Windows

The InvestEU Guarantee Fund operates through four windows:

• Sustainable infrastructures
• Research, innovation and digitisation
• SMEs
• Social investment and skills

The programme guarantees up to  €26.2 billion through agreements signed between the Commission and implementing partners including CDP. 75% of the resources are channelled through the European Investment Bank Group (EIB and EIF) and the remaining 25% directly through the other implementing partners.

The role of the CDP Group

CDP, as a European Commission’s implementing partner, is Italy’s driver of the opportunities afforded by the programme. In July 2022, it was the first European Promotional Institution to sign an InvestEU Advisory agreement, and in October of the same year, it was the first European Institution to sign a Guarantee agreement and become an “implementing partner” of InvestEU.

The “Pillar Assessment” accreditation process

The CDP Group became an implementing partner of the European Commission following an accreditation process that verified the compliance of its systems, rules and procedures with European legislation (the so-called “Pillar Assessment”). CDP SpA and CDP Equity were considered suitable for the management of European programmes that the Commission delegates to implementing partners. They participated as two separate (potential) implementing partners so as to maximise the amount of guarantees available for Italy.

CDP Group Participation in the 2021 Call for Expression of Interest

During 2021, the CDP Group participated in the Call for Expression of Interest launched by the European Commission, presenting financial products and an advisory initiative, covering three of the four windows of the programme:

• Sustainable infrastructures
• Research, innovation and digitisation
• Social investment and skills

Agreements subscribed

CDP has currently signed guarantee agreements as part of the programme totalling approximately 900 million euro, able to activate investments for over 1.5 billion euro.