DG GROW
Ref. Ares(2019)6203347 - 07/10/2019
Ref. Ares(2020)1984269 - 08/04/2020
Meeting of Kristian Hedberg, Deputy Head of Cabinet with Neste
23.09.2019
Upcoming Commission Work Programme and Sustainable finance
MINI BRIEFING NOTE (Commission Internal)
Scene setter/Context of the meeting/
Objective of the meeting:
Participants:
Neste Senior Vice President Sustainability, Public Affairs,
Communications and Brand Marketing,
Neste Head of EU Affairs,
, Aula Europe
Topics to be discussed: upcoming Commission Work Programme
and Sustainable finance.
The President-elect has presented her six headline priorities to
the European Parliament. These will form the background for the
Commission Work Programme 2020. Work on this Programme
will start in November and will closely involve the European
Parliament and the Council. Adoption may be expected by end
December at the earliest.
Objective of the meeting:
Remind your interlocutor that the new Commission will
prepare its first Commission Work Programme translating
the six priorities of the President-elect into concrete actions
for 2020.
Underline that DG GROW will contribute to sustainable
finance under the next MFF, including under the SME
window of InvestEU.
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KEY messages
Commission Work Programme
The incoming Commission is free to set the dates, the
format and the contents of the next Commission Work
Programme to be discussed with the legislator.
The six headline priorities of the President-elect will be the
blueprint on which concrete actions for next year will be
formulated.
The President-elect of the European Commission, Ursula von
der Leyen, is committed to deliver on six headline ambitions.
First,
a European Green Deal, where the Commission is
working on a new industrial strategy, a new circular
economy, and a Sustainable Europe Investment Plan;
Second,
an economy that works for people, which includes
a dedicated SME strategy, the single market and a refocused
European Semester;
Third,
a Europe fit for the digital age, where we will prepare
legislation for a coordinated approach to Artificial
Intelligence taking into account its human and ethical
implications, to the platform economy, and to cyber-
security;
Fourth,
protecting our European way of life, where the
space programme will provide world-class technology to
make the lives of Europeans more secure;
Fifth,
a stronger Europe in the world, where we will work on
fair trade and economic diplomacy and we will take steps
towards a European Defence Union;
And sixth,
a new push for European democracy, where the
Commission will play its role as a partner of the European
Parliament and the Council, civil society and other
stakeholders.
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Agreement1. For the EU, annual total investment will amount to more than € 1 trillion for
all sectors2. For energy related investments alone, this represent an additional investment
estimated between € 175-290 billion annually in comparison with the baseline scenario
and based on currently adopted targets. If managed properly, the EU would benefit the
most from the global energy transition, with a positive impact between 1.2% – 2.6% on
GDP by 20503.
In order to implement the EU commitment to the Paris agreement and to achieve the
2030 climate and energy objectives, the EU will therefore need considerable investments
for supporting the development and deployment of technologies promoting climate
neutrality. In the context of limited availability of public resources, the engagement of
the private sector and the efficient solutions for financing sustainable growth is
indispensable.
The Commission’s two regulatory proposals represent important steps towards more
competitive, climate neutral EU economy. First, actions under the EU Action Plan on
Financing Sustainable Growth enable concrete progress in harnessing financial markets
to support the objectives of EU sustainable growth agenda and to contribute to the
Agenda 2030 for sustainable development and its sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Second, sustainable growth will be supported through the
InvestEU Fund, which will
not only include a large earmarked allocation for sustainable infrastructure investments,
but also sustainability impacts will have to be taken into consideration in other
investment areas as well, including support to SMEs.
The InvestEU SME window will have one broad debt and one broad equity product
targeted at SMEs and small mid-caps4. Under both products we are considering granting
more favourable conditions for support (either via a higher guarantee rate for the debt
product, or though a higher participation in the equity funds) for sustainable and climate-
oriented investments, to cater for that fact that compared to large enterprises start-ups,
micro-enterprises and SMEs in general experience more difficulties in adopting
sustanable strategies and practices, due to their more limited organisational,
technological and financial capacity, and the more difficult access to finance.
InvestEU
The InvestEU Programme builds on the successful model of the Investment Plan for
Europe, the Juncker Plan. It will bring together, under one roof, the European Fund for
Strategic Investments and 13 EU financial instruments currently available. Triggering at
least €650 billion in additional investment, the Programme aims to give an additional
boost to investment, innovation and job creation in Europe.
It will have 4 distinct policy windows, one of which dedicated to SMEs. InvestEU Fund
will be implemented in the form of a budgetary guarantee with capacity of 38 MEUR
(subject to MFF discussions). The indicative allocation to the SME window is 11.25
MEUR.
1 Source: IEA’s Sustainable Development Scenario in WEO 2019, to be published; data refer to
investments in clean energy supply, infrastructure and low carbon end-use technologies in various sectors.
2 Source: Impact assessment of the Communication “A Clean Planet for all”. (NB: The EU figures cannot
be compared one-to-one with IEA data for methodological reasons).
3 Source: Impact assessment of the Communication “A Clean Planet for all”.
4 The 2 products are currently being prepared, and will be soon discussed in details with the EIB Group and
the other potential InvestEU implementing partners.
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