Читать книгу The economic policy of the european union in the context of the covid-19 crisis - Francisco Jesús Carrera Hernández - Страница 20

On March 16, 2020, the EIB Group announced measures to mobilize up to 40 billion euros to respond to the crisis situation caused by the coronavirus37. In announcing the measures, EIB President Werner Hoyer called for even more support and proposed the establishment of a substantial and scalable guarantee to ensure that the EIB and national promotional banks can assure that SMEs have access to capital for as long as necessary38.

This financing was used for loans, grace periods and other measures to alleviate the lack of liquidity and working capital of SMEs and mid-caps. As an economic response to the COVID-1939 outbreak, it was determined that the role of the EIB Group (consisting of the EIB and the European Investment Fund40 [hereinafter EIF]) would be to help channel the financial support. Said group specializes in supporting SMEs and is committed to working through financial intermediaries in the Member States and association with national development banks41.

The proposed financing package consisted of: a) specific guarantee systems for banks based on existing programs that can be implemented immediately, mobilizing up to 20 billion euros of financing; b) specific liquidity lines for banks to ensure additional support of 10 billion euros of working capital for SMEs and mid-caps; c) Asset Securitization Bond (ABS) purchase programs to enable banks to transfer risk from their SME loan portfolios, which will mobilize another 10 billion euros of financing42.

It should be noted that the EIB’s largest contribution in the fight against infectious diseases and COVID-19 is through the provision of venture debt within the framework of the Investment Plan for Europe and the InnovFin Infectious Diseases Finance Facility of the Horizon 2020 program. This financing mechanism is a fruitful collaboration between the Commission and the EIB in the face of a health crisis. The EIB reports that, through this, it has supported 12 companies (with a total loan volume of 241 million euros) in the development of treatments and vaccines against various infectious diseases. Under the Investment Plan for Europe, the European Investment Bank has also supported 36 highly innovative biotechnology and medical technology companies, providing financing worth a total of around 1 billion euros. Through its venture capital operations, the FEI supports a broad spectrum of innovative companies in the life sciences field43.

It should be noted that, as a form of coordinated response among European institutions, the Communication from the Commission was prepared for the EP, the European Council, the Council, the ECB, the EIB and the Eurogroup as a coordinated economic response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The purpose of this communication is to remain coordinated in responsible decision-making in the EU. It addressed containment measures for citizens, companies and economies as part of a coordinated, common and solidary response44. As for the EIB, measures were established to mobilize the EIB and EU budget in order to establish greater liquidity to support companies, sectors and regions. It was agreed to make available a sum of 1 billion euros from the EU budget as a guarantee to the EIF to support working capital financing and assist at least 100,000 European SMEs and small mid-caps. The aid shall be distributed from the EFSI to guarantee loans under the COSME program45 and the InnovFin guarantees for SMEs. At the time of publication of the above-mentioned communication, they were already available under the EFSE “Infrastructure and innovation” line of action, aimed at supporting instruments for SMEs46.

Regarding the payment of credits, periods of grace were established for the affected companies in order to alleviate the financial tensions to which they will be subjected. The document does not mention such periods, it only encourages the States to take advantage of the possibilities offered by the financial instruments of the Structural Funds as appropriate47.

Meanwhile, it should be noted that the President of the EIB announced that 400 million euros had been provided to the COVAX Mechanism within the framework of Team Europe48. This is the largest amount ever provided by the EIB for global public health. The Mechanism has already provided vaccines to vulnerable groups and frontline workers and has brought hope to millions of people. More than 100 economies benefited from the COVAX Mechanism within 42 days of the first international delivery, according to the World Health Organization49.