Following the European Commission's (EC's) new Circular Economy proposal, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have announced changes to help circular economy projects secure funding.
Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, said: "This Commission has made the transition to a more circular economy a priority of our work. And for small and medium businesses across Europe, we are committed to making that transition as easy as possible. Now one week after we launched our proposal, we have a real financial commitment. Today's signing of an extension of funding coverage with the EIB will help our risk-takers make that leap to a more sustainable model of production".
One amendment to the InnovFin Delegation Agreement, signed at the Financing the Circular Economy conference this week, will enable higher-risk, yet innovative sustainable business models and plans to access credit through the EU finance support programme InnovFin. InnovFin was previously only available to innovative industrial and technology enterprises.
Werner Hoyer, President of the EIB said: “We must enable the transition towards a circular economy to unlock sustainable growth without consuming more resources, or consuming them in a smarter way - our collective future and prosperity depend on that. We at the EIB, the EU Bank, will continue to deploy technical expertise, advisory and financial firepower in support of those investment decisions which make our economies more circular, more sustainable.”
Apart from the widening of InnovFin's eligibility criteria to attract circular economy projects, the report also proposes setting up a platform for institutional and private investors who are looking to support projects.