Euractiv got its hands on a draft of the Second Omnibus package on investment simplification. The plan aims to streamline InvestEU and the European Fund for Strategic Investments while cutting red tape on reporting.

By Nicoletta Ionta and Thomas Moller-Nielsen

The European Commission will propose increasing the guarantee available under ‘InvestEU’ programme and combining it with other “legacy programmes” to boost private and public investment, according to a draft of the second ‘Omnibus’ simplification package.

The proposal, seen by Euractiv, calls for the financial guarantee provided by InvestEU under the current seven-year budget period to be increased by €2.5 billion, thereby raising the total fund’s value to €28.7 billion. Brussels estimates that this move will generate an additional €25 billion public and private investment.

The package also proposes “enhanced possibilities of combinations of available resources” of InvestEU with programmes such as the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), InnovFin, and the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (COSME).

Also proposed are “simplification” measures for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) whose turnover does not exceed €100,000, and calls for the publication of the funds’ “final recipients” to only be mandatory when they receive at least €1,000,000. The Commission says that such measures will save firms €200 million per year.

The draft also notes that additional “simplifications” will be achieved through “non-legislative” measures, and that the Commission will “engage” with partners to cut companies’ reporting burden through “contractual simplifications”.

The package is set to be presented next Wednesday – alongside the Clean Industrial Deal, the First Omnibus Package on Sustainability, and the Action Plan on Affordable Energy.

Source: Euractiv.com