Regulation (EU) 2017/1601 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

CHAPTER I U.K. INTRODUCTORY PROVISIONS

Article 1 U.K. Subject matter

1. This Regulation establishes the European Fund for Sustainable Development (EFSD), the EFSD Guarantee and the EFSD Guarantee Fund.

2. For the purposes of paragraph 1 of this Article, this Regulation provides for the Commission, on behalf of the Union, to conclude EFSD guarantee agreements with the eligible counterparts as defined in Article 11.

Article 2 U.K. Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(1)

‘regional investment platforms’ means blending facilities in line with point (e) of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) No 236/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council(1) and with Article 40 of Council Regulation (EU) 2015/323(2) for the contribution from the 11^th EDF combined with the granting of the EFSD Guarantee as set out in Article 7 of this Regulation;

(2)

‘investment window’ means a targeted area for support by the EFSD Guarantee to portfolios of investments in specific regions, countries or sectors and implemented via the regional investment platforms;

(3)

‘contributor’ means a Member State, an international financial institution or a public institution of a Member State, a public agency or other entities contributing in cash grants or in guarantees to the EFSD Guarantee Fund;

(4)

‘partner country’ means a country that is a signatory to the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, a country that is listed in Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 232/2014, or a country that is eligible for geographic cooperation under Regulation (EU) No 233/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council(3);

(5)

‘additionality’ means the principle ensuring that the EFSD Guarantee support contributes to sustainable development by operations which could not have been carried out without the EFSD Guarantee, or which achieve positive results above and beyond what could have been achieved without it. Additionality also means crowding in private sector funding and addressing market failures or sub-optimal investment situations as well as improving the quality, sustainability, impact or scale of an investment. The principle also ensures that EFSD Guarantee operations do not replace the support of a Member State, private funding or another Union or international financial intervention, and avoid crowding out other public or private investments. Projects supported by the EFSD Guarantee typically have a higher risk profile than the portfolio of investments supported by the eligible counterparts under their normal investment policies without the EFSD Guarantee.

(1)

Regulation (EU) No 236/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2014 laying down common rules and procedures for the implementation of the Union’s instruments for financing external action (OJ L 77, 15.3.2014, p. 95).

(2)

Council Regulation (EU) 2015/323 of 2 March 2015 on the financial regulation applicable to the 11^th European Development Fund (OJ L 58, 3.3.2015, p. 17).

(3)

Regulation (EU) No 233/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2014 establishing a financing instrument for development cooperation for the period 2014-2020 (OJ L 77, 15.3.2014, p. 44).