The chief executive body of the European Union, the European Commission, on Monday adopted two new financial instruments for European Structural and Investment (ESI) funds investments, to ease access to funding for young businesses and urban development project promoters.
From 2014, the EU has been encouraging its member states to double their ESI funds investments used through financial instruments, such as loans, equity and guarantees. Financial instruments, compared to grants, attract more private and public resources to complement the initial public funding and can be reinvested over several cycles.