Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1702 of 12 July 2021 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2021/523 of the European Parliament and of the Council by setting out additional elements and detailed rules for the InvestEU Scoreboard

Article 1

The detailed rules which implementing partners shall use to fill in the scoreboard of indicators referred to in Article 22 of Regulation (EU) 2021/523, to enable the Investment Committee of the InvestEU Fund to carry out an independent, transparent and harmonised assessment of the requests for the use of the EU guarantee, are set out in the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

ANNEX

1. General principles

A scoreboard of indicators (the ‘InvestEU Scoreboard’) shall be used by the Investment Committee established in accordance with Article 24 of Regulation (EU) 2021/523 of the European Parliament and of the Council (¹) (the ‘InvestEU Regulation’) to assess the financing and investment operations proposed by the implementing partners for coverage under the EU guarantee. As part of the examination referred to in Article 24(1) and in accordance with Article 24(4) of the InvestEU Regulation, the Investment Committee shall use the InvestEU Scoreboard to carry out an independent, transparent and harmonised assessment of requests for the use of the EU guarantee for financing and investment operations proposed by implementing partners.

The InvestEU Scoreboard shall be filled out by the implementing partner submitting a proposal for a financing or investment operation (²), including Framework Operations (³), to the Investment Committee. The level of detail to be presented for each of the pillars will differ between individual financing and investment operations and Framework Operations. In the case of the latter, overall estimations can be provided, such as type of financial intermediaries, estimated number and type of final recipients, average sizes of financing to be provided to final recipients, and estimated impact of the framework operation.

1.1.   Content of the InvestEU Scoreboard

Pursuant to Article 22(3) of the InvestEU Regulation, the InvestEU Scoreboard shall cover the following elements:

(a) presentation of the financing or investment operation, which will include its name, the final recipient for direct operations or, for intermediated operations, the financial intermediary (-ies) (if known, the name of the financial intermediary; if not, at least the type), the country (-ies) of implementation and a short description of the financing or investment operation;

(b) pillar 1 – contribution of the financing or investment operation to EU policy objectives;

(c) pillar 2 – description of the additionality of the financing or investment operation;

(d) pillar 3 – market failure or sub-optimal investment situation addressed by the financing or investment operation;

(e) pillar 4 – financial and technical contribution by the implementing partner;

(f) pillar 5 – impact of the financing or investment operation;

(g) pillar 6 – financial profile of the financing or investment operation;

(h) pillar 7 – complementary indicators.

1.2.   Assessment of the pillars

Each financing or investment operation submitted to the Investment Committee shall be scored by the implementing partner on pillars 3, 4, and 5, and assessed through unscored qualitative or quantitative indicators on pillars 1, 2, 6 and 7.

The scoring of pillars 3, 4, and 5 shall use the following scale. The same scale shall be used for scored indicators and sub-indicators.

Due to the nature of their scope, each scored pillar shall be assessed individually without aggregation into one single score. Where the pillars are assessed through specific indicators and sub-indicators, the weighting of those indicators and sub-indicators shall be taken into account when calculating the score of the relevant pillar (by multiplying the relevant number of points by the relevant weighting) (⁴).

Implementing partners shall provide a rationale justifying each score given, based on the method described in the relevant Appendix and on other relevant elements included in the InvestEU Regulation, in the investment guidelines (⁵), in Commission guidance documents such as the sustainability proofing guidance (⁶) and the climate and environmental tracking methodology (⁷).

The Investment Committee shall give equal importance to each pillar when assessing financing or investment operations, irrespective of whether the individual pillar presents a numerical score or whether it is composed of unscored qualitative and quantitative indicators.

In accordance with Article 24(4) of the InvestEU Regulation, the assessment provided by the implementing partner shall not be binding on the Investment Committee.

1.3.   Publication of the InvestEU Scoreboard

In accordance with Article 24(5) of the InvestEU Regulation, the relevant InvestEU Scoreboard shall be published on the InvestEU website after the signature of the corresponding financing or investment operation between the implementing partner and the financial intermediary or the final recipient, as applicable. In case of Framework Operations, the InvestEU Scoreboard shall be published after the signature of the first sub-project.

When submitting the request for coverage under the EU guarantee to the Investment Committee, the implementing partner shall submit the InvestEU Scoreboard with complete information on all the pillars. The InvestEU Scoreboard must contain a justification of the assessment in accordance with pillars 1 to 6 including the relevant indicators and the indicators in pillar 7. Therefore, the InvestEU Scoreboard submitted to the Investment Committee may contain commercially sensitive or confidential information that cannot be published.

At latest 10 business days after the date of the signature of the financing or investment operation, or of the first sub-project in case of Framework Operations, the implementing partner shall submit a public version of the InvestEU Scoreboard to the Investment Committee secretariat containing a narrative covering pillars 1 to 5 and the indicators in pillar 7, which shall be published. This public version of the InvestEU Scoreboard shall not include any commercially sensitive or confidential information. As the financial profile of the financing or investment operation contains commercially sensitive information, no information on pillar 6 has to be provided in the public version of the InvestEU Scoreboard.

2. The InvestEU Scoreboard

2.1.   Pillar 1 – Contribution of the financing or investment operation to EU policy objectives

Under pillar 1, the implementing partner shall present the extent to which the financing or investment operation contributes to the eligible areas under InvestEU, in accordance with Annex II of the InvestEU Regulation, the investment guidelines and the conditions of the relevant financial product. As regards the Member State compartment within the meaning of Articles 9 and 10 of the InvestEU Regulation, the assessment shall include the policy objectives set out in the relevant contribution agreement.

Financing and investment operations must fall at least in one eligible area under the appropriate policy window of the relevant financial product.

2.2.   Pillar 2 – Description of the additionality of the financing or investment operation

Under pillar 2, the implementing partner shall present the main arguments explaining why the financing or investment operation is additional to private sources or to existing support from other public sources, or to both. The implementing partner shall, in particular, demonstrate that the financing or investment operation complies with at least one of the features listed in points (a) to (f) of the second paragraph of Annex V.A.2 of the InvestEU Regulation (see Appendix 1).

2.3.   Pillar 3 – Market failure or sub-optimal investment situation addressed by the financing or investment operation

Under pillar 3, the implementing partner shall present the market failure(s) and sub-optimal investment situation(s) that the financing or investment operation addresses. Each financing or investment operation shall address at least one of the features set out in points (a) to (f) of Annex V.A.1 of the InvestEU Regulation. The implementing partner shall identify the feature(s) which the financing or investment operation complies with and include the corresponding justification (see Appendix 2).

On the basis of those identified features, the implementing partner shall assess to what extent the financing or investment operation addresses sub-optimal investment situations and investment gaps resulting from market failures. Implementing partners shall score this pillar in accordance with the scoring criteria set out in Appendix 2. Operations addressing only one market failure or sub-optimal investment situation would have a score corresponding to ‘Fair’, while operations addressing additional market failures or sub-optimal investment situations would move up additional points. Moreover, financing and investment operations addressing only one market failure shall receive additional points depending on the significance of the market failure they are tackling and/or of their focus on specific policy priorities as described in Appendix 2, Tables 1 and 2.

2.4.   Pillar 4 – Financial and technical contribution by the implementing partner

Pillar 4 focuses on the value added by the involvement of the implementing partner, offering financial and technical benefits to the financing or investment operation. The total score of pillar 4 shall be based on the individual scores of the underlying indicators, as described in Appendix 3. A different approach is outlined for financing and investment operations consisting of direct financing and of intermediated financing.

Pillar 4 is assessed using the indicators as outlined below.

1.the financial benefits generated by the intervention of the implementing partner (direct financing weight: 12,5 %; intermediated financing: weight 35 %). This refers to financial benefits that the intervention of the implementing partner brings in relation with its counterparty such as lower interest rates;

2.longer maturity for the financing provided to final recipients (only for direct financing weight: 25 %). This refers to the tenor for which the financing is made available to the final recipient;

3.other benefits generated for final recipients (only for direct financing weight: 12,5 %;). This refers to other benefits such as grace periods, more flexibility of draw-downs, possibility to revise interest rates, contributing to the diversification of financing sources for final recipients;

4.crowding-in of other investors and signalling effect (direct financing weight: 25 %; intermediated financing weight: 40 %): this refers to the catalytic role of the implementing partner in mobilising other private or public investors and signaling effect in the market;

5.financial advice and/or structuring expertise (for both direct and intermediated financing weight: 12,5 %): this covers all dimensions of the financial advisory/structuring expertise provided by the implementing partner (including in its capacity as an advisory partner under the Invest EU Advisory Hub). This includes the upstream involvement of advisory services, the implementing partner in-house expertise contributing to improving the financial structure of a financing or investment operation during preparation or implementation, including through innovative financing structures, if applicable;

6.technical advice and contribution (for both direct and intermediated financing weight: 12,5 %): all dimensions of the technical advice provided by the implementing partner (including in its capacity as an advisory partner under the Invest EU Advisory Hub). This includes the upstream involvement of advisory services, the involvement of external technical assistance financed and/or supervised by the implementing partner, and the implementing partner in-house expertise contributing to improving a financing or investment operation, including its investability and the materialisation of the investments/projects/financings.

2.5.   Pillar 5 – The impact of the financing or investment operation

The total score of this pillar shall be based on the individual scores of the underlying indicators and sub-indicators, as described in Appendix 4 below. A different approach is outlined for financing and investment operations consisting of direct financing and of intermediated financing.

The dimensions and resulting indicators and sub-indicators outlined below shall be applied.

The ERR is quantified using best practice in economic appraisal. It considers the financing or investment operation’s socioeconomic costs and benefits, including its spill-over effects (e.g. positive effects of research, development and innovation, long-term climate benefits, impacts on the labour market, and/or positive and negative environmental effects). However, there are also projects whose ERR might be difficult to estimate, or economic appraisal methods that do not necessarily warrant a numeric ERR result (e.g. multi-criteria analysis). A number of sectors are driven by compliance with Union standards and the primary focus of the assessment may be to ensure that a least cost solution is adopted for meeting these objectives (e.g. water and waste treatment).

When the ERR is not quantifiable, the scoring of this indicator may be based on a justified qualitative assessment of the project’s socioeconomic costs and benefits (⁹), and its expected impacts on the economic activity and on sustainable growth. This qualitative assessment should be coupled with an analysis of suitability of both investment and operational costs to achieve the expected objectives, possibly through a least cost analysis and benchmarking with comparable investments.

This indicator shall account for [40 %] of the total score of this pillar.

This indicator shall account for [15 %] of the total score of this pillar.

— The project, including any compensatory or mitigating measures put in place, has no significant harmful impacts on any of the three dimensions of sustainability (climate, environment and social) based on InvestEU screening,

— The project has positive climate, environmental and/or social impacts;

The sustainability proofing indicator shall account for [45 %] of the total score of this pillar and shall be based on the scores of the following underlying sub-indicators weighted as indicated therein, including additional points, indicated therein, which may be granted as a bonus in case the project promoter, in cooperation with the implementing partner, agrees to engage in the positive agenda as described in the sustainability proofing guidance:

(i) climate aspects [15 %]: this sub-indicator shall reflect the positive or negative climate impacts and risks of the financing or investment operation. The implementing partner shall verify: — whether there are negative permanent or temporary climate impacts related to the project both in terms of climate mitigation (greenhouse gas emissions) and adaptation (climate impacts, hazards and risks), and if and how they will be mitigated or compensated, — how these climate-related concerns are managed (i.e. measures taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or to reduce the residual risk of climate change impacts and hazards to an acceptable level), — whether there are positive climate impacts stemming from the projects (¹¹) and their level of significance.

(ii) voluntary positive agenda (bonus)[7,5 %]: this sub-indicator is a bonus indicator and shall reflect that voluntary climate assessments are performed for projects below the threshold established in the sustainability proofing guidance, and measures are taken to address identified climate risks.

(iii) environmental aspects [15 %]: this sub-indicator shall reflect the positive or negative environmental impacts and risks of the financing or investment operation. The implementing partner shall verify: — whether there are negative permanent or temporary environmental impacts and if and how they will be mitigated or compensated, — how the environment-related impacts and risks are managed (residual risks after the implementation of mitigating and/or compensatory measures), — whether there are positive environmental impacts stemming from the projects (¹²) and their level of significance.

(iv) voluntary positive agenda (bonus) [7,5 %]: this sub-indicator is a bonus indicator and shall reflect a voluntary commitment to measures which could contribute to reinforce the project’s positive effects and/or further mitigate impacts, on the basis of the performed assessment.