EU Investment Plan To Help Businesses Cope With Brexit

An MEP for Ireland South is encouraging businesses to make the most of the opportunities available under the EU Investment Plan to mitigate against the economic impact of Brexit in the coming years.

Sean Kelly, Leader of Fine Gael in the European Parliament, was speaking at a public meeting on Brexit in Wexford on Friday 01 February along with other Irish politicians, and highlighted the importance of the fund as the deadline for the UK's withdrawal looms.

"It perfectly demonstrates the benefit of being a member of the European Union," he said.

The flagship programme, EFSI (European Fund for Strategic Investments), has so-far mobilised €371.2 billion in additional investments, a figure that is set to hit €500 billion by 2020, supporting 856,000 EU SME's in the process.

"EFSI will soon be succeeded by the new InvestEU Programme, which is set to mobilise a further €650 billion in additional investments by 2027, and for which I have the privilege of being part of the European Parliament's negotiating team. Even a fraction of this €650 billion investment coming Ireland's way would bring significant job creation and help support our companies through the challenges set to be brought on by Brexit.

"A key improvement that InvestEU has over EFSI, however, is the focus on small businesses and helping them to access finance. InvestEU will ensure that adequate support is allocated to smaller companies and projects. A good project that is struggling to get financing would be able to go to the EIB or another InvestEU implementing partner, and if it meets the required criteria, the EU Guarantee can take on some of the risk and increase the likelihood of financing.

"We all know of cases where a perfectly good business venture or project fails to get off the ground due to difficulties obtaining financial backing for whatever reason, this where the Investment Plan comes in. The opportunities for Ireland are clear, especially as it means an overwhelming majority of our companies would qualify for support as a result. With Brexit set to hit many of these companies hardest, it will be important to encourage our businesses to take full advantage of the opportunities available."

Mr Kelly concluded that firms should grasp the opportunity to face the challenges that will come with Brexit and use the EU Investment Plan as part of the solution.



(JG/CM)