SME Initiative Finland Multi-Country Workshop on the Implementation of the SMEI Initiative Kari Parkkonen Elina Rainio 11 July 2017

SME Initiative in Finland Implementation started in 2016 EUR 400m portfolio of loans for SMEs Co-funded through European Regional and Development Fund resources (20 million euros), national budget of the Republic of Finland (20 million euros) + Horizon 2020 and EIB resources 50 % guarantee for bank loans and leases 3 intermediaries Very good market response, objective of EUR 400m reached in unexpectedly short time Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland • www.tem.fi 8.5.2019

State of Play of Implementation of SME Initiative /1 Agreements between the Republic of Finland and EIF signed in September 2016 and in December 2016 Call for Expressions of Interest opened from 15 September 2016 till 31 March 2017 6 financial intermediaries applied for a total portfolio of EUR 690 million 3 operational agreements signed in January 2017 (of which one is pending) 4th operational agreement signed in April 2017 “oversubscribtion” EUR 290 m 15 loans for EUR 3.3m provided during the first quarter of 2017 Preliminary discussions on increasing the programme Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland • www.tem.fi 8.5.2019

State of Play of Implementation of SME Initiative /2 Role of the Managing Authority slightly unclear during the process Lack of instructions and information from the EC / EIF Some bureucratic bottlenecks noticed Regulatory inconvenience: need for amendments to facilitate financial instruments like SMEI Overlapping duties of Monitoring Committee of the main programme and Investor Board of the SMEI Confusion among intermediaries caused by State aid rules and their interpretations Who is responsible for steering and guidance of the intermediaries? Assessments? Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland • www.tem.fi 8.5.2019

Proposals for improvement of the SMEI implication Regulatory amendments concerning the financial instruments Better collaboration between the Commission and EIF during the process More detailed steering from the Commission to the Managing Authorities Need for instructions and guidance: detailed description of the role and the duties of the MA Setting up a network of Managing Authorities in the member states Establishment of better dialogical connection among the member states as well as the Commission and EIF Regular discussions between the Managing Authorities, the Commission and EIF warmly welcomed State aid rules should be better taken into account in preparation and implementation of SMEI Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland • www.tem.fi 8.5.2019