This is why the European Commission’s recent Blue Invest matchmaking event, where some of these revolutionary projects were presented, attracted dozens of investors, some of whom are leaders in the sector while others are eager to get more involved.
Many of these new projects have already received support from the EU via the Horizon2020 instrument for small and medium enterprises. We now want to build on this. Next year, we will launch a new blue assistance mechanism that will ensure these companies have the appropriate business plans, relationship with suppliers and customers, intellectual property protection and management structure for scaling up. We are looking at helping those public and private bodies that invest in ideas that can accelerate the transition towards a cleaner, less resource intensive blue economy. We want to maximise the impact of any EU funding by giving preference to companies that can attract other investors. The Juncker Fund has already underwritten several larger projects such as wind farm construction or port redevelopment. We are talking to the European Investment Bank family about mechanisms for extending their guarantees to smaller, more innovative projects.
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