A new EU investment initiative will aim to boost financing for the rural economy by combining funds under the Rural Development Programmes (RDPs) and the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI).
The initiative was launched in November 2016 at the second fi-compass conference on Financial Instruments (FIs) for agriculture and rural development. The European Commission is now looking for pilot cases of Member States willing to take part in the initiative. For additional information, see a methodological handbook on implementing an ex-ante assessment of FIs under the EAFRD and a video on “filling gaps in agricultural and rural finance”.