EU encourages 'riskier' research with €2 billion[fr][de] 

"By targeting higher risk financing in support of research and innovation projects, the facility will in an efficient way complement the existing support instruments including national and EU grants as well as market debt and equity funding," said the president of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Philippe Maystadt launching the new risk-sharing finance facility (RSFF ) on 5 June 2007. 

This "risk-bearing instrument" will cover, through capital allocations and provisions, the risks born by EIB when lending directly to the project, or when guaranteeing loans made by financial intermediaries such as banks in member states. 

According to the Commission, the new debt-based facility is set to help make more financing available for projects, which "often face more difficulties than traditional business sectors in accessing finance, due to the relatively high levels of uncertainty and risk inherent to their activity." 

The instrument will help fund riskier European research with up to €2 billion between 2007-2013. This amount is expected to "translate into billions of additional financing available to innovative companies and the research community as a whole". The instrument is thus expected, by mobilising financial markets and boosting private sector investment in R&D, to help the EU to reach its target of investing 3% of its GDP in research.

According to the Commission, RSFF will be open to all private and public entities, but is at first likely to benefit the most medium and large innovative companies and large scale research undertakings such as European or national research infrastructures.