The Steering Board of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) has selected eight experts to form a new Investment Committee for EFSI as stipulated by the EU Regulation which establishes EFSI. The Committee will take up duty on 1st August 2017.

The Investment Committee, chaired by Managing Director Wilhelm Molterer, consists of independent experts from eight EU countries. All of them have a high level of market experience in project structuring and project financing, as well as micro- and macro-economic expertise in one or more of the key fields covered by EFSI, amongst them research and innovation, transport, renewable energy, education or health. Following an open and transparent selection procedure published in the Official Journal of the EU, the committee members appointed for a fixed term of 18 months are:

  • Mr Gordon Bajnai (Hungary)
  • Mr Thierry Deau (France) 
  • Ms Dalia Dubovske (Lithuania)
  • Ms Vicky D Kefalas (Greece)
  • Ms Andreja Kodrin (Slovenia)
  • Mr Fabio Pammolli (Italy)
  • Ms Nieves Rodriguez Varela (Spain)
  • Mr Manfred Schepers (Netherlands)

“I welcome the selection by the Steering Board of eight outstanding professionals to fulfil this important task,” said Werner Hoyer, European Investment Bank Group President. “The Investment Committee approves or rejects the use of the EU budget guarantee for EIB projects and plays a crucial role in making EFSI a success. So far 240 operations have been approved under the infrastructure and innovation window of the initiative and I would like to thank the members of the initial Investment Committee who, from January 2016 to July 2017, contributed to this achievement.”

In addition to the assessment by the Investment Committee, which takes its decisions by simple majority, projects financed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments have to go through the standard EIB due diligence. They need to be technically and economically sound, match the eligible sectors laid-out in the European Investment Plan, and receive final approval by the EIB Board of Directors.