Launched in 2015 as part of the Investment Plan for Europe, the European Investment Advisory Hub offers technical support to EU project promoters.

The European Investment Advisory Hub operates as a partnership between the Commission and the European Investment Bank and works in cooperation with national promotional banks or institutions (NPBIs) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

Between 2015 and 2018, the Hub received 1091 requests for support – less than one request per day on average. These came directly from project promoters via the Hub’s website or from other institutional sources (other EIB departments, the EBRD, NPBIs and the Commission). Only 285 (26%) of these requests led to allocations (‘assignments’) of Hub resources or advice to public and private sector beneficiaries. As a result, during its first three and a half years in operation, the Hub only used just over a quarter of its available funding from the EU budget. The auditors therefore concluded that, although beneficiaries expressed satisfaction with the services provided, there had not been enough assignments to have a significant impact in boosting investment in EU projects. Furthermore, they found the Hub did not have a sufficiently clear strategy – nor effective criteria, priorities and procedures – for targeting support.

“The European Investment Advisory Hub was one of the main measures taken following the economic crisis to boost investment in the EU, but it faced some strategy and implementation issues”, said Annemie Turtelboom, the Member of the European Court of Auditors responsible for the audit. “The new InvestEU advisory hub proposed for the 2021-2027 programme period should focus resources on clearly targeted and defined needs, improve outreach of its activities and ensure appropriate monitoring”.