The European Guarantee Fund and COVID-19: Agile But in Need of Greater Accountability

E-print/Working paper (2022)

The European Guarantee Fund formed an important part of the EU’s first response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite delays from some member states and the European Commission over the creation of this ... [more ▼]

The European Guarantee Fund formed an important part of the EU’s first response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite delays from some member states and the European Commission over the creation of this instrument, the European Investment Bank (EIB) moved at high speed to support SMEs and mid-caps. The European Guarantee Fund was vertically accountable to national governments, but it needed stronger horizontal accountability to the European Parliament and diagonal accountability to NGOs. The EIB should commit to an independent ex-post evaluation of the European Guarantee Fund’s design, operation and impact. [less ▲]