Banking on the blue economy – How to accelerate impact-oriented investments in Blue Growth
The blue economy is changing rapidly. Traditional activities such as transport, fishing and shipbuilding still employ over 5 million people but the fastest growth is in activities and value chains that did not exist ten years ago – renewable energy, biotechnology, biorefinery etc.
Coming from small businesses, accelerators and research spin-offs, these ventures create new jobs, boost local economies and drive the transition to high-value added activities, while helping to meet EU goals such as emissions reduction, circular economy, energy transition or food security.
Many firms and start-ups active in such high potential but risky activities have received EU financial support for their research, including from the EU's Horizon 2020 programme. Nevertheless, they often find it difficult to obtain sufficient private investment funding to move towards commercialisation or to scale up their business operations.
The session will provide an overview on investment gaps and opportunities in the blue economy and financial sources available, with a particular focus on financial instruments. It will also present a new DG MARE initiative (‘BlueInvest platform’) to facilitate access to investment readiness support and investment to blue growth SMEs and start-ups.
Event Properties
| Event Date | 30-01-2019 16:30 |
| Event End Date | 30-01-2019 19:00 |
| Location | European Parliament Brussels |
| Categories | Conférence 2015-2019 |
| Attachment | 190130 Final Agenda.pdf |
What is an Intergroup?
The Seas, Rivers, Islands and Coastal Areas Intergroup is one of the 27 Intergroups that were approved on 11 December 2019 by the Conference of Presidents for the 9th legislature of the European Parliament. Intergroups can be formed by MEPs from any political group and any parliamentary committee with a view to holding informal exchanges of views on particular issues and promoting contact between MEPs and civil society.
The Seas, Rivers, Islands and Coastal Areas Intergroup brings together more than 100 MEPs from 7 different political groups and 23 Member States.
Intergroups are not Parliament bodies and therefore may not express Parliament's opinion.
Intergroups are subject to internal rules adopted by the Conference of Presidents on 16 December 1999 (last updated on 11 September 2014), which set out the conditions under which intergroups may be established at the beginning of each parliamentary term and their operating rules.
