This paper examines developments in market share, export structure and revealed comparative advantage within the EU and in comparison with other regions of the world. It pays special attention to shifts in specialisation and export structure with regard to manufacturing and services, lower and...

The South-North migration corridor, i.e. migration flows to the EU from Africa, the Middle East and EU neighbouring countries in the East, have overtaken the East-West migration corridor, i.e. migration flows from Central and East European countries to the EU15 and the European Free Trade...

Migration from Africa and the Middle East to the EU has intensified over the last two decades. Relative differences between developed EU and less developed African and Middle East countries have not declined that much and continue to drive mobility. Also, demographic trends show a strong...

The high outward mobility that has characterised the countries in the Western Balkan (WB) region over the past three decades is often seen as tightly linked to severe labour market imbalances and persistently low utilisation of human capital over time. To shed light on these issues, we estimate...

This working paper provides an overview of the main markets relevant to the EIF, with a particular focus on the impact of COVID-19. It starts by discussing the general market environment, then looks at the main aspects of equity finance and the markets for SME debt products and, finally, it...

This working paper elaborates on the most recent update of the EIF SME Access to Finance (ESAF) Index, a composite indicator used to monitor the state of SME external financing markets in the 27 EU countries and the UK. The current update, using the latest available data, constitutes the seventh...

This analysis provides an overview of the main markets relevant to the EIF. It starts by discussing the general market environment, then looks at the main aspects of equity finance and the guarantee and SME securitisation markets. It also highlights important aspects of microfinance in Europe....

This European Small Business Finance Outlook (ESBFO) provides an overview of the main markets relevant to EIF (equity, guarantees, securitisation, microfinance). It is an update of the ESBFO December 2016. We start by discussing the general market environment, then look at the main aspects of...

This report discusses the activity of credit guarantee schemes (CGSs) in Western Europe and presents an analysis based on a novel survey, conducted by the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group1, among 18 credit guarantee organisations in 13 countries and 33 banks operating in 17 countries. The...