Description
European firms face a number of difficult conditions that weigh on investment and innovation, including high energy costs, scarcity of skilled staff, tightening of financial conditions and high uncertainty about future political and regulatory conditions. In many respects, these challenges are even more serious in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, given the region’s proximity to the war in Ukraine, the high share of fossil fuels in its energy mix and its ongoing transition to a new, technology-driven growth model.
This paper provides an analysis of these investment constraints based on the EIB Group Survey on Investment, a unique annual survey of some 12 500 firms across the European Union. Focusing on innovation, digitalisation and the climate transition, as well as finance constraints and barriers, it presents carefully selected results that are essential for guiding the discussion on the future competitiveness, investment needs and growth of firms in the region.
