European export finance needs a reboot

Different options of what a European architecture for ECAs could look like, and how they could be leveraged to serve European public goods.

Export credit agencies (ECAs) play an important role in international trade by providing derisking instruments that function as public assistance to companies engaging in international commerce. As the geopolitical environment has become more fraught, this support has become ever more important.

In recent years, the role of ECAs has evolved from a purely commercial one to include the pursuit of strategic goals, such as fighting climate change, shaping trade relations with key partners and securing access to critical raw materials.

However, the system of European export credit agencies is not well equipped to deal with these challenges. ECAs are national with a variety of models and not all European Union countries have one. There is little transparency on their operations, very limited steering at the EU level and, beyond a small pilot project in Ukraine, no EU-level funding for European public goods. Non-EU ECAs have increasingly used funding instruments not available to EU ones, partly because of competition from countries not subject to the OECD Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits and state aid constraints. This makes the lack of coordination not only a strategic oversight but a potential competitive disadvantage.

For these reasons, we argue that reform of the European ECA sector is necessary. We advocate for improved transparency and EU-level steering to ensure European strategic objectives are met. More complex is the question of how European public goods could be adequately supported by ECAs. Several models are possible, with the most promising option being EU level funding for projects implemented by national ECAs coupled with some form of EU level oversight. 

Source : Bruegel