The 3rd SMAFIN EXPANDED Cross Country Lab was held online on April 30, 2026, bringing together policymakers, financial institutions, public authorities, technical experts, and market actors from Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Romania, and Slovenia.
Under the title “From tools to Transactions: How Smart Financing Actually Reaches the Market” the cross-country lab aimed to facilitate a structured exchange on the practical challenges hindering implementation, as well as the conditions required to unlock and scale investment flows across national contexts. Its scope was to address one of the most pressing challenges in energy transition: the gap between the availability of policy and financial instruments and the actual delivery of investments.
The discussion focused on:
- Establishing a common understanding of what constitutes a transaction in energy efficiency financing and why the existence of financial instruments does not automatically lead to investment.
- Examining the main bottlenecks that interrupt the investment pipeline, including financial, regulatory, and structural barriers.
- Exploring the enabling conditions necessary to support market uptake, focusing on risk-sharing mechanisms, standardisation, technical assistance, and stable institutional frameworks.
- Reflecting on the potential for replication and the relevance of these findings for Balkan and Southern European markets.
The produced factsheet, available in English and Greek, summarises the main topics and reflections from the discussion, the key takeaways, and the implications for policy-makers and stakeholders, contributing to ongoing discussions on scalable and inclusive financing approaches for energy efficiency at the European level.
You can access the full factsheet in English here.
You can access the full factsheet in Greek here.