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1. The general objective of the InvestEU Programme is to support the policy objectives of the Union by means of financing and investment operations that contribute to:

(a) the competitiveness of the Union, including research, innovation and digitisation;

(b) growth and employment in the Union economy, the sustainability of the Union economy and its environmental and climate dimension contributing to the achievement of the SDGs and the objectives of the Paris Agreement and to the creation of high-quality jobs;

(c) the social resilience, inclusiveness and innovativeness of the Union;

(d) the promotion of scientific and technological advances, of culture, education and training;

(e) the integration of Union capital markets and the strengthening of the internal market, including solutions to address the fragmentation of Union capital markets, diversify sources of financing for Union enterprises and promote sustainable finance;

(f) the promotion of economic, social and territorial cohesion; or (g) the sustainable and inclusive recovery of the Union economy after the COVID-19 crisis, including by providing capital support for SMEs that were negatively affected by the COVID-19 crisis and were not already in difficulty in State aid terms at the end of 2019, upholding and strengthening existing strategic value chains of tangible or intangible assets, developing new ones, and maintaining and reinforcing activities of strategic importance to the Union, including important projects of common European interest, in relation to critical infrastructure, whether physical or virtual, transformative technologies, game-changing innovations and inputs to businesses and consumers and supporting a sustainable transition; or (h) supporting investments contributing to the objectives of the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) referred to in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2024/795 of the European Parliament and of the Council ().

2. The InvestEU Programme has the following specific objectives:

(a) supporting financing and investment operations related to sustainable infrastructure in the areas referred to in point (a) of Article 8(1);

(b) supporting financing and investment operations related to research, innovation and digitisation, including support for the scaling up of innovative companies and the rolling out of technologies to market, in the areas referred to in point (b) of Article 8(1);

(c) increasing the access to and the availability of finance for SMEs and for small mid-cap companies and to enhance the global competitiveness of such SMEs;

(d) increasing access to and the availability of microfinance and finance for social enterprises, to support financing and investment operations related to social investment, competences and skills, and to develop and consolidate social investment markets, in the areas referred to in point (d) of Article 8(1).