Svetlana Severtsova
What is the European Investment Bank?
The European Investment Bank is the
European Union's nonprofit long-term
lending institution established in 1958
under the Treaty of Rome 1957. As a "policydriven bank" whose shareholders are the
member states of the EU, the EIB uses its
financing operations to bring about
"European integration and social cohesion".
The EIB is an international financial institution, a
publicly owned bank. Its owners are the member states
of the European Union, who subscribe to the Bank's
capital – EUR 232 billion. As shareholders the member
states are represented on the Bank's main independent
decision-making bodies – the Board of Governors and
the Board of Directors
History
 1958 - The European Investment Bank was founded in Brussels . When it
was founded in 1958 it had just 66 employees.
 1968 - It relocated to Luxembourg, its current headquarters.
 1999 - it counted over 1,000 staff members, a figure that has nearly doubled
by 2012; when the EIB was founded in 1958 it had 66 employees.
 June 2000 - the Bank became a part of the newly formed EIB Group, which
includes both the EIB and the European Investment Fund (EIF), the
venture capital arm of the EU that provides finances and guarantees for
small and medium enterprises , of which it is the majority shareholder,
with 62% of the shares.
 The total subscribed capital of the Bank is EUR 232
billion, of which EUR 11.6 billion were actually paid-in.
The capital of the EIB was virtually doubled between
2007 and 2009 in response to the crisis. The EU heads
of government agreed to increase paid-in capital by
EUR 10 billion in June 2012, with approval due for the
end of the year.
For the fiscal year 2011, EIB lent EUR 61 billion in
various loan products, bringing total outstanding
loans to EUR 395 billion; one-third higher than at the
end of 2008. Nearly 90% of these were with EU
member states with the remainder dispersed between
around 150 "partner countries" (in Southern and
Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean region, Africa,
Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacific).
Strategy of EIB
Lending strategy within the EU.
Within the EU the EIB has six priority objectives:
 Cohesion and convergence (regional policy)
 Support for small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs)
 Environmental sustainability
 Knowledge economy
 Development of Trans-European Networks of
transport and energy (TENs)
 Sustainable, competitive, and secure energy
Lending strategy outside the EU
Outside the EU the EIB's priority objectives for lending
activity are:
 Private sector development
 financial sector development
 Infrastructure development
 Security of energy supply
 Environmental sustainability
 EU presence
Governance
The EIB is governed by the:
 Board of Governors – usually the Finance Ministers of the
Member States. Their mandate is to authorize EIB activities
outside the Union, form credit policy guidelines and
approve the annual account.
 Board of Directors – 28 members (one nominated by each
member state and one by the European Commission).
 Management Committee – the President of the EIB and 8
Vice Presidents
 Audit Committee – 6 members appointed by the Board of
Governors
Lending priorities of EIB
30% of the Bank’s yearly financing goes to
investments
that
mitigate
greenhouse
gas
emissions and improve adaptation to climate
change impacts. These are mainly in
the energy,
transport, water, wastewater, solid waste, forestry
and research, development and innovation sectors.
Current projects of EIB
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France’s “Viaduc de Millau” ,
Automotive R&D in Germany,
Scandinavia’s Oresund bridge,
The Athens metro,
Solar energy in Spain,
The clean-up of the Baltic Sea
It is a few of the thousands of projects financed by the
EIB over the years.
The Bank operates also in the African, Caribbean and
Pacific countries and Asia and Latin America. Its
financing activities are aimed at supporting local
private sector development, improving social and
economic
infrastructure
mitigation and adaptation.
and
climate
change
The EIB offers a wide range of financial products at
favorable interest rates. For certain investments, the EIB is
ready to accept more credit risk than a commercial bank if
this increases value added in support of EU policies. The
Bank also offers technical assistance to support project
preparation and implementation, particularly in countries
that recently joined the European Union or countries
outside the EU.
Clients of EIB
Borrowers are public sector bodies and private
enterprises. Projects over EUR 25 million are financed
with direct loans. Small and medium-scale ventures
and smaller infrastructure projects are financed
through credit lines in cooperation with national and
regional intermediary banks (intermediated loans).
The EIB does not lend more than 50% of the funds
required for implementing a project.
The EIB works closely with other international financing
institutions, the European Commission and
commercial banks.
EIB`s recourses
The EIB is financially autonomous and raises the bulk
of its lending resources on the international capital
markets through bond issues. It has capital of EUR 232
billion, subscribed by the 27 EU Member States. The
Bank is one of the largest borrowers on the public
international market. Its excellent credit rating allows
it to borrow at the best possible rates. The benefits are
transferred to project promoters, which pay only a
small mark-up to cover the EIB’s costs and, if
applicable, a risk margin.
 What are the EIB`s lending priorities?
 Who are the EIB`s clients?
 Where do EIB resources come from?