Today, the President of the European Investment Bank Werner Hoyer presented new findings into the impact of EIB group lending and the Investment Plan for Europe in 2015 and 2016.
The figures point to an additional 2.25 million new jobs and a 2.3% increase of Europe’s GDP expected by 2020 thanks to the investments. They show that even in sectors and regions hard hit by the crisis a decade ago, strategic investment by the Group is boosting jobs and GDP across Europe.
Speaking from Luxembourg EIB President Werner Hoyer said:
“The research and the figures that we have presented today show that the Investment Plan for Europe is working. They also show that EIB Group investments as a whole have a strong and durable impact. An additional 2.25 million jobs in Europe by 2020 is something we can be proud of. It means we are creating real opportunity in all regions across the EU.”
EIB Vice President Andrew McDowell, in charge of Economic Policy said:
”The EUR 544 billion of projects supported by loans and equity investments approved by the EIB Group in 2015 and 2016 are expected to generate not just badly needed jobs in the near term, but also to provide a long-run boost to Europe’s competitiveness through better networks in energy, transport and telecoms, and higher firm level productivity through R&D, innovation and skills development.”
The EIB’s findings look both at the impact of investments under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) which is the Group’s financial pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe as well as the overall lending of the EIB Group, which includes the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund. The research found that the EIB Group’s lending is likely to have a major impact on Europe’s economy.
Total overall investment approved by the EIB Group within the EU in 2015 and 2016.
- support EUR 544 billion of investment
- are expected to add 2.3 percent to GDP by 2020
- are expected to add 2.25 million jobs.
Of which, the Group’s loans approved under the Investment Plan
- support EUR 161 billion of investment
- are expected to add 0.7 percent to EU GDP by 2020
- are expected to add 690,000 jobs by 2020
EIB economists used a well-established economic model to assess the future impact of all its operations, as well as for the loans it made specifically under EFSI.
Debora Revoltella, the EIB’s Chief Economist, said:
“The Investment Plan and EIB Group lending have helped to set the economy in motion, and it’s a motion that is self-sustaining. That’s a success for the European economy and for the EIB. Particularly encouraging is that our findings show that the Group’s loans – whether made in good economic times or bad – lay the foundation for long-term growth, rather than just providing an immediate boost to the economy. Our main purpose is to improve EU competitiveness and long-term growth prospects. The research shows that our investments are expected to increase the European economy over the long term.”
EIB economists teamed up with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Seville and worked with an economic model called RHOMOLO that was developed to calculate whether increasingly scarce public financing was being used effectively. RHOMOLO is a tested system to assess macroeconomic impact of EU policies, for example used in the impact evaluation of its cohesion policy.
The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) is one of the three pillars of the Investment Plan for Europe. It is operated by the EIB and is backed by a guarantee from the EU budget. By the end of 2016, half of the program had been deployed in terms of approvals.
More information:
Read the Blog Big jobs, growth impact from EIB and Investment Plan
and find out more about the research here: http://www.eib.org/infocentre/blog/all/big-jobs-growth-impact-investment-plan.htm
European Commission’s Rhomolo model: https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/rhomolowell-established economic model
For more information on projects and progress of the European Fund for Strategic Investments:
http://www.eib.org/efsi/index.htm