EIB exceeded lending targets and began roll-out of Investment Plan for Europe, President Hoyer tells MEPs

The European Investment Bank Group delivered early on investment targets set by Member States in 2013 and accelerated the roll out of the first projects which could be covered by the EU budget guarantee under the Investment Plan for Europe. In his annual address to the European Parliament on behalf of the EIB, President Werner Hoyer today briefed MEPs about the EU Bank’s support for private and public investment crucial for Europe’s competitiveness and on the EU bank’s backing for sustainable economic projects wherever the EIB operates around the world.

“The European Investment Bank Group delivered early on its commitment to leverage EUR 180 billion in investment based on the increase in paid-in capital provided by Member States in 2013. We promised to deliver by the end of 2015, and met our target already in March this year. We made a difference. Our lending for SMEs supported over EUR 100 billion of final investment by more than 230,000 companies in 2013 and 290,000 in 2014, that together employ more than 6 million people. We are now ready to unlock new investment through the new European Fund for Strategic Investment and to bring to bear the EIB Group’s unique financial and technical experience both inside and outside Europe.” said Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank.

“On 21 April the EIB Group put on track the first projects and transactions which it will propose for backing by the EU Budget guarantee once EFSI is in place”, said Hoyer. “This is in response to calls by Member States, the Commission and the European Parliament for swift action in support of Europe’s economic recovery and global competitiveness. Time is of the essence, and the EIB has demonstrated it is willing to act fast even in this preliminary phase.”

The plenary session of the European Parliament held its annual discussion of the activities of the European Investment Bank and its contribution to EU policy goals. 

President Hoyer used his parliamentary address to highlight the scale of investment needed to address Europe’s investment gap and the competitiveness deficit between Europe and other parts of the world. Among other things, he recalled that the EIB Group’s lending in the education sector amounted to EUR 30.6 billion between 2000 and 2014.

Concerning the Investment Plan for Europe President Hoyer said that the EIB Group is committed to working with National Promotional Banks and Institutions, which are expected to make a crucial contribution to ensure that local investment needs are addressed. He also stressed that the new European Fund for Strategic Investments will not succeed without decisive progress in structural reforms and regulatory simplification.

The European Investment Bank is directly owned by the 28 EU member states and is the only multilateral financial institution to face direct parliamentary scrutiny. In 2014 the EIB provided EUR 77 billion for investment in nearly 500 projects and around 10% of the EIB lending each year is outside the European Union. Although owned by EU member states the EIB raises funding on global capital markets and is the world’s largest multilateral borrower.