Portugal: EU supports the modernisation of Lisbon’s infrastructure with a EUR 250 million EIB loan under the Investment Plan for Europe

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will finance the upgrading of public infrastructures in the Portuguese capital to enhance flood prevention, promote sustainable mobility, modernise social housing and other key public equipment

Lisbon has become today the first EU municipality to benefit directly from EU support under the Investment Plan for Europe. The EIB and the Municipality of Lisbon have signed the first EUR 100 million of a EUR 250 million framework loan under the Investment Plan to contribute to the urban regeneration of the city and to support its long-term growth and competiveness. The project has a strong focus on social inclusion and it will also help Lisbon tackle climate change.

The Investment Plan is the Juncker Commission's landmark strategy to support investments and bring back jobs and growth to Europe. It allows its strategic partner, the EIB, to take on innovative and higher-risk projects. The EIB loan is guaranteed by the EU budget, which allows the EIB to offer the Municipality of Lisbon long-term financing with flexible conditions and at favourable rates.

This EUR 250 million EIB framework loan will have a direct positive impact on the lives of people living and working in Lisbon. It will finance urban infrastructure in selected areas of the city to improve the quality of public spaces, to renovate schools and cultural equipment and to complete the regeneration of the river front of the Portuguese capital. The EU Bank’s financial support will be channelled towards the upgrading of the city drainage system and therefore it will contribute to strengthening Lisbon’s resilience to climate change and better prepare it against severe weather events, such as floods and storms. 

Reducing social exclusion by promoting social housing is one of the main objectives of this project. The EIB loan signed today will contribute to the improvement of supply and the modernisation of social housing in the municipality by supporting projects such as the new energy solutions implemented in Bairro Padre Cruz.

The EIB project for Lisbon’s renewal will also support the digital economy of the city by financing the development of emerging clusters of start-ups. In particular, the loan signed today will contribute to transforming an old military factory into one of the biggest entrepreneurship and start-ups’ hub in Europe.

EIB President Werner Hoyer underlined “loans like this, which support strategic, sustainable and inclusive investment in local communities, are essential for EU citizens to learn what we do at the EU Bank and understand our concrete support to their lives and businesses”.

Román Escolano, EIB Vice-President, highlighted “the EIB investment in Portugal will have visible and tangible benefits for the citizens of Lisbon today but also for future generations, such as providing a solution for the recurrent floods or supporting the modernisation of the city’s infrastructure.’’

Speaking at the signing of the loan, Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, said: "The Lisbon Urban Renewal project is a major demonstration of the value for Portugal of the Commission's Investment Plan for Europe. This project will be transformative. It will have a positive impact on social housing, urban public spaces and infrastructure, such as schools and cultural equipment. It is an example of the value of the EU working hand in hand with cities towards a brighter, more inclusive future."

Lisbon Mayor, Fernando Medina, said: "Lisbon will be benefiting from the Investment Plan for Europe, which includes a 250 million EIB loan. The program for the period 2016-2020, has three axes: the main benefit goes to the drainage plan, but also urban regeneration and social housing based on a new concept - to disseminate these houses by the city and do not focus on a neighborhood. This will surely make the difference for our city"

With today’s signatures, a total of 10 projects and financial agreements have been signed in Portugal under the Investment Plan for Europe, with a total investment of EUR 614 million, mobilising more than EUR 2 billion.

For additional information about the Investment Plan for Europe in Portugal, please click here.