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        EIB Group Activity Report 2021

        The EU bank’s THE INNOVATION RESPONSE highlights COVID-19 and health investment, climate action, cohesion and development

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        Report Overview

        Foreword  

        by President Werner Hoyer

        2021 Highlights  

        Lending, impact and borrowing data on the EIB Group’s work within the EU and around the globe.

        Healthy world  

        Our life sciences experts write about vaccine finance and guarding against future pandemics. Plus: how our financing provides a safety net for companies threatened by the pandemic.

        Green world  

        Investments and advisory work in space, the circular economy and urban transport help build a sustainable future.

        Inclusive world  

        Our cohesion investments help redress imbalances between countries and regions in the European Union. Outside the European Union, we back all kinds of sustainable sectors.

        Group Operational Plan 

        What the EIB Group aims to achieve in 2022.

        Governance  

        How the Bank is managed.

        Foreword by the President

        The European Investment Bank Group has been on the frontline of the European Union’s global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have responded to exceptional times with immediate and flexible action. From emergency support for small and medium-sized enterprises and innovative start-ups to financing for vaccines and public sector health projects, we have delivered.

        The EIB Group has unlocked investment in a situation of extreme uncertainty. Our European Guarantee Fund has ensured open credit channels for thousands of projects that were too risky for commercial banks to fund on their own in the midst of the crisis. Our economic research shows that this support has been instrumental in helping firms to survive by investing in, for example, the digitalisation that allowed them to adapt to the crisis. Our massive financing for projects in life sciences and health, which could hardly be more crucial right now, have also been backed in part by these instruments.

        Looking ahead, we are determined to continue to use risk-sharing instruments, applying the logic of this powerful tool to other projects with high social and economic value-added.

        + Read more

        Indeed, COVID-19 is hardly the only major challenge the world faces. The climate crisis becomes ever more urgent and, as the EU climate bank, we are at the forefront of Europe’s efforts to become carbon neutral. We are committed to supporting €1 trillion of investment in climate action and environmental sustainability by the end of this decade. Much of that investment must be in often rather risky innovation: we face an unprecedented challenge and must meet it with new commercial ideas.

        The guiding principle of our work on climate is our Climate Bank Roadmap. It went into implementation in 2021, making us the first multilateral development bank whose financing aligns fully with the goals of the Paris Agreement. This includes a complete stop to support for unabated fossil fuel energy projects, including natural gas. Our new adaptation plan, announced at COP26, includes measures that build upon the roadmap, and we introduced a framework to ensure that our counterparties take steps towards decarbonising their businesses if they want funding from us. In climate action, we have expanded beyond our primary role of financing new and mature technologies, positioning the Bank as a centre of knowledge upon which entire markets may draw. This is evident in our collaborations, such as the partnership with the European Commission and Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, which backs green technologies for deployment around the world.

        The truth of the climate crisis is that, while some nations face a graver threat than others, today we are all transition economies. Together, we must seek the innovations that will turn our economies green. And we must ensure that the transition is just. In 2021, we augmented our development work, creating a new hub in Nairobi, even as we finalised the structure of EIB Global, our new outside EU arm, which begins operations in 2022. Uniquely among multilateral development banks, EIB global will use our experience from decades of financing climate projects inside the EU to promote state-of-the-art technology and know-how globally. This provides an opportunity for development that leapfrogs the polluting stages of industrial growth and goes directly to a green, clean economy. Our project experts ensure that everything we finance is sustainable—and we won’t change that business model. In December, when the G7 leaders identified the kind of change that is needed to modernize infrastructure and help developing countries find the trillions in finance needed to tackle future challenges, their statement highlighted more projects tied to the European Investment Bank than to any other international financial institution; a sign that we are on the right track.

        EIB Global will help us improve on this performance further, with more local staff to develop new projects and to implement them. As a key contributor to Team Europe, we look forward to participating in the European Commission’s €300 billion Global Gateway to promote the kind of infrastructure around the world that will promote sustainable economic development while securing Europe’s autonomy and independence. With 75% more patents in the field of green, digital technologies than the US and four times as many as China, the European Union is a world leader with expertise to share in areas such as renewable energy, climate adaptation, flood control, advanced weather forecasting tools, resilient infrastructure and more. We will do our part to make the EU a global climate power.

        The European Investment Bank is crucial to the recasting of business and society necessary to meet our present challenges. To create a sustainable world, we must all discover our new, best selves. With every innovative deal we finance, the European Investment Bank helps make that goal attainable.

        Werner Hoyer

        - Read less

        2021 Highlights

        Where the money comes from

        The European Investment Bank, the world’s largest multilateral borrower and lender, raised €70 billion on the international capital markets in 2020. The Bank’s issuance reaches investors who might not typically invest in Europe and who contribute indirectly to European projects by investing in EIB bonds.

        The Bank issued bonds in 19 currencies, with the majority raised in the core currencies of European euros, US dollars and British pounds. Diversified sources and tenors give flexibility to the Bank’s funding strategy. The multi-currency approach also enables the EIB to access some local currencies for disbursements.

         

        Issuance by currency

        Healthy World

        Life science is a vital solution for pressing global needs. Our direct support for the private sector includes €2 billion in venture debt financing over five years for 80 highly innovative, early stage European biotech or medtech projects. Our €3 billion in 2021 public sector health financing around the world supports resilient health systems, access to primary healthcare, and manufacturing capacity for essential medical goods, including vaccines.
         Felicitas Riedl, EIB head of Innovation and Competitiveness

         

        Green world

        Climate change is the most pressing issue the world faces today. But the most innovative climate action projects face funding challenges, because they are considered risky, especially in developing countries. The European Investment Bank helps build partnerships with public donors to de-risk private investment in climate action and environmental sustainability.
        Milena Messori, EIB head of non-EU equity and microfinance

         

        Inclusive world

        For a long time, ground-breaking innovation was considered possible only in the economically developed regions. Today we see a fundamental shift in this perception. In cohesion regions, we have supported ground-breaking innovation by young, talented, diverse teams pushing the boundaries of science and business.
        Hristo Stoykov, EIB head of growth finance and venture debt

         

        Group Operational Plan 2022-24 highlights

        • EIB Global, the EIB’s new development arm to boost projects outside the European Union
        • COVID-19 response and green recovery
        • More impact and risk taking for investments
        • Climate Bank Roadmap
        • Technology and innovation
        • Cohesion to bring Europe closer together
        • Flexibility as to whether staff work at home or in the office

        We are launching EIB Global, our new development arm, so that we can work more closely with governments and businesses outside Europe. This will help create more partnerships to tackle the climate crisis and support a green and digital transition. We will increase the number of staff on the ground in our offices around the world. We have already set up a new regional hub in Africa to better address local needs.

        The European Guarantee Fund is offering loan guarantees and other financing to help companies stay afloat, pay bills and make investments. This fund, which received contributions from many European Union countries, is part of a broad European Union package to put the economy back on track. The fund started operations in 2020 and will be completed at the end of 2021, but the Bank may finalise some of these deals in 2022.

        We will do everything we can to achieve the goals of our Climate Bank Roadmap. The Roadmap outlines how the Bank will dedicate at least 50% of its annual lending to climate and environmental sustainability by 2025. It explains how we will take more risk when investing, support the European Green Deal, and make Europe carbon-neutral by 2050. We will do more to help clients adapt to climate change that is already happening now and mitigate problems to come.

        By 2025, the EIB plans to dedicate 45% of annual lending in the European Union to cohesion regions that need more help. The extra financing will help these parts of Europe compete equally and reach the same standards of living as more developed regions.

        Bank employees shifted to a hybrid way of working during the pandemic, frequently working from the office and home in the same week. We will monitor and adapt the workplace to make sure staff can do their jobs safely and effectively. The crisis has brought many challenges in the field of mental health and wellbeing. We will offer more training and workshops to managers to make sure we are taking care of employees. We will continue a programme that assesses the stress levels of staff members and makes sure we take action.

          Read the full Operational Plan for 2022-24

        Governance

        The EIB is an EU body, accountable to the Member States, and a bank following applicable best banking practice in decision-making, management and controls.

        The Board of Governors is made up of government ministers from each of the then 27 Member States, usually ministers of finance. The governors set out the Bank’s credit policy guidelines and once a year approve the annual accounts. They decide on capital increases and the Bank’s participation in financing operations outside the European Union. They also appoint the Board of Directors, the Management Committee and the Audit Committee.

        The Board of Directors takes decisions on loans, borrowing programmes and other financing matters. It meets ten times a year to ensure that the Bank runs in accordance with EU Treaties, the Bank’s own Statute, and general directives laid down by the Board of Governors. There are 28 directors, one nominated by each Member State and one by the European Commission. There are also 31 alternate directors. To broaden the Board of Directors’ professional expertise, six experts may be co-opted to participate in board meetings as non-voting advisers. Decisions are taken by a majority representing at least 50% of the capital subscribed by the Member States and one-third of board members entitled to vote, unless otherwise provided for in the Statute. The board is chaired by the president, in a non-voting capacity.

        The Management Committee is the Bank’s resident decision-making body. It oversees the day-to-day running of the Bank, prepares decisions for the Board of Directors and ensures that these are implemented. It meets once a week. The Management Committee works under the authority of the president and the supervision of the Board of Directors. The other eight members are the EIB’s vice-presidents. Members are appointed for a renewable period of up to six years and are responsible solely to the Bank.

        The Bank has an independent Audit Committee answerable directly to the Board of Governors. It is responsible for the audit of the Bank’s accounts and for verifying that the activities of the Bank conform to best banking practice. The statement of the Audit Committee is submitted to the Board of Governors with the annual report of the Board of Directors. The Audit Committee is composed of six members appointed for a non-renewable term of six consecutive financial years.