The European Investment Bank (EIB) and DG GROW of the European Commission have partnered to produce a series of analytical reports on industrial ecosystems and the resilience of European value chains.
Investment plays an important role in delivering the European Union’s public policy goals, including the green and digital transition. However, there’s a knowledge gap when it comes to investment activities and the conditions that either support or impede those activities, as well as a lack of information about the resilience of various European industries and their supply chains to shocks, whether they be fleeting or more structural in nature.
It’s crucial to understand how transitory and structural shocks change investment needs and when public intervention is required to address those shocks. Survey-based data can contribute to this understanding. To delve into the issues further, the EIB has deployed a special survey dedicated to supply chains, the Supply Chain Survey (SUCH), in addition to its annual EIB Investment Survey, which collects firm-level data on overall investment trends.
A data portal (soon to be released) contains the data gathered in these reports.
Navigating supply chain disruptions: New insights into the resilience and transformation of EU firms
A new publication with DG GROW, Navigating supply chain disruptions: New insights into the resilience and transformation of EU firms, looks at how recent crises – raw material shortages after the pandemic, maritime transport disruptions and the Ukraine war – hampered EU firms’ supply chains and exposed their dependency on foreign imports. This study finds that EU firms responded with remarkable agility to address those disruptions and dependencies and, in turn, have enhanced the resiliency of their supply chains by increasing inventories, investing in digital tracking and diversifying trade partners.
44% of EU firms that import from China experienced transport and logistics problems,
while 22% of firms that import solely from the European Union did.
37% of EU firms reported that access to commodities and raw materials was a major obstacle,
while 34% were affected by disruptions in logistics and transport.
The share of EU exports going to the United States rose to 21% in 2023,
up from 14% in 2010.
About the report
The report relies on two key surveys, the EIB Investment Survey and the new SUCH survey, to analyse how trade disruptions are affecting EU firms. The EIB Investment Survey collects data annually from 12 000 European firms in all 27 EU countries, asking questions about firms’ performance, investment activities, financing and challenges. SUCH, which was conducted by the EIB in collaboration with DG GROW, focuses on the supply chains of approximately 1 100 EU firms that import goods, looking at the countries they trade with, the obstacles they face and the strategies they are adopting to address supply chain disruptions.
Post-COVID recovery and green transition: an ecosystem view
The first publication with DG GROW, Post-COVID recovery and green transition: an ecosystem view provides new insights into investment conditions and global supply chains. It assesses the resilience of European value chains and industrial ecosystems to transitory and structural shocks, such as the COVID-19 crisis and the subsequent surge in demand during the recovery.
About the report
This report draws upon firm-level data collected in all 27 EU countries for the EIB Investment Survey, an annual corporate survey of 12 000 European firms, to assess the extent to which industrial ecosystems are enhancing their resilience to external shocks.
EIB and DG GROW partnership
European firms continue to feel the fallout from the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and tensions in some of the major worldwide navigation routes. These difficulties are affecting corporate investment and global supply chains. Europe needs to identify and better understand the pressure firms are under if it is to create public policies that can support their development and growth.
This project has been financially supported by the European Commission.
