ELDERLY CARE CENTRE BRIXEN-VAHRN-LUESEN

The project will finance an integrated elderly care centre project promoted by three Italian municipalities located in Autonomous Province of Bolzano.

The project tackles the local shortage (presently 600 beds) of assisted living solutions for ageing and aged population, by adding a new 84-bed nursing home and 30 apartments for assisted living with 36 places as well as a community outpatient clinic to the existing network. Residential places will be offered on a medium and long-term basis, besides also providing accommodation and care in transition periods between hospital discharge and return home. As part of the concept, the project will also provide day care services and activities for a larger segment of the elderly population. The project fits with the public provincial social and healthcare plans and it specifically aligns to the aim of improving the elderly quality of life, by maintaining physical and mental autonomy and thus limit functional decline. Wide economic benefits are thus expected in terms of general health and social well-being for the entire population, the elderly, their families and caretakers.

This healthcare and social project will underpin the capacity and the resilience of the elderly care public system, contributing to the Bank's "Innovation, digital and human capital" (Health) policy objective. The Project also aims to contribute to the 2019-2024 sub-priority of the European Commission "An economy that works for people"; European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, Chapter III: Social protection and inclusion. As a cross-cutting objective, the Project supports national and European objectives to improve energy efficiency (EE), as the energy performance of the building will be at least 10 % lower than the threshold set for the nearly zero-energy building (NZEB) requirements in national measures implementing Directive 2010/31/EU.

The Project addresses the shortage of residential and day care solutions for the elderly population and fragile segments of the population of the province, a market failure arising from the typical neglectable financial returns on this kind of investment.

Thanks to the long maturity, lower than usual interest rate (compared to alternative financing), extended drawdown and grace periods, the EIB loan will secure the Municipalities' capacity to fund the underlying investment over the given implementation period and the EIB participation will provide additional financial benefits that go beyond standard market terms, overall contributing to a diversification and stability in the municipal finances by spreading debt service payments over a longer period. In combination with provincial government and EU grants ("PNRR"), the flexible EIB loan structure will enable timely and efficient financing of the Project.

The EIB financing will support the construction of an elderly care centre, following the country Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) regulation, in line with the EU Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings (2010/31/EU), therefore this project will have a positive impact on the achievement of Italy's national energy efficiency targets. Care facilities of this kind are not specifically mentioned in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive 2011/92/EU amended by Directive 2014/52/EU, though the project is covered by Annex II of the Directive in relation to urban development. The competent authority will have to determine whether the project is subject to a full EIA procedure according to the EIA Directives mentioned above. Further details on the screening decision, the environmental permitting status, the proximity and potential impact of each subproject to natural conservation areas, according to the Habitats and Birds Directives (92/43/EEC and 2009/147/EC respectively), and on other aspects of the environmental impact assessment will be verified during the appraisal. The project is expected to contribute to climate action and environmental sustainability (CA&ES) objectives, in particular to climate mitigation.

The promoter has to ensure that contracts for the implementation of the project have been or will be tendered in accordance with the relevant applicable EU procurement legislation (Directives 2014/24/EC and/or 2014/23/EC as well as Directives 89/665/EEC and 92/13/EEC) as interpreted by the EU Court of Justice of the EU, with publication of tender notices in the EU Official Journal, as and where required.