EIB pledges record funding for Europe’s security infrastructure, vows more support for Ukraine

• At the annual EIB Board of Governors meeting, EU finance ministers welcome EU Bank’s financing for strategic investment
• Highest ever financing earmarked for security sector, including in new technologies that Europe needs for its safety and long-term defence

The European Investment Bank Group (EIB Group) will increase financing for the security industry to the highest level to-date, affirming its commitment to support Europe’s defence, strategic autonomy, as well as its ambitious climate agenda. 

At the annual meeting of the EIB’s Board of Governors in Luxembourg today, European Union finance ministers welcomed the EIB key role in reducing the impact of economic shockwaves triggered by Russia’s brutal and unjustified invasion of Ukraine. The meeting followed a decision by the EIB’s Board of Directors, on 15 June, to raise security investments to €8 billion, up from €6 billion, until 2027.

The EIB Board of Directors approved an increase in the size of the dedicated SESI (Strategic European Security Initiative) plan for security investment adopted last year. While the priorities identified remain valid, additional emphasis will be given to military mobility, space, green security, and critical infrastructure.

Separately, the Board of Directors also approved €1.6 billion in new lending, including backing Europe’s largest solar panel gigafactory in Italy, upgrading district heating in cities across France, scaling up waste management and recycling in Romania, construction of two new windfarms in the Baltics and improving telecom connections in Africa.

“We are supercharging our support for Europe’s industrial competitiveness, priority investment and cutting-edge dual-use technologies, deploying the full range of our resources in the most flexible way possible,” said EIB President Werner Hoyer. “My message to our Governors today was that extraordinary times require extraordinary measures. The credibility of the European Union, domestically and internationally, is at stake.”

President Hoyer briefed ministers on the EIB Group’s activities over the past year, including €72.5 billion in new financing signed in 2022, as well as operations in Ukraine. “EU leaders gave us a clear mandate to “step up” our support for Ukraine’s most urgent needs, and that’s what we are doing with launch of the EU for Ukraine initiative and Fund,” Hoyer said. “We are determined to continue playing the pivotal role the EIB Group has fulfilled in the past years in delivering on EU policies and strategy.”

The EIB signed more than €1.5 billion in new financing for SESI-aligned projects in 2022 and remains fully committed to supporting European security. A key priority under SESI remain the new dual-use technologies that Europe will need to remain secure in the long-term. This week’s decisions do not change what is eligible for financing or modify the definition of EIB’s excluded activities or excluded sectors.

New Chair of Board of Governors

The EIB’s Board of Governors comprises the 27 EU finance and economy ministers. Today’s annual meeting was chaired by Elisabeth Svantesson, Sweden’s Minister for Finance. Governors approved the EIB’s accounts and nominated a new Board of Directors.

 “The EIB is instrumental in channeling targeted support for innovation, competitiveness and a swift, just transition to net zero,” Svantesson said, handing over the rotating presidency of the Board of Governors to Belgium. “It is and will remain a critical tool of EU policy delivery.”

“The EIB has led the way in marshalling much needed investment in response to a series of crises – from the climate emergency to the pandemic, and to the fallout of this terrible war,” said Vincent Van Peteghem, Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. “It is an honor to chair the Board of Governors of the EU Bank, our Bank, as we deliver on our common priorities, both inside the Union, and globally.”

Background Information

The EIB Group is the EU’s long-term financing institution, owned by its member states. It comprises of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF). We finance sound investments that contribute to EU policy goals, including social and territorial cohesion, and the just transition to climate neutrality.

The EIB was the first multilateral development bank to end support for fossil fuels and has committed to support €1 trillion in climate investment this decade. Over half of the EIB Group’s lending in 2022 was devoted to climate and environmental sustainability projects, while almost half of the EIB’s financing inside the EU was signed for projects in cohesion regions, where per-capita income is lower, highlighting the Bank’s commitment to equitable growth. 

The EIB Group is Europe’s innovation champion. The EIF supports Europe’s SMEs by improving their access to finance through a wide range of selected financial intermediaries, such as banks, guarantee and leasing companies, micro-credit providers and private equity funds. The EIF designs and offers equity and debt financing instruments fostering EU objectives, and leverages EU funding tools, such as the InvestEU programme, to support of entrepreneurship, growth, innovation, research and development, the digital transition and employment. Earlier this year, it launched the European Tech Champions Initiative, an ambitious Fund of Funds that seeks to make sure that tech pioneers made in Europe, stay in Europe.

EIB’s operations outside the EU are carried out by EIB Global. As a key partner in the EU’s Global Gateway, we aim to support at least €100 billion of investment by 2028, one third of the strategy’s target. With offices across the world, EIB Global is close to local people, firms and institutions, and fosters strong Team Europe partnerships with development finance institutions.

For more information on the EIB Group’s role and activities see here.