Report Overview
by President Werner Hoyer
Lending, impact and borrowing data on the EIB Group’s work within the EU and around the globe
We support Europe’s need for a rapid green energy transition by investing in energy efficiency and renewable power projects, and by promoting innovation and new technologies
Innovation is vital to Europe’s economic prosperity, autonomy and climate goals, which simply cannot be met with today’s technologies alone
EIB Global fosters strong, focused partnerships through Team Europe and with our partners around the world
What the EIB Group aims to achieve in 2023.
How the Bank is managed.
Foreword by the President
In 2022, the European Investment Bank was an integral part of the EU response to the many challenges that emerged during the year, from the horrific invasion of Ukraine to the energy crisis provoked by the conflict.
The EIB Group–the Bank and its subsidiary for smaller businesses, the European Investment Fund—signed financing agreements totalling €72.5 billion in 2022. Every euro went to promote sustainability and resilience in Europe and beyond. We delivered on our promises. We exceeded our targets. We made a difference.
Because behind the massive numbers is real, tangible impact.
We are supporting next-generation biopharmaceuticals against cancer in Sweden. In Finland, we backed the development and commercialisation of quantum computers. In Spain, we are helping turn used cooking oils into clean energy and harvesting solar power to produce green hydrogen. There are many more such projects, and you will read about some of them in this report.
Delivering impact and tackling investment gaps
The energy crisis has depleted government and corporate investment budgets. This comes at a time when we should invest more, to combat climate change and to wean ourselves off Russian oil and gas. There is a risk that chronic investment gaps could get even worse. If we don’t tackle them, Europe will be less competitive and less attractive for business.
The events of 2022 prove that decarbonisation is the only reliable path to secure, affordable energy for Europeans. That is why our strong response is so significant. We redoubled our efforts to support a green, innovative transition.
Russia’s blackmail over gas supplies showed that the European Investment Bank was right to stop funding fossil-fuel infrastructure and to focus on clean energy. It is clear to everyone now that the future lies in cleaner, more sustainable energy.
Our clean energy financing reached a record €19.4 billion in 2022. To boost energy security, we backed the upgrade of the Czech electricity grid. We boosted the integration of renewables into the Polish energy network. In France, we financed a technology—floating windfarms—that will open deeper seas to clean, renewable energy. Our financing will help build a 1 000-kilometre cable connecting renewable power plants in Sicily and Sardinia to Italy’s grid. With our package of support for the REPowerEU initiative, we will provide an additional €30 billion in energy loans and equity financing for high impact energy projects over the next five years—on top of our regular lending. Our €36.5 billion of climate and environment lending in 2022 supported €147 billion in green investment from others. We are fully on track to meet our target of mobilising €1 trillion for our planet this decade.
An immediate response
That is how we are responding to the long-term challenge of climate change. Our answer to the immediate threat posed by the invasion of Ukraine is another major achievement for 2022. Thanks to support from the EU budget, we provided help to the Ukrainian government within weeks of the invasion. We disbursed €1.7 billion to Ukraine under very difficult circumstances. We have another €540 million still to disburse, as concrete projects on the ground progress. We aim to ensure that Ukraine’s economy stays afloat, so that it can support large parts of the country’s re-construction effort itself.
We also marked the establishment in 2022 of EIB Global, our dedicated arm for the EU’s development and partnership activities. In its first year of operations, EIB Global delivered €9.1 billion in new project signatures—in addition to the Ukraine financing. This included solar power plants in Brazil, further support for vaccination initiatives around the world, and a massive project to bring clean, plentiful water to the people of Jordan by funding one of the largest desalination plants in the world.
EIB Global’s projects showcase how we advance EU policies and values around the world. We forge new partnerships. We build new, sustainable alliances, everywhere. I am proud that, with EIB Global, we are making an active contribution to global prosperity, under the banner of the European Union.
The European Investment Bank responded strongly to a year of great stress. We have demonstrated resilience and creativity. But we know that our job is not yet done. We must continually improve our performance and seek new ways to carry out our work better. This report is an account of a vital stage in that journey.
Werner Hoyer
2022 Highlights
The European Investment Bank, the world’s largest multilateral borrower and lender, raised €44.3 billion on the international capital markets in 2022. 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.
Energy Security
"Since its creation, the EIB has been a key financier of critical energy infrastructure. The current situation reaffirms the strategic importance of energy and the importance of diverse supplies. The EIB has stepped up its lending for energy projects in the European Union and around the world."
Sanjoy Rajan, head of energy security, EIB
Innovation and autonomy
"If Europe wants economic autonomy, it will have to invest massively in innovation and the key technologies for the digitalisation of its economy, in particular chips, data centres and cybersecurity. Digitalisation is inevitable. But you need to invest to ride the wave."
Harald Gruber, head of digital infrastructure, EIB
Global connections
"Regional cooperation between the European Union and its neighbours is more important than ever. The European Investment Bank is like a bridge, connecting people and places with sustainable projects that build a better life for current and future generations."
Souad Farsi, head of EIB office in Amman, Jordan
Group Operational Plan 2023-25 highlights
- More help for Ukraine and a focus on EU autonomy after Russian invasion
- Transition from fossil fuels and support for regions that depend on coal and oil
- Riskier green and digital investments
- More development worldwide through EIB Global
- New priorities for advisory assistance, innovation and technology
- Increased loans to small companies in climate action and sustainability
The military aggression against Ukraine leads us to accelerate climate action and projects that strengthen Europe’s independence. One part of this new push is the REPowerEU programme to make Europe independent from Russian oil and gas. We will fully support this European Commission energy independence programme.
The EIB Group will increase financing for the just transition to green economies by helping more regions that depend heavily on coal and oil. A just transition means that we will help communities that suffer the most to find new, green industries, and we will provide more training for people to change careers.
One of the European Investment Fund’s key goals from 2023 to 2025 will be to increase climate action and environmental sustainability. This will include technical knowledge training for small companies and support for business angels, venture capital and private equity funds. The EIF’s loan guarantees to other lending institutions will provide funds to help a large range of start-up companies and small businesses. As part of REPowerEU, the EIF will provide €3 billion from 2023 to 2027 in equity investment to financial institutions for energy efficiency, renewable energy and green innovation
Outside Europe, EIB Global will help more regions produce green electricity, provide clean water, build modern sanitation plants, improve health care supplies and stop the spread of infectious diseases. We will target larger climate-action financing in Asia and Latin America.
We will step up advisory services to offer wider technical assistance that accelerates investments in priority projects. The core part of advisory services will support environmentally sustainable projects and the implementation of the Climate Bank Roadmap. This roadmap outlines our climate goals from 2021-2025. To meet these climate promises, we must take on more risk and finance more technologically advanced projects, which allows us to increase the impact of our work.
- Read the full Operational Plan for 2023-25
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.