European Investment Bank Donors in action 2019

Foreword by The President

Werner Hoyer, President of the EIB.

The European Investment Bank marked its 60th anniversary in 2018. As we look back over six decades, we can see that the Bank, like the European Union, has evolved in the face of numerous political, economic and social changes. The EIB is proud to be part of this European story, in the service of the European Union and its citizens.

Within the European Union, the Bank is mobilising finance to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness and growth potential, while promoting market integration, cohesion and climate action. We invest in Europe’s future. The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) – a core component of the Investment Plan for Europe – is making a big impact. As of today, close collaboration between the EIB Group and the European Commission has enabled us to approve finance of over EUR 344 billion for new EFSI projects.

The EIB is also a global actor. In addition to our activities inside the European Union, we support EU policy objectives through investment in some 130 external partner countries. The Bank is currently delivering around EUR 7-8 billion per year in financing outside the European Union.

As the EU bank, we respond to evolving EU global priorities and contribute to the UN Sustainable Develop-ment Goals (SDGs), notably in climate action, migration and mobility, sustainable growth and jobs, trade and economic prosperity. However, no amount of public money alone will be sufficient to realise all commitments to the SDGs and to the Paris Agreement on Climate. The private sector needs to play a more active role, a process that we can accelerate via improved financial instruments for development.

The advantages of Donor partnerships

In this dynamic environment, EIB-Donor partnerships are increasingly valuable – enabling both partners to achieve more in an agreed and targeted way. Such partnerships have many advantages:

A direct route between policy decisions and action: By contributing to the design and financing of EIB Trust Funds, Donors can orientate EIB funding towards common priority regions and sectors.

Financial leverage and fiduciary strength: The impact of Donor grants is multiplied by the global reach as well as the financial and sector expertise of the EIB Group. As a bank, the EIB’s in-house capabilities and systems make us a trusted and reliable partner for the management of public and third-party funds.

Wider impact in developing countries: Grant support allows the EIB to appraise and finance projects that were previously beyond our scope in poorer countries and/or in critical sectors such as water. The economic and social benefits can be very high.

Future challenges

This inaugural Donors in Action book surveys what the EIB and Donors are achieving together outside of the EU, and indicates challenges that will require our best efforts in the years ahead. Let me briefly highlight two of these challenges.

Climate action: As a global leader in the fight against climate change, the European Union is very aware that the negative effects do not stop at a country’s border. This is a global problem. In order to limit global warming to the 2oC agreed in Paris in 2015, we need to take urgent action to reduce carbon levels around the world.

The EIB is very active in this area. In addition to increasing investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency outside of the European Union, we are working with Donors to offer new grant-funded instruments. These include the Luxembourg-EIB Climate Finance Platform, Geeref NeXt, and CAMENA.

Migration and economic resilience: Investment outside our borders can alleviate the risk of social and political unrest in beneficiary countries. Resilient economies where growth is robust and inclusive are less likely to experience social unrest, conflict, and unplanned migration. The EIB is stepping up its activities on this front. We are rolling out the Economic Resilience Initiative (ERI) to help the Western Balkans and the EU’s Southern Neighbourhood countries respond to economic shocks and to crises such as adverse weather events or refugee flows from wartorn areas.

Under ERI the EIB will increase its support to these neighbouring regions by EUR 6 billion, on top of the EUR 7.5 billion of EIB financing already planned for these regions, the largest of any International Financial Institution. We estimate that ERI will mobilise EUR 15 billion of additional investment in these regions up to 2020, taking the total EIB mobilisation of investment in the regions to some EUR 35 billion. This initiative will increase economic opportunities and create local jobs. We have already achieved some very tangible results, with approved projects in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Palestine, Serbia,