Brussels, 22/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - At a press conference on Tuesday 22 February where he unveiled the results of the European Investment Bank (EIB) for 2010, EIB President Philippe Maystadt said: “We have succeeded in our mission to support recovery in Europe by financing projects that stimulate growth, innovation and jobs, and we are very proud of our record volume on climate action projects. Building a better and more sustainable future is the driving force behind everything we do.” He explained that lending had reached record levels over the past three years, particularly on climate action projects. Asked whether the EIB would be providing greater funding in North African countries rocked by the unprecedented uprisings and revolutions, Maystadt said that greater investment was desirable and that as long as the EU Council of Ministers and European Parliament agreed, the EIB would be able to increase its lending to North Africa to around €6 billion by 2013. At present, only €2.8bn of the total €8.7bn aid package for North Africa for 2007-2013 remains to be allocated. Outlining the EIB's future plans, Maystadt said the bank would prioritise support for the EU 2020 strategy and tackling climate change.
In 2010, total EIB lending reached €72 billion - €63bn in the EU and €9bn outside the EU - supporting over 460 large-scale projects. This marks a gradual return to pre-crisis levels as the Bank adapts its activity to the economic environment, explained Maystadt.
The EIB continued its contribution to European recovery and completed delivery of an additional €61bn support package over the last three years, €11bn more than originally envisaged. Small and medium-sized enterprises - which find it particularly difficult to obtain access to finance in challenging economic circumstances - and less advanced regions in Europe were the main beneficiaries of this exceptional effort. Over this three-year period, more than 160,000 SMEs received finance from the EIB. Less advanced regions in Europe were supported during this period through the financing of 430 projects.
In 2010, aid for late developer regions took up 41% of the EIB's loans. It issued €26bn-worth of loans for Convergence Objective regions, slightly down on 2009, but the money actually paid out rose by 30% from €18bn in 2009 to €23bn in 2010.
The EIB signed loans worth €9.972bn in total for small businesses in 2010, compared with more than €12.6bn in 2009, and the amount actually paid out reached €10.01bn, compared with €10.042bn in 2009.
Last year, the EIB lent €9bn to countries outside the EU, mainly to prospective EU candidate countries (€3.4bn) and North Africa (€2.6bn). Asked about the EIB's plans vis-à-vis the revolutions in the Arab world, Philippe de Fontaine Vive, EIB Vice-President, said that the bank wanted to have an immediate presence to finance economic needs so that the despair felt in the region does not build up into a social and economic explosion. Maystadt pointed out that only €2.8bn of the loans allocated for non-EU Mediterranean countries for the period until 2013 remained to be allocated, but said that there were further funding opportunities and the amount could be increased as long as the EU Council of Ministers and the European Parliament agree (their signature is needed for lending outside the EU). Maystadt said that last week, the Europe Parliament asked for the upper limit on EIB lending in North Africa to be raised by a billion euros between now and 2013, but the Council of Ministers has not yet agreed to this. The EP and member states have agreed already that the EIB should be allowed to provide loans of up to €2bn for extra projects to combat climate change and the Mediterranean should expect to receive something like €700 million of this, he added. The EIB also has €1.2bn available of its own funds and €200 million to €300 million of income from past investment that it may also lend to North Africa, amounting to an overall total of some €6bn of financing, particularly for countries moving towards democracy in the Mediterranean, with a view to creating jobs. Asked about whether the EP and Council of Ministers would agree to this, Maystadt said he did not think there would be any obstacles that could not be got around.
Another major focus in 2010 was climate action and Maystadt explained that “the European Investment Bank (EIB) increased financing for climate action projects to €19 billion, representing an impressive 30% of its lending in the European Union.” Most of the funding went to energy and sustainable transport projects. Maystadt added: “We have succeeded in our mission to support recovery in Europe by financing projects that stimulate growth, innovation and jobs, and we are very proud of our record volume on climate action projects.” European transport network projects (transport infrastructure and energy) received €10bn of financing in 2010 in the EU. Loans for renewable energy in the EU and candidate countries went up from €4.2 n to €5.6bn. Lending for energy efficiency was up 10%. In 2010, the EIB also helped finance renewable energy projects outside the EU (€800 million for renewable energy and €600 million for energy efficiency). Countries outside the EU received €2 billion in climate action financing in 2010. In the coming three years, the Bank will substantially strengthen its support for sustainable energy projects in these countries. This is due to the €1.5bn increase agreed for the Energy Sustainability Facility, which brings the overall amount to €4.5bn. “This, together with the proposed €2 billion climate change mandate currently being discussed by the European Parliament and Council, puts the EIB in a good position to help the EU implement its global climate action goals outside Europe”, it explains.
Another priority area is the knowledge-based economy, which received a quarter of the EIB's loans in 2010. Loans for innovation totalled €16.5bn.
Maystadt explained that in the future, the EIB will do its utmost to help achieve the EUROPE 2020 strategy and meet the EU's climate change and foreign policy targets. The EIB will be working with the European Commission on new funding mechanisms to increase risk-taking capacity in key areas like small business and infrastructure. In this connection, the EIB president said that in the next few days, the EIB will announce the launch of a new initiative with the European Commission to get up new project bonds to help project promoters raise funds themselves for infrastructure projects.
In 2010, the EIB reported a net profit of €2.1 billion. (O.L./transl.fl)