Brussels, 14/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 14 April, the Council of the EU approved the mandate and the renewal of the EU guarantee for European Investment Bank (EIB) external operations for the 2014-2020 period.
With an envelope of €27 billion, projects outside the EU account for less than 10% of the EIB's total financing activities. The recently approved €10 billion increase in the bank's capital does not affect the volume of loans granted by the EIB.
The regional distribution of the €27 billion ceiling is as follows: pre-accession phase countries: €8.74 billion; - countries covered by neighbourhood and partnership policy: €14.44 billion (€9.6 billion for Mediterranean countries, €4.83 billion for Eastern Europe, the Southern Caucasus and Russia; - €3.4 billion for Asia and Latin America (€2.29 billion for Latin America, €936 million for Asia, €182.1 million for Central Asia; - South Africa: €416.16 million.
The EIB is able to reallocate funding of up to 20% of regional sub-ceilings within regions and up to 10% of the regional ceilings between regions. Bhutan has been added to the list of eligible countries and Myanmar has been added to the list of potentially eligible countries and that of countries effectively eligible for EIB funding benefitting from the EU guarantee.
At a thematic level, EIB loans will fund development projects supporting the local economic fabric, social infrastructure and mitigating climate change. (MB)