The European Investment Bank (EIB) hopes to invest even more in development aid outside the EU in 2018. To do this, it is in favour of creating a dedicated structure on the basis of the positive experience of the 'Juncker' investment plan.
“The EU is by far the greatest development contributor, but its actions are too little visible”, said the President of the EIB, Werner Hoyer, presenting the Bank's 2017 activities in Brussels. He said that the experience built up with the 'Juncker' investment plan, which provides a financial public guarantee instead of grants to project owners in the EU, should be reproduced to stimulate finance in favour of the development of third countries.
The idea is not necessary to increase volumes, but to “make every euro mobilised do more”, stressed Hoyer, who has just started a new term of six years. He referred to discussions started with the member states and the European Commission on “establishing a dedicated structure within the EIB group, not a new institution, that is fully devoted to development finance”.
In December, the EIB presented its preliminary ideas to the European finance and foreign affairs ministers.
In 2017, the EIB group granted funding for an envelope in excess of €78 billion broken down as follows: €14 billion for innovative projects, €17 billion for environmental projects, €18 billion for infrastructure projects and €30 billion for SME projects.
More than 900 projects were approved, or an increase of 15%, many of them smaller in size; this shows that a higher number of entities can use our services, Hoyer commented.
Brexit. In volume terms, however, the EIB lent less in 2017 than it did in 2016. This is due to less activity in Turkey and lower demand from the United Kingdom, the EIB President explained.
The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU is a medium-term challenge for the EIB as well as for the British. For as long as it is an EU member, the United Kingdom holds 16% of the European institution's capital. When the EIB is no longer active in that member state, “it will be felt because the UK has nothing comparable with the national promotion bank”, he said.
The former German minister went on to acknowledge that the EIB had been “hit hard” by the “disappointing” Dieselgate affair through loans granted to the German car builder Volkswagen to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, amongst other things. He stressed that the institution had tightened up its social and environmental criteria in order to maintain its credibility which, it considers, is one of the highest on the market. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)