Little-known, the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) supports social investments in the 41 Member States that are shareholders.
A Parliamentary Assembly resolution adopted on Wednesday 2 October welcomes its work "which distinguishes it from the wider family of international financial institutions" and encourages it - for the period 2020-2022 - to commit itself to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.
Created in 1956 to help refugees and displaced persons, this "discreet but original" bank, in the words of Nicole Trisse (ALDE, France), rapporteur on this issue, turned towards development aid after the enlargement to Central and Eastern European countries in the 1990s. The 2008 financial crisis then led it to extend its priorities to the most disadvantaged people.
In its 2019 report, the bank reports - for 2018 - 3.9 billion euros in approved projects, 2.8 billion in loans disbursed and 4.9 billion in funds raised.
During the debate, in which the Bank's Governor, Rolf Wenzel, participated, parliamentarians called for a rationalisation of the CEB's governance. They also encouraged Council of Europe Member States that have not yet joined the CEB to "reconsider their position in the interest of their people".
There are eight of them: Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Monaco, Russian Federation, Ukraine and United Kingdom.
Kosovo and the Holy See, which are not members of the Council of Europe, are however stakeholders in the CEB. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)