Paolo Gentiloni, European Commissioner for Economic Affairs, and Carlo Monticelli, Governor of the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), signed an InvestEU guarantee agreement of up to €159 million in Brussels on Monday 28 November.
€500 million in additional loans can now be mobilised under the “social investment and skills” and “sustainable infrastructure” components of the InvestEU programme.
This will specifically include social housing, education, employment, health care and social welfare, as well as clean and intelligent urban mobility and flood protection.
By providing the financial guarantee from the European Union, InvestEU will enable the CEB to increase its risk capacity for public and private investments that have been mobilised in favour of these EU priorities.
“None of our objectives is more important than building a social Europe”, emphasised Paolo Gentiloni.
Carlo Monticelli added: “By combining the EU guarantee with EU funding and expertise, we will become even more effective partners for our member countries in tackling today's daunting challenges. This key agreement will strengthen our long-standing collaboration with the European Commission and recognises the CEB’s strategic role in promoting social cohesion in Europe . (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)