Brussels, 09/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday the president and vice president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Philippe Maystadt and Wolfgang Rothe, presented the press with a balance sheet of the bank's activities for 2005, the details of which are as follows (EUROPE 8882 for details of the 2004 balance sheet).
In 2005 the EIB lent almost EUR 47.4 billion (compared to 43.2 billion in 2004) supporting projects in support of EU objectives, notably those in the Lisbon Agenda. Funding in the Union rose to EUR 42.3 billion of which 5.8 billion went to the ten new Member States and 5.1 billion in loans went outside the Union's borders: 2 billion to Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Turkey. European Investment Funds (EIF), the subsidiary of the EIB group specialised in venture capital and guarantees, invested EUR 368 million in risk capital funds, which brings the total of this portfolio to EUR 31 billion. The EIF also provided EUR 1.7 billion in guarantees from financial intermediaries covering SME portfolios. The balance sheet of EIB activities per sector is as follows:
1) Investment for economic and social cohesion in the enlarged Union reached EUR 34 billion in the assisted regions, a large part of this in the new Member States, and represented almost 80% of the total EIB loans in the Union. Almost EUR 28 billion in individual loans were granted as investment support for strengthening the economic potential of the assisted regions and a supplementary amount of EUR 6 billion was granted to partner banks in the form of credit lines (global loans) for financing SMEs and small scale public investment. Transport and communication infrastructures (46% of individual loans), industry and services (22%) and infrastructures for education and health (9%) are the main beneficiaries. We would note that, in the new Member States, the large part of EIB financing was for the transport sector (45% of the total volume of loans granted in these countries). Also, cooperation with the DG Regional Policy at the Commission has increased with the launch of two new initiatives, JASPERS and JERMIE (see EUROPE 9049).
2) In the context of the Innovation 2010 (i2i) initiative to shoulder implementation of the Lisbon Strategy, EIB loans to support training, research and development and innovation reached EUR 10.7 billion (EUR 34.8 billion since 2000). The EIB, which considers, moreover, that it is able to reach its target of mobilising EUR 50 billion by 2010 to support Lisbon Agenda goals in the context of “i2i”, specifies that, since 2000, 45% of its loans have been granted to research and development, 30% to the technological upgrading of higher education establishments (university hospitals, centres of excellence and medical research) and 25% have gone to the development of technology and ICT networks. Investment made in the field of technological upgrading of advanced education installations are increasingly financed in the context of public-private partnerships, mainly in the United Kingdom.
3) Investments in the trans-European networks (TEN) for transport, energy and information have reached EUR 7.71 billion to which must be added the loans signed in Romania in support of TEN for transport for EUR 550 million. In the transport sector (EUR 7.37 billion), loans are shared out between the rail sector (42%), road (38%), air transport (14%) and maritime transport (6%). In the energy sector, loans reached EUR 892 million.
4) Loans in favour of environmental projects totalled EUR 12.3 billion (including 1.4 billion outside the Union). Over 60% of loans granted in the Union have been used to finance projects concerning the urban environment (public transport and urban renovation) and 20% have gone to projects relating to water supply and processing as well as to the reduction of industrial pollution. The remaining 20% have, for the most part, been devoted to investment relating to energy efficiency and renewable energies.
5) Funding granted by EIB for development aid and cooperation, which mainly include financing granted under the Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership Facility (FEMIP) reached EUR 3.6 billion. Financing under FEMIP reached a total of EUR 2.2 billion between four recipients: the private sector (49%), transport infrastructures (34%), energy (13%) and the environment (4%). Furthermore, in the context of the Cotonou Agreement, loans granted from EIB own resources and under the Investment Facility totalled EUR 540 million and essentially served to finance infrastructure projects and to support SMEs through local banks.
Finally, in order to finance its loans in 2005, the EIB raised a total of EUR 49.8 billion on international capital markets, by launching 330 compulsory issues in 15 different currencies. On 31 December 2005, the rate of EIB loans was EUR 294.2 billion and the lending rate 248.3 billion.