The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group signed €89 billion in new financing last year.
The Group made more investments to strengthen EU energy security, mobilizing over “€100 billion for projects in new and upgraded infrastructure such as grids and interconnectors, renewables, net-zero industries, efficiency and storage.”
Nearly 60% of the total financing supported the “green transition, climate action and environmental sustainability.”
Their preliminary results signal profitability. At the same time, higher-risk EIB operations to back Europe’s companies have increased.
€8 billion in equity and quasi-equity investment from the EIB and the European Investment Fund (EIF) is expected to “mobilize €110 billion in growth capital for startups, scale-ups and European pioneers.”
Eligible security and defense investment doubled in 2024, and the “goal is to double this figure again this year.”
The EIB Group extended its eligible investments in dual-use projects, which now include “border protection, military mobility, de-mining and de-contamination, space, cybersecurity, anti-jamming equipment, seabed and critical infrastructure protection, research and development, and drones.”
The EIB Group plans to increase its overall investments to €95 billion in 2025, with flagship initiatives to “support European tech champions and a dedicated TechEU program, critical raw materials, water management, the energy efficiency of small and medium-sized companies, and a dedicated platform to promote sustainable and affordable housing.”
In parallel with increasing its investment capacity and impact, the EIB Group is making progress in “cutting red tape for clients and has shortened the time to market required to approve and deploy new investments.”
During 2024, it introduced simplified “appraisal procedures covering more than 40% of its operations.”
EIB Group President Nadia Calviño as she presented the annual operational results of the EIB Group in Brussels.
“We have broken records with our financing in 2024. We have made ourselves ready to support EU priorities in this new political mandate. And we will play an even more relevant role in 2025 – building on the excellent performance of the EIB Group to increase our impact, bolstering Europe’s security and competitiveness with strategic and ambitious investments.”
The EIB Group financing committed in 2024 is expected to “power almost 15 million households with clean energy, create up to 1.5 million new jobs in Europe over the next few years, advance therapies against cancer, and help secure affordable housing from Croatia to Latvia.”
Highlights from last year include:
- Stepped up higher-risk activities, expected to mobilise about €110 billion in new investments. This includes a record €7.2 billion of investments by the EIF in the equity funds ecosystem, and €1 billion in venture debt by the EIB.
- More than €14 billion in total investment deployed by the EIF to support Europe’s small businesses and innovators, including in 102 venture capital funds, such as a dedicated fund to back women-owned and gender-balanced startups in space and deep tech.
- €51 billion – around 60% of last year’s investments – to support the green transition, climate action and environmental sustainability, from the world’s first zero-emissions tyre factory in Romania to support for sustainable mobility in Valencia, keeping the EIB Group well on track to meet its target of supporting €1 trillion in climate and environmental sustainability investment in the critical decade to 2030.
- €31 billion to back EU energy security, including for efficiency, renewables, storage and electricity grids, which is expected to support over €100 billion in investment. Flagship initiatives include counter-guarantees to bolster European wind manufacturers, electric vehicle battery manufacturing in France and the Princess Elisabeth Island in Belgium. For grids and storage, financing rose to a record €8.5 billion, mobilising 40% of Europe’s total investment in that sector in 2024, including transmission network upgrades and interconnectors in Spain, Czechia and Germany.
- Support for eligible security and defence projects doubled to €1 billion, including the deployment of dual-use satellites in Poland, port upgrades to meet the needs of NATO vessels in Denmark and investment by the EIF in dedicated private investment funds. A further doubling of annual investments to €2 billion is expected this year.
- €38 billion to accelerate social and territorial cohesion, including credit lines for farmers in Romania, innovative startups in Greece and just transition projects in Estonia.
The EIB Group provided financial support to boost climate resilience and adaptation from “post-landslide reconstruction in Italy to recovery investments in European regions affected by devastating floods.”
With €2.2 billion+ disbursed since 2022, EIB Group investments in Ukraine are helping “to repair schools, kindergartens and hospitals, upgrade transport and protect energy infrastructure, as well as support the private sector.”
