Our Mission is to further the objectives of the European Union by making long-term finance available for sound investment.
The EIB Group promotes Corporate Responsibility through its mission and activities in the service of the European Union, through the way it implements these and through its internal management.
The EIB attaches great importance to engaging with civil society and building cooperative relations with its representatives.
The Bank receives many requests for information and certain questions recur regularly. Please check if your query can be answered by one of the links below.
For further information, please send a message to the Infodesk.
The EIB's clients are public and private sector bodies and enterprises. The project promoted by the public or private client must be in line with the eligibility criteria of the EIB and be economically and financially sound.
As a rule, the Bank lends up to 50% of the capital required for a project.
In general terms, the EIB has two main financing facilities (please note that the EIB does not provide grants nor does it enter into cooperation agreements):
No special formalities are attached to the submission of applications to the EIB for individual loans. Project promoters are required simply to provide the Bank's Operations Directorate with a detailed description of their capital investment together with the prospective financing arrangements.
Initial contacts to discuss a proposed project can be in any form, by telephone, fax, e-mail or letter. For such first contacts, the project promoter should provide sufficient information to allow verification of compliance of the investment with the eligibility criteria of the EIB and have a well-developed business plan.
The Bank will review the promoter's own comprehensive feasibility studies, and make a preliminary assessment of certain aspects of the project including:
This is then followed up with a detailed appraisal by an EIB project team, consisting of an economist, an engineer and a loan or contact officer within the Bank.
The project team will make use of all existing available reports, analyses and documents, and include a visit to the project's operating company and the investment's location.
The EIB forms its own opinion on the basis of available data and documents.
Assuming a satisfactory outcome the EIB review, a loan proposal will be put forward for approval by the Bank's Management Committee to the Board of Directors, which meets ten times a year.
Once approved by the Board, the loan facility can be drawn down in one or a number of installments according to the borrower's requirements, usually starting within 12 months of the approval date (Project cycle).
For further information on loan application, potential borrowers are invited to contact the EIB's Infodesk for general information on the loan application procedure.
Alternatively, a list of senior officials in the EIB Lending Operations Directorate can be found on the website.
Promoters are asked to consult the directorate for Lending Operations in Europe or the directorate for Lending Operations outside Europe and contact the appropriate teams via the EIB switchboard +352 4379-1.
The EIB finances a broad range of projects in energy, infrastructure and industrial sectors. To be eligible, such projects have to contribute to EU economic policy objectives.
Typically, the EIB supports:
Requests for venture capital should be made to the European Investment Fund, which is one of the leading sources of venture capital within the Union. Please note that the EIB does not provide financing for the establishment of new businesses.
The EIB does not normally provide grants or subsidies. Individuals and organisations interested in gaining access to European funds in the form of grants should contact the European Commission directly.
More information can be found online as part of the Bank's Sponsorship and Subsidy Policy.
In accordance with Articles 16 and 18 of the EIB statute, the EIB works with other banks, either co-financing projects or in security structures.
To allow promoters to make use other sources of finance wherever possible, the EIB's intervention in any project is limited to 50% of the cost of the qualified investment cost of a project as it is established during appraisal.
The EIB will finance up to 50% of the total project cost but financing may be combined with EU grants depending on the scope and definition of the individual project.
For all information on EU grants please consult the web pages of the European Commission.
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