The shareholders of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group, the EU Member States, have approved a record-high financing ceiling of €100 billion for this year and new programmes “to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness, technological leadership and security.”
The EIB Board of Governors, made up of European Union Finance Ministers, endorsed the 2025 financing ceiling at a meeting in Luxembourg.
“The Boards of Directors of the EIB and of the European Investment Fund (EIF) gave the green light earlier this week to the increase in financing for security and defence, energy grids and the new TechEU programme to boost Europe’s technological leadership,” said the EIB.
“They also approved flagship projects including to support Ukraine’s economy and the construction of a major military base in Lithuania.”
EIB Group President Nadia Calviño said: “The unanimous support of our shareholders, the 27 Member States, for our proposals to provide record financing for defence, energy security and tech leadership, shows the key role of the EIB Group to support Europe’s strategic priorities.
“In a world where everything everywhere is changing all at once, the EU is a beacon of clarity, confidence and stability.”
The EIB Group’s new 2025 financing ceiling of €100 billion follows a mid-year review of the organisation’s operational plan, which includes an increase to 3.5% of total financing for the European security and defence sector, record financing of more than €11 billion for power grids and storage in Europe, and greater support for EU technological and industrial innovation.
“The EIB Group is launching the EU’s largest financing programme to date in support of innovation and tech leadership to attract talent, capital and investment in Europe,” said the bank.
“TechEU will provide €70 billion in EIB Group equity, quasi-equity, loans and guarantees in 2025-2027 and crowd in private capital to generate at least €250 billion in investments.
“TechEU is complementing the ‘Startup and Scaleup Strategy’ of the European Commission to support higher risk projects and innovative companies throughout their investment journey.
“TechEU provides more support for supercomputing, artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, critical raw materials, green industries such as offshore wind, health, security and defence technologies, robotics and advanced materials. It will target innovative companies at every stage of their development – from initial ideas to stock listings.”