Policy & Actions » Cohesion and urban policies » European Investment Bank
European Investment Bank
Background :
The European Investment Bank is the bank of the European Union, with legal existence in the Treaty on the functioning of the EU. Its objectives is to transform its capital made of contributions of Member States into various financial products such as individual loans for projects, loans for SMEs, revolving funds together with other funding sources, technical assistance, guarantees, microfinance.
Concrete opportunities:
The EIB activities in the social housing sector are significant although not always visible.
For example since 2000, the EIB has provided more than €1.6 billion loans in the social housing sector in UK. Another example is the Walloon investment plan in social housing that has been partly financed since 2004 through a €500 million loans with the aim to renovate more than 35 000 dwellings at high energy efficiency standards.
The eligibility and quality conditions for a loan in the social housing sectorso far are :
> In terms of policies: urban environment; social cohesion
> In terms of location: Brownfield sites; Greenfield sites if part of urban regeneration and/or
local housing plan
> In terms of works : Investment, not maintenance
> Regarding quality requirements:
> Well-defined strategy, objectives and procedures
> Robust legal context, planning and implementation structure
Increasingly, the EIB is being given the task of fueling the energy and environmental transition with loans while in some cases it may make more financial and management sense for local public institutions to manage funds as they can adapt more easily to local needs and smaller scale projects.
For further information on the Euroepan Investment Bank please visit http://www.eib.org/
