The EIB’s board approved the finance bundle yesterday, which included the first-ever financial support by the long-term lending institution for refugees in the region.
EIB president Werner Hoyer said: “In these sad days the EU bank shows its continued commitment to supporting work across Europe and ensuring that people who seek refuge can be welcomed with dignity.
“This is consistent with the values Europe stands for and that we all strongly reaffirm despite the horror Paris, France, Europe and humanity itself have been exposed to in the past few days.”
Amongst the 47 different loans approved, was a €120m loan will help local authorities to provide accommodation for refugees and asylum seekers at a number of sites in the German state of Brandenburg.
Emilia-Romagna, Romania, which was hit by earthquakes in 2012, will receive €1bn to support the reconstruction of homes and businesses.
A further €1bn has been earmarked for leading car, bus, van and truck manufacturers in France, Germany, Sweden and Turkey for research and development to make the automotive industry more environmentally friendly.
Other projects backed by the EIB include plans to provide high-speed broadband in Italy, the modernisation of hospitals in Poland, Sweden and Germany and the reduction of energy use in commercial property.
Funding will also support the construction of energy-efficient homes in the UK, roads in France and Hungary, water investment in Romania and Jordan and efforts to treat land contaminated by industrial waste in France and Belgium.
Elsewhere in European infrastructure, the European Commission today updated its list of key energy projects that it considers will form the building blocks of the EU’s Energy Union and help the region meet its climate objectives.
The commission said the Energy Union is on track to deliver, but much more still remains to be done.
Since the adoption of the first list in 2013, 13 energy projects have been completed or will be commissioned before the end of 2015. Some 62 projects are expected to be completed by the end of 2017.
The EIB loan package also included financial support for Mozambique and Ukraine to improve electricity supply and agriculutre, respectively. The bank also approved its first ever loan to East Timor to upgrade rail links in the country.
Meanwhile, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced a €64m sovereign-guaranteed loan to modernise the national road network in Macedonia. This is expected to improve the vital trade link between neighbouring Bulgaria and the EU.
