REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL ON 2018 EIB EXTERNAL ACTIVITY WITH EU BUDGETARY GUARANTEE
Date: 2020-03-12
Institutions: Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: EIB loan, European Investment Bank, credit guarantee, financial aid, financial management, institutional cooperation, interinstitutional cooperation (EU), investment abroad, investment protection, third country

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 12.3.2020  COM(2020) 97 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL ON 2018 EIB EXTERNAL ACTIVITY WITH EU BUDGETARY GUARANTEE  
 
 
1. 

INTRODUCTION 

The  External  Lending  Mandate  (ELM)  of  the  European  Investment  Bank  (EIB)  is  an 
important  instrument  through  which  the  European  Union  supports  investments  in  partner 
countries.  It  is  based  on  a  guarantee  from  EU  budget  resources,  provided  by  the  European 
Commission to the EIB in order to enable the latter to increase its lending outside the EU, in 
support  of  EU  policies.  The  EU  guarantee  covers  defined  instances  when  borrowers  fail  to 
repay financing owed to the EIB. This way the EU guarantee increases the EIB’s capacity to 
bear  investment  risk.  The  legal  basis  of  the  ELM  is  Decision  No  466/2014/EU  (the  ‘ELM 
Decision’),1 last amended in 2018.2 In case the EIB calls on the EU guarantee, payments are 
made from the Guarantee Fund for External Actions.3 

The  ELM  supports  EIB  activity  in  Pre-Accession  countries,  the  Eastern  and  Southern 
Neighbourhood, Asia, Latin America and South Africa, with a total of 64 countries currently 
eligible. In the current ELM period (2014-2020), the EU budget guarantees up to EUR 32.3 
billion of EIB financing operations with a commitment to cover the first  65% of losses that 
may  arise  in  the  guaranteed  portfolio.  The  ELM  Decision  establishes  guarantee  ceilings  for 
the various geographic regions and sub-regions.  

The Commission has recently published a comprehensive evaluation of the implementation of 
the External Lending Mandate since mid-2014 until end-2018.4  

This annual report provides a basic overview of the EIB's activities under the EU guarantee in 
2018.5  It  also provides  a  summary  of the operations carried out by the EIB without the EU 
guarantee (i.e., at its ‘own risk’) in order to provide a fuller picture of the EIB’s activity in the 
regions covered by the ELM.6 

2. 

KEY RESULTS 

In  2018,  the  EIB  signed  a  total  of  EUR  5.8  billion  of  financing  operations  in  the  regions 
covered  by  the  External  Lending  Mandate.7  Of  this  total,  over  EUR  4.46  billion  of  EIB 

1   Decision No 466/2014/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 granting an EU 
guarantee to the European Investment Bank against losses under financing operations supporting investment 
projects outside the Union, OJ L 135, 8.5.2014, p. 1. 

2   Amending Decision (EU) 2018/412 of 14 March 2018, OJ L 76, 19.3.2018, p. 30. 
3   Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 480/2009 of 25 May 2009 establishing a Guarantee Fund for external 
actions  (Codified  version),  OJ  L  145,  10.6.2009,  p.  10,  last  amended  by  Regulation  (EU)  2018/409  of  the 
European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2018. 

4   SWD(2019)  333  final  and  related  documents,  available  at  https://ec.europa.eu/info/commission-staff-

evaluation-european-investment-banks-external-lending-mandate-2014-18_en.  

5   This report has been prepared in line with the requirements set out in Article 11 of the ELM Decision. 
6   The  EIB  currently  has  four  Own  Risk  Facilities  in  the  ELM  regions,  namely  the  Pre-Accession  Facility 
(PAF), the Neighbourhood Financing Facility (NFF), the Climate Action and Environment Facility (CAEF) 
and the Strategic Projects Facility (SPF). The latter two facilities also cover African, Caribbean and Pacific 
countries and Overseas Countries and Territories of EU Member States. 

7   In addition, two operations signed in 2005-6 were transferred under the ELM 2014-20 in the course of 2018, 
with combined volume of EUR 150 million. These two operations are not included in the overviews of 2018 
signatures  presented  in  this  annual  report,  but  they  are  taken  into  account  in  the  overview  of  the  ELM’s 
cumulative utilisation rate (Table 2 in section 3.2). 

1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
operations are covered by the EU guarantee (i.e., they fall under the ELM), involving nearly 
50 loan contracts. The remaining operations are financed from the EIB’s own-risk facilities. 

Compared to 2017, when only EUR 3.2 billion of operations were signed under the ELM, the 
2018 volumes are visibly higher. By contrast, the volume of the EIB’s own-risk operations in 
ELM countries declined from EUR 2.3 billion in 2017 to EUR 1.4 billion in 2018.8 

Chart 1 illustrates the evolution of lending under the ELM and the own-risk facilities between 
2016 and 2018 (amounts signed, net  of amounts cancelled). Over this period,  an average of 
64% of EIB financing in these regions benefitted from the EU guarantee.9 

Chart 1: Annual evolution of EIB lending volumes in the ELM regions 

6.591 

57% 

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

n
o

i
l
l
i

b
R
U
E

0
2016

5.439 

58% 

5.834 

76% 

2017

2018

ELM

EIB's own risk facilities

In accordance with the ELM Decision, the nature of the EU guarantee differs depending  on 
the EIB’s financing operation in question: 

  A comprehensive guarantee, covering both operational and political risks, is provided 
for  financing  operations  with  public  sector  counterparts  (typically  for  infrastructure 
development) as well as for EIB loans to banks or companies that benefit from a state 
guarantee  and  for  financing  operations  under  the  Economic  Resilience  Initiative 
private mandate, created following the mid-term review of the ELM in 2018.10 EUR 
4.2  billion  or  nearly  95%  of  financing  operations  signed  under  the  ELM  in  2018 
benefitted from the EU’s comprehensive guarantee. 

8   The  decrease  in  the  volume  of  the  EIB’  own-risk  operations  in  the  ELM  regions  in  2018  is  mainly 
attributable  to  the  slowdown  of  EIB  activities  in  Turkey  and  to  climate  action-related  projects  in  Asia, 
Central Asia and Latin America, which were higher in number but smaller in size. 

9   Differences with amounts published in previous reports are due to contract cancellations.  The two operations 

transferred under the ELM 2014-20 from previous mandates during 2018 are not included in the chart. 

10  The  EU  comprehensive  guarantee  enables  the  EIB  to  waive  the  risk  premium  it  would  otherwise  need  to 
include  in its interest rate. Consequently, partner countries or their institutions/companies can borrow from 
the EIB at a significantly lower cost. For a detailed analysis, see SWD(2019) 333, pp. 10-11, 21 and 33-37. 

2 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
 
 
  A political risk guarantee with a more limited coverage is provided for other private 
sector  operations.11  In  2018,  it  covered  financing  operations  in  the  volume  of  EUR 
242 million.  

The  cummulative  level  of  disbursements  under  the  ELM  2014-20  reached  33%  of  net 
signatures  at  the  end  of  2018  (EUR  5.8  billion),  up  from  18%  in  2016  and  25%  in  2017. 
Especially  in  the  case  of  infrastructure  projects,  disbursements  of  EIB  financing  take  place 
gradually and over a number of years.12 

3. 

FINANCING OPERATIONS 

3.1. 

OVERVIEW OF NEW EIB FINANCING OPERATIONS BY OBJECTIVE 

Each operation under the ELM contributes to one of the two ‘vertical’ objectives of (a) local 
private  sector  development  or  (b)  development  of  social  and  economic  infrastructure.  In 
addition, the same operations can also contribute (partly or fully) to the ‘horizontal’ objectives 
of climate action, regional integration and long-term economic resilience.13 

The total volume of EIB investments signed under the ELM in 2018 amounted to EUR 4.46 
billion. Two-thirds (EUR 3 billion) will contribute to the development of social and economic 
infrastructure.  The  remaining  one-third  will  support  local  private  sector  development, 
principally through improving access to finance for SMEs.  

From  the  same  total  volume  signed  under  the  ELM  in  2018,  35%  will  contribute  to  the 
climate action objective, 17% will support regional integration, and 19% will contribute to the 
objective of long-term economic resilience (see Chart 2). 

11 The  political risk guarantee  covers non-payment due to non-transfer of currency, expropriation,  war or civil 
disturbance or denial of justice upon breach of contract. It does not translate in a reduction of the EIB’s risk 
pricing. 

12  For  a  more  detailed  analysis  concerning  disbursements,  see  the  recent  Commission  staff  evaluation, 

SWD(2019) 333, pp. 28 – 30. 
13   Article 3 of the ELM Decision. 

3 

 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
                                                           
Chart 2: Contribution to ELM objectives (EUR billion)  

67% 

2,996 

n
o

i
l
l
i

b
R
U
E

3,5

3,0

2,5

2,0

1,5

1,0

0,5

0,0

33% 

35% 

1,464 

1,564 

17% 

0,762 

19% 

0,847 

Social and
Economic
Infrastructure

Local Private
Sector
Development

Climate Action

Regional
Integration

Long-term
economic
resilience

Note: A single project may contribute to more than one objective of the ELM. The objectives of Climate Action, 
Regional Integration and Long-term Economic Resilience are cross-cutting (horizontal) objectives applying to 
all projects and therefore overlap with the two others. Signature volumes for Local Private Sector Development 
and Economic & Social Infrastructure counted together give the total volume signed in the year.14 

Local private sector development, in particular support to SMEs 

The EIB signed EUR 1.72 billion of operations supporting local private sector development in 
2018,  of  which  EUR  1.46  billion  under  the  ELM.  The  vast  majority  of  this  financing  was 
provided  in  the  form  of  credit  lines  to  local  financial  intermediaries  (mainly  banks)  for  on-
lending  to  SMEs  and  mid-caps.  Four  of  these  credit  lines  aim  to  reach  out  to  second-tier 
banks, namely in Armenia, Lebanon, Montenegro and South Africa. The EIB also signed one 
new credit line for microfinance in Jordan at its own risk. 

Moreover, the EIB also invested in private equity funds under its own-risk facilities, notably 
in the Green Growth Fund in the Southern Mediterranean and in the EcoEnterprises fund in 
Latin America. Finally, it also provided a loan for the development of three industrial zones in 
Lebanon  and  loans  to  a  Ukrainian  corporation  active  in  agri-business  and  biomass  power 
generation.  

14 The EUR 847 million of operations contributing to the long-term economic resilience objective include also 
several  operations  that  had  been  signed  by  the  EIB  prior  to  the  conclusion  of  the  current  ELM  guarantee 
agreement  between  the  Commission  and  the  EIB  in  October  2018.  Their  inclusion  under  the  long-term 
economic resilience objective  was confirmed by  the Commission Decision C(2019) 2901 final of 17  April 
2019.  In  the  recently  published  evaluation  of  the  External  Lending  Mandate  (SWD(2019)  333),  these 
‘transitional  operations’  were  not  included  in  the  statistical  calculation.  This  difference  in  calculation 
explains why the evaluation states on p.27 that only ‘10% of 2018 signatures under the ELM contributed to 
the objective of long-term economic resilience’, while Chart 2 of this annual report shows that the resilience 
objective will be supported by 19% of the amounts signed under the ELM in that year. 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
 
 
Development of social and economic infrastructure 

Financing operations contributing to the development of social and economic infrastructure in 
the  ELM  regions  amounted  to  EUR  4.12  billion  of  volumes  signed  by  the  EIB  in  2018,  of 
which  nearly  EUR  3  billion  under  the  EU  guarantee.  The  main  sectors  concerned  were 
energy, transport and water/sewerage. 

New  infrastructure  investments  under  the  ELM  include  upgrades  of  Ukraine’s  electricity 
transmission  infrastructure,  a  tunnel  under  the  Bosphorus,  a  road  corridor  in  Bosnia  and 
Herzegovina,  rail  fleet  modernisation  in  Bangladesh,  rehabilitation  of  the  metro  network  in 
Buenos Aires or wastewater treatment facilities in Egypt. 

Under its own-risk facilities, the EIB signed financing in 2018, for instance, for solar energy 
development  in  Mexico,  for  urban  transport  in  Bangalore  and  Bogota,  or  water  and 
wastewater infrastructure in Panama and Uzbekistan. 

Climate change mitigation and adaptation 

EUR  2.5  billion  of  loans  in  the  ELM  regions  signed  in  2018  will  support  climate  change 
mitigation and adaptation, of which EUR nearly 1.6 billion under the EU guarantee.15 At end-
2018, the cumulative climate action ratio in the current ELM period stood at over 35% of net 
signatures, exceeding the 25% target established by the ELM Decision.  

The  largest  contributions  to  the  climate  action  objective  will  come  from  lower  carbon 
transport  and  renewable  energy  investments.  Adaptation  to  climate  change  continues  to 
account for less than 10% of the EIB’s climate-related financing in the ELM regions.  

Regional integration 

The  EIB  signed  12  new  projects  in  2018  that  contribute  to  the  cross-cutting  objective  of 
regional integration. The largest of these is the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline. Other 
operations  counted  in  this  category  will  finance  transport  links  (e.g.  the  Niš-Dimitrovgrad 
railway in Serbia) or upgrades of air traffic control systems in Serbia and Kosovo.  

Economic Resilience Initiative (ERI) 

The  Economic  Resilience  Initiative  was  launched  by  the  EIB  in  2016  as  a  contribution  to 
Europe's  response  to  the  migration  and  refugee  challenge.16  In  the  context  of  the  mid-term 
review  of  the  ELM  completed  in  2018,  an  additional  objective  of  long-term  economic 
resilience  was  introduced  in  the  ELM  Decision.  Moreover,  EUR  1.4  billion  was  earmarked 
for  public  sector  investments  contributing  to  the  resilience  objective,  and  a  specific  ‘ERI 
Private  Mandate’  of  EUR  2.3  billion  was  created  in  order  to  guarantee  private  sector 
investments supporting long-term economic resilience. The ERI Private Mandate is specific in 

15 In many cases, only part of a project contributes to the climate change objective and only a proportion of that 

project’s lending total is therefore reported as contributing towards the objective. 

16 https://www.eib.org/en/projects/initiatives/resilience-initiative/index.htm  

5 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
that it provides to the EIB a comprehensive guarantee cover, enabling to undertake financing 
operations involving higher risk.17 

By end-2018, the EIB approved EUR 4.1 billion of operations foreseen to respond to this new 
objective of the ELM. More than half of them are credit lines (mainly for lending to SMEs), 
some 12% are water or sewerage investments and some 11% are investments in transport. 

3.2. 

OVERVIEW OF EIB FINANCING BY REGION AND SECTOR 

Table 1 provides an overview of the volume of EIB financing in 2018 in the regions covered 
by the ELM, including those with EU guarantee and those financed under own-risk facilities.  

Table 1: EIB financing operations signed in 2018 in ELM regions (net of cancellations) 

Region 

Operations with EU guarantee 

(EUR million) 

Pre-Accession 

Mediterranean 

Eastern Neighbours, 
Russia 

Asia 

Central Asia 

Latin America 

South Africa 

Total  

Comprehensive 
guarantee 

Political risk 
guarantee 

Total ELM 

1,182 

1,944 

470 

205 

-- 

347 

70 

60 

20 

162 

-- 

-- 

-- 

-- 

1,242 

1,964 

632 

205 

-- 

347 

70 

EIB own-risk 
facilities or third-
party funds 

230 

60 

-- 

600 

200 

292 

-- 

Total 

1,472 

2,024 

632 

805 

200 

639 

70 

4,218 

242 

4,460 

1,382 

5,842 

The EIB signed EUR 5.8 billion of loans in the ELM regions in 2018 out of EUR 7.7 billion 
of  operations  outside  the  EU  (including  the  ACP  countries,  Overseas  Countries  and 
Territories  as  well  the  EFTA  states).  Approximately  EUR  4.1  billion  is  the  volume  of 
operations  signed  in  the  Pre-Accession  and  in  the  Neighbourhood  regions  (both  South  and 
East). EUR 1.7 billion was signed in Asia, Central Asia, Latin America and South Africa.18  

Compared to 2017, the total volume of EIB financing in ELM regions somewhat increased in 
2018, mainly due to a ramp-up of activity in the Western Balkans.  

17 The EIB remunerates the EU for the budgetary guarantee under the ERI Private Mandate by passing on to the 

EU the risk-related revenues on these operations. 

18 As noted above, in addition, two operations signed in 2005-6 in the Southern Neighbourhood were transferred 
under  the  ELM  2014-20  in  the  course  of  2018,  with  combined  volume  of  EUR  150  million.  These  two 
operations  are  not  included  in  Table  1  (overview  of  2018  signatures)  but  they  are  counted  in  Table  2 
(utilisation of ELM guarantee ceilings). 

6 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
Table 2: Net signatures per year and cumulative net signatures compared with ELM 
guarantee ceilings for 2014-20 (Decision 466/2014/EU as amended by Decision (EU) 
2018/412) 

Region / year 
(EUR million) 

2014 
(H2) 

2015 

2016 

2017 

2018 

Total 
2014(H2) 
-2018 

Guarantee 
ceiling 

Utilisation 
rate 

Pre-Accession 

Mediterranean 

200 

379 

906 

726 

582 

170 

1,242 

1,299 

1,168 

1,789* 

 ERI Private Mandate**  

Eastern Neighbourhood, 
Russia 

975 

1,401 

1,493 

Asia  

Central Asia 

Latin America 

South Africa 

Total 

45 

70 

219 

1,88
8 

45 

20 

319 

433 

70 

468 

150 

612 

325 

657 

118 

22 

371 

50 

632 

205 

347 

70 

3,100 

5,973 

937 

5,158 

846 

182 

1,725 

270 

7,635 

11,170 

2,300 

6,650 

1,165 

224 

2,694 

462 

41% 

53% 

41% 

78% 

73% 

81% 

64% 

58% 

4,154 

3,758 

3,168 

4,610* 

17,578 

32,300 

54% 

* including two operations in the Southern Neighbourhood in the volume of EUR 150 million, transferred from 
earlier mandates to the ELM 2014-20 in the course of 2018 
** The ERI Private Mandate covers the Western Balkans and the Meditteranean region. 

Cumulative  signatures  under 
the  ELM  for  2014-18,  net  of  cancellations,  reached 
approximately  EUR  17.6  billion  at  the  end  of  2018.  The  cumulative  utilisation  rate  of  the 
ELM in terms of net signatures stood at 54% of the overall guarantee ceiling.  

The  lowest  rate  of  utilisation  of  the  EU  guarantee  is  observed  in  the  Pre-Accession  region. 
This is explained mainly by the scaling back of EIB operations in Turkey in view of political 
and  economic  developments  since  2016.  The  highest  utilisation  rate,  at  least  in  terms  of 
signatures, is recorded in Central Asia and in the Eastern Neighbourhood. 

Looking  at  the  ERI  Private  Mandate  established  through  the  amending  Decision  (EU) 
2018/412, the EIB already utilised 41% of it by the end of 2018.  

As  concerns  sector  distribution  of  ELM  operations  in  2018,  the  top  rank  is  once  again 
occupied by credit lines to local banks serving as intermediaries of financing for private sector 
development  (33%).  However,  the  majority  of  ELM  operations  consists  of  infrastructure 
investments, mainly in the transport, energy and water/sewerage sectors. 

7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 3: Sector distribution of EIB financing operations signed in ELM regions in 2018 
under the EU guarantee 

Sector / 
region 
(EUR million) 

Pre-
Accession 

Mediterranean 
(Southern 
Neighbourhood) 

Eastern 
Neighbourhood 
& Russia 

Asia* 

Latin 
America 

South 
Africa 

Total 

Credit lines 

Transport 

Energy 

Water, 
sewerage 

Industry 

Urban 
development 

Composite 
infrastructure 

Agriculture, 
fisheries, 
forestry 

Solid waste 

260 

746 

236 

-- 

-- 

-- 

-- 

-- 

-- 

970 

40 

387 

438 

77 

52 

-- 

-- 

Total 

1,242 

1,964 

155 

132 

167 

84 

56 

-- 

-- 

38 

-- 

632 

-- 

130 

-- 

75 

-- 

-- 

-- 

-- 

-- 

205 

-- 

102 

46 

139 

-- 

24 

-- 

-- 

36 

347 

70 

-- 

-- 

-- 

-- 

-- 

-- 

-- 

-- 

70 

1,455 

1,150 

836 

736 

56 

101 

52 

38 

36 

Share 
of the 
total 

33% 

26% 

19% 

17% 

1% 

2% 

1% 

1% 

1% 

4,460 

100% 

* Asia excludes the sub-region of Central Asia, where no operations under the ELM were signed in 2018. 

3.3. 

ESTIMATED RESULTS OF EIB OPERATIONS 

Given  that  the  majority  of  EIB  operations  under  the  ELM  serve  to  finance  infrastructure 
investments,  which  typically  take  many  years  to  be  completed,  data  on  actual  results  and 
impacts achieved with the support of the EU budgetary guarantee normally becomes available 
with a considerable time lag.  

The  EIB  assesses  the  expected  impact  of  its  financing  operations  through  its  ‘Result 
Measurement Framework’ (ReM), launched in 2012. At appraisal stage, results indicators are 
identified,  with  baselines  and  targets  that  forecast  expected  economic,  social,  and 
environmental  outcomes.  Achievement  against  those  performance  benchmarks  is  monitored 
throughout  the  project's  life  and  reported  at  two  milestones:  project  completion  and  three 
years  after  project  completion  ('post  completion')  for  direct  operations;  the  end  of  the 
investment  period  and  the  end  of  life  of  private  equity  funds;  and  the  end  of  the  allocation 
period for intermediated lending. 

Under the ReM, projects are rated by the EIB under three 'pillars': 

i. 

Pillar  1  rates  the  expected  contribution  to  EU  and  partner  countries'  priorities  and 
eligibility  under  EIB  mandate  objectives.  It  helps  to  understand  the  logic  of  EIB 
intervention with a view to the expected impacts of the project. 

8 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ii. 

iii. 

Pillar  2  rates  the  quality  and  soundness  of  the  operation,  based  on  the  expected 
outputs, outcomes and results. 
Pillar 3 rates the  expected financial  and non-financial contribution  (added value) the 
EIB  brings  to  the  project,  beyond  the  market  alternative.  It  helps  to  assess  the 
intervention logic at the level of the EIB’s input to the project. 

This  section  reports  the  EIB’s  estimations  under  the  ReM  framework  with  regard  to  62 
projects  for  which  the  first  financing  contract  was  signed  in  2018  under  the  ELM  and  the 
EIB's  own-risk  facilities.  The  total  amount  of  financing  approved  by  the  EIB  for  these 
projects is EUR 7.2 billion. 

In  2018,  59  of  62  new  projects  were  rated  by  the  EIB  at  least  'significant'  under  Pillar  1, 
signifying  that  they  are  deemed  to  be  in  line  with  ELM  objectives  and  make  a  high 
contribution  to  either  national  development  objectives  or  those  of  the  EU  and  a  moderate 
contribution  to  the  other.  39  projects  were  rated  'high'  by  the  EIB  for  making  a  high 
contribution to both EU priorities and national development objectives.  

The  Pillar  2  rating  is  based  mainly  on  project  soundness  and  financial  and  economic 
sustainability. Five new projects signed in 2018 were rated 'excellent' and 46 were rated 'good' 
by the EIB under Pillar 2, with an average economic rate of return of 10% to 15% in the case 
of infrastructure projects. 11 projects received an 'acceptable' rating by the EIB, often because 
of high risk environments or promoter weaknesses.  

Chart 3: EIB ReM ratings by pillar for new operations in ELM regions signed in 2018 

Under  Pillar  3,  the  EIB  rated  its  expected  financial  and  non-financial  contribution  to  58 
projects  as  'high'  or  'significant',  notably  for  the  length  of  tenor  of  financing  provided, 
exceeding what was available in local markets.  

As the EIB Results Measurement Framework matures, data gradually becomes available also 
on the results actually achieved on some operations where expectations had been formulated 

9 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
through  the  ReM  after  its  launch  in  2012.  For  2018,  the  EIB  has  reported  actual  results  for 
nine credit lines – six in Turkey and one each in Georgia, Lebanon and Ukraine. Under these 
credit  lines,  the  partner  banks  extended  EUR  1.52  billion  through  5,740  loans  in  total,  of 
which 5,504 loans benefited SMEs and 232 midcaps. This lending helped to sustain 235,000 
jobs  in  the  final  beneficiary  companies,  roughly  40%  of  which  were  in  midcap  companies. 
The average tenor of the loans provided to final beneficiaries (weighted by loan size) was 4.4 
years. The average beneficiary company had 41 employees. 

3.4 

CALLS ON THE EU GUARANTEE 

In 2018, the EIB proceeded to make new calls under the EU Guarantee as a consequence of 
overdue amounts on Syrian sovereign loans. From 2012 to 2018 the EIB called overall EUR 
421.2  million,  of  which  EUR  55.6  million  in  2018,  while  the  residual  principal  amount 
potentially callable stood at EUR 211.5 million at end-2018.19 Efforts to recover the overdue 
amounts have not been successful to date. The EIB has followed up in relevant courts in order 
to preserve the EU’s claims on the amounts owed by Syria. 

4. 

EIB COOPERATION WITH OTHER PARTNERS 

4.1 

COOPERATION WITH THE COMMISSION  

Cooperation between the EIB and the Commission on matters related to the ELM takes place 
in the context of a broader partnership between the two institutions, including the European 
Fund for Strategic Investments (inside the EU) as well as EU blending facilities that support 
development  financial  institutions’  activities  outside  the  EU  and  in  the  European  Fund  for 
Sustainable Development (EFSD). 

The  EIB  has  continued  to  draw  on  the  EU’s  blending  facilities,  i.e.  concessional  financing 
from EU budget resources, supporting the preparation and/or implementation of EIB-financed 
projects.  In 2018, 24 new grants  fully or partially  funded from  the EU budget  for a total  of 
EUR  193  million  were  approved  for  implementation  by  the  EIB  in  ELM  regions.  Of  these, 
EUR  43  million  was  allocated  for  technical  assistance,  EUR  105  million  for  investment 
grants, EUR 40 million for risk capital and EUR 5 million for interest rate subsidies.  

The EIB is also one of the implementing partners for the new EU guarantee offered through 
the  EFSD.  However,  the  ELM  and  the  EFSD  target  rather  different  types  of  products, 
borrowers  and  geographies.  For  example,  the  EFSD  does  not  cover  Western  Balkans  while 
the ELM does not cover large parts of Africa. Moreover, the decision-making process on the 
EU  guarantees  provided  under  the  EFSD  is  different  from  the  upfront  7-year  guarantee 
provided to the EIB for the ELM. 

In June 2018 the Commission proposed to revamp the provision of EU budgetary guarantees 
for investment outside the EU in the context of the post-2020 Neighbourhood, Development 

19 The amounts are reported in the EUR equivalent as of 31 December 2018 for indicative purposes only. Some 

of the guarantee calls refer to amounts owed in other currencies.   

10 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI).20 The approach proposed for post-2020 is 
based  on  the  notion  of  an  ‘open  architecture’  whereby  the  EIB  would  remain  an  important 
partner for the financing of investments supporting sustainable development outside the EU, 
but  a  number  of  other  financial  institutions  would  also  qualify  for  EU  guarantees.21  The 
NDICI  foresees  stronger  policy  steer  from  the  EU  and  reinforced  coordination  with  the 
financial institutions serving  as  implementing partners. As the European  Parliament  and the 
Council began to examine the NDICI proposal, follow-up technical discussions between the 
Commission and the EIB were undertaken, helping to specify options for the design of post-
2020 guarantees that could be provided by the EU to the EIB. 

4.2. COOPERATION WITH THE EUROPEAN OMBUDSMAN 

The Memorandum of Understanding signed between the EIB and the European Ombudsman 
in 2008 sets the basis for the two stages of the EIB Complaints Mechanism. Complaints are 
first handled through the EIB’s internal mechanism (EIB-CM) before possibly coming to be 
examined  by  the  Ombudsman.  The  EIB  updated  its  Complaints  Mechanism  Policy  in 
November 2018.22  

During  2018,  the  Ombudsman  did  not  notify  nor  close  any  complaints  related  to  the  EIB 
activities in the ELM regions. 

As  for  the  internal  stage  of  the  EIB  Complaints  Mechanism,  the  number  of  new  project-
related  complaints  registered  in  the  ELM  regions  increased  from  14  in  2017  to  19  in  2018. 
Out of these, 12 were related to environmental and social issues, 5 to procurement undertaken 
by project promoters, and 2 to the EIB’s own procurement (consultancy services). During the 
same  year  2018,  the  EIB-CM  closed  17  cases  in  the  ELM  regions:  4  in  Bosnia  and 
Herzegovina,  1  in  Egypt,  4  in  Georgia,  1  in  Jordan,  1  in  Morocco  and  6  in  Serbia.  The 
outcome of these complaints handled by EIB-CM varied from ‘allegations not grounded’ (11), 
friendly solution’ (1), ‘allegations grounded’ (2) and ‘areas for improvement recommended’ 
(3). 

4.3. COOPERATION WITH INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS  

The EIB’s cooperation with other International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and development 
finance institutions of EU Member States (DFIs) ranges from dialogue on institutional matters 
and thematic issues to co-financing of operations and sharing of relevant technical work.  

In  2018,  the  EIB  and  the  European  Bank  for  Reconstruction  and  Development  (EBRD)  co-
financed together 13 projects outside the EU, the highest annual number yet. Seven projects 
were  co-financed  with  the  AFD  Group  (France)  and  two  with  the  KfW  Group  (Germany). 
Furthermore, 6 projects were co-financed with the International Bank for Reconstruction and 

20 Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council, COM(2018) 460 final of 14 June 

2018, establishing the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument. 

21 See also Commission Communication of 12 September 2018 “Towards a more efficient financial architecture 

for investment outside the European Union”, COM(2018) 644 final.   

22   http://www.eib.org/en/infocentre/publications/all/complaints-mechanism-policy.htm  

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Development (IBRD), part of the World Bank Group, including the TANAP pipeline or the 
Bogota  Sustainable  Transport  project.  The  latter  and  three  other  projects  also  involved  co-
financing  from  the  Inter-American  Development  Bank  (IADB).  In  addition,  2018  saw  an 
important  co-investment with  the Japan  International  Cooperation Agency  in  the  Bosphorus 
Tunnel Tranche B operation in Turkey.  

The  EIB,  AFD  and  KfW  have  continued  to  cooperate  closely  in  the  context  of  the  Mutual 
Reliance Initiative (MRI). Launched in 2013, the MRI streamlines and facilitates the delivery 
of co-financing support to beneficiaries by relying on one of the three partners assuming the 
role of Lead Financier for certain project-related tasks, e.g. parts of the project due diligence 
or  procurement  supervision.  The  management  and  decision-making  bodies  of  the  MRI 
partners  have  become  acquainted  to  documents  prepared  by  another  institution,  which  they 
use for their own decisions. Overall, as of end-2018, 37 projects in ELM regions for which the 
EIB signed contracts under the current ELM (since mid-2014) were co-financed with the AFD 
Group and/or the KfW Group and 10 of them were covered by the Mutual Reliance Initiative. 

Chart 4: IFIs and DFIs co-financing with EIB projects signed in 2018 

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Note:  The  amounts  to  be  co-invested  by  other  IFIs  and  DFIs  are  purely  indicative,  based  on  estimations 
undertaken at early stages of project development. 

12