Debate: Financial activities of the European Investment Bank – annual report  - Control of the financial activities of the European Investment Bank - annual report
Date: TUESDAY, 11 JULY 2023
Speaker: Virginijus Sinkevičius
Language: EN

The EIB Group plays a key part in carrying out EU policies both inside and – as it was just presented – outside our borders, and it is integral to the EU’s response to today’s economic and geopolitical challenges. And this includes Russia’s brutal and unjustified war against Ukraine and the resulting energy crisis, along with the existential threat posed by climate change and environmental degradation. All these challenges call for a decisive, coordinated EU response, so we welcome the EIB Group’s long-term strategy, which focuses on the green and digital transitions and strengthening our open strategic autonomy. This is reflected in the EIB’s support for EU policies that underpin our transition to net zero, including its increased support for the REPowerEU plan, its investment in digital and cutting-edge technologies, as well as in security and defence within the context of dual-use technologies, also in semiconductors, biotech and critical raw materials. Promoting investment for recovery, green growth and employment across Europe is one of the EU’s top priorities. The flagship InvestEU investment programme should be strengthened in line with our proposed regulation for a Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform, or STEP – our response to the need for raising investments in critical technologies in Europe. And the EIB will play an important role in achieving the ambitions of STEP. I welcome the EIB Group’s active role in implementing InvestEU, now in its second year of deployment, with its many operations already underway to support the green and digital transition. The Group supports SME investments in areas such as solar photovoltaics, wind energy, energy efficiency and renewable hydrogen. I would also encourage the EIB to use its expertise and market knowledge to address more difficult areas, such as social priorities. I will now turn to Ukraine, where our close cooperation with EIB has been vital for securing urgent financial assistance in 2022 and in 2023. Backed by the EU guarantee, the EIB has now made EUR 2.3 billion available in loans to Ukraine since the start of the war. However, Ukraine’s needs continue to be massive. We need to make sure that we stand by and support Ukraine at all times. So in June, as part of the mid-term review of the multiannual financial framework, the Commission has proposed the Ukraine facility to provide medium-term support of up to EUR 50 billion in grants and loans between 2024 and 2027. The facility will be vital for Ukraine’s macro-financial stability and to promote its recovery and modernisation, while carrying out key reforms needed on its path to EU accession. I take this opportunity to call on the European Parliament to contribute to the speedy approval of the Ukraine facility so that we continue to provide uninterrupted financial flows to Ukraine, as well as the other elements of the package, such as the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform that I mentioned earlier. In addition, I would like to thank the EIB for its EU for Ukraine Initiative to support Ukraine in the short term. It should help to rebuild infrastructure, address priority investment needs and ensure business support. As you know, the Commission is contributing to this initiative with a guarantee that allows the EIB to provide EUR 100 million in extra financing. And it is encouraging to see that EIB has already identified a promising pipeline of the new project. Besides Ukraine, let us not forget that the Group’s other activities outside the EU are reinforced by setting up EIB Global, which is now reaching its cruising speed. So I welcome the Parliament’s explicit call in its report that EIB Global should focus on ensuring alignment with EU policy priorities. And this includes, of course, Global Gateway, the external dimension of the EU Green Deal, digitalisation and connectivity, regional integration and the health sector.