the EU bank

The promotion of sustainable, competitive and secure sources of energy is a key policy objective of the European Union. For this reason, the European Investment Bank has also made lending to support Europe’s energy needs a top priority. The EIB activities in the energy sector support:

• sustainability by promoting renewable energy sources to reduce both dependence on finite resources (such as oil, coal and gas) and the negative impacts of fossil fuels on the natural environment, particularly through CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions;

• competitiveness in energy supply and the pioneering of low-carbon technologies and energy efficiency solutions – a key consideration for the economic development of the European Union given the central role played by energy in the modern economy

• security of supply by promoting diversified sources of energy, with a particular focus in the expansion of indigenous renewable energy sources, moderating Europe’s dependence on external supplies and the impact of the many international risk factors that affect the energy market.

Within its Corporate Operational Plan (COP) the Bank has established challenging targets to drive its contribution to energy lending. While lending targets are reviewed annually, since 2006, the Bank has stepped up its energy lending from EUR 4bn to a lending forecast of EUR 13bn in 2009 for projects belonging to at least one of the following priority areas:

• Renewable energy and energy efficiency
  
• Research, development and innovation (RDI) in energy
• Security and diversification of internal supply (including trans-European energy networks)
• Security of external supply and economic development (Neighbour and Partner Countries)