In October 2021, the EIB Board of Directors approved a new framework for the EIB’s cohesion action for the period 2021-2027. The new Cohesion Orientation lays the foundation for increasing climate action and environmental lending in poorer regions, fostering innovation and financing for the private sector and ensuring that EIB financing complements EU cohesion policy funds in the new seven-year EU budget.
By 2025, the EIB will aim to commit 45% of its total financing in the European Union to support projects in transition and less developed regions, of which 23% will back investment in Europe’s less developed regions.
The EIB further committed to increase overall support for innovation and private sector development in these regions, in particular:
• The EIB will finance mid-cap companies (companies with between 250 and 3 000 employees) in less developed regions to deploy proven technologies for the first time, when these projects show clear economic or environmental benefits at the local level.
• In all cohesion regions, the EIB will facilitate access to finance for mid-cap companies through direct lending.
EIB cohesion priority regions encompass less developed regions (GDP per capita of less than 75% of the EU average) and transition regions (GDP per capita of between 75% and 100% of the EU average), as defined by the EU cohesion policy map.
In the last five years, the EIB provided EUR 90.8 billion to projects supporting cohesion. For 2021 alone, this amounted to EUR 19.8 billion, equivalent to 41% of total EU signatures.
Find out more:
Modernising cohesion policy to help fight climate change in poorer EU countries (eib.org)