The European Investment Bank (EIB) agreed to a series of measures to further boost investment in security and defence and critical raw materials. The EIB’s Board of Directors also approved a total of 8.9 billion Euro of new financing for port and rail projects, education, energy and grid upgrades, water and business investment.

“The message of European leaders is clear: we must strengthen Europe’s security and defence capabilities. These decisions show that the EIB is part of the solution.” said EIB Group President Nadia Calviño.

The Board further expanded EIB Group eligibilities for financing Europe’s security and defence industry and infrastructure, to ensure that excluded activities are as limited as possible in scope, in line with the proposals endorsed by EU leaders at the Special European Council on 6 March.

The EIB’s existing 8 billion Euro Strategic European Security Initiative (SESI) will be integrated into a cross-cutting and permanent public policy goal, which will complement the existing public policy goals. There will be no predefined ceiling for financing in this area, which will be determined annually in the EIB Group Operational Plan.

The decisions will further facilitate investment to bolster Europe’s industrial defence capacities, complementing the European Commission’s White Paper for European Defence and  “Readiness 2030” plan, while fostering synergies with EU governments, national promotional banks, the private sector, and other key stakeholders. The EIB Group is expected to at least double its investments for security and defence projects this year to a new record.

The EIB Board also adopted a new critical raw materials (CRM) strategic initiative that will enhance the EIB Group’s role as key provider of financing and advisory support to projects across the entire value chain in and outside EU, contributing to the objectives of the EU’s Critical Raw Material Act.

The new initiative includes an expected 2 billion Euro financing for critical raw material investment this year, a new CRM Task Force and a dedicated one-stop shop to build and manage a pipeline of CRM operations and advisory activities and increased technical expertise and partnerships.