Finance and advice from the European Investment Bank Group (EIB) can offer significant support sources to help develop rural Europe. This fact was underlined by keynote speeches from the EIB President and Vice President during the recent high-level Vison for rural Europe webinar.
The EIB is known as the EU’s bank and its finance is already being programmed by Member States’ rural development authorities for a variety of purposes. In the future, this role could increase.
EIB loans for example are currently used in Romania (EUR 450 million) and Latvia (EUR 200 million) to help national authorities finance Rural Development Programme (RDP) contributions. A focus is on RDP measures investing in farm modernisation, services and other asepcts of rural economies.
The EIB Group is closely involved with the rural portfolio of InvestEU projects. Much of this activity has been channelled through the European Investment Fund (EIF) and the EIF coordinates a range of business finance schemes on behalf of RDP managing authorities. These often involve working in partnership with well-known national or regional banks who distribute the RDP support. Examples include:
- French ‘Funds of Funds’ in Occitanie and Nouvelle-Aquitaine as well as The French National Agricultural Initiative which all offer millions of Euros of financial services for farmers using RDP funding;
- Romania’s EAFRD Fund of Funds providing access to subsisdised finance for farmers and rural entrepreneurs;
- Italy’s multi-regional ‘investment platform’ coordinating managing authority funding for farmers from eight RDPs; and
- Business guarantees for agri-food firms in Greece.
In addition to finance, the EIB Group’s Advisory Service teams can help Member States with technical assistance advice for (among others) RDP loans, guarantees and equity financial instruments, large rural infrastructure projects, and Natural Capital Financing investments with LIFE.
Green financial services are also available from the EU’s Bank through its high-profile commitment to offer EUR 1 trillion for climate-related investments over the next decade.
RDP stakeholders can find out more about the EIB Group’s potential for funding long-term rural visions through the EIB’s website and country offices.
