EIB Group activities in EU cohesion regions in 2021 E-Book

• Herausgeber: European Investment Bank
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Seitenzahl: 100

Beschreibung

As part of the EIB Group's bigger, bolder and more focused approach to cohesion, this report, the first in a new series, presents the EIB Group's activities in EU cohesion regions in 2021. The results are presented in terms of policy objectives, activity sectors, countries, contribution to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and sector-specific project results. It features a number of case studies and also takes a look at the economic and social challenges facing cohesion regions and the macroeconomic impact of the EIB Group's support for this fundamental EU policy priority.

Leseprobe

EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK GROUP

2021

EIB GROUP ACTIVITIES IN EU COHESION REGIONS

About the European Investment Bank

The European Investment Bank Group is the EU bank and the world’s biggest multilateral lender. We finance sustainable investment in small and medium-sized enterprises, innovation, infrastructure, and climate and environment. We have financed Europe’s economic growth for six decades and are at the forefront of EU crisis response, leading the world in climate investment and backing development of the first COVID-19 vaccine. We are committed to triggering €1 trillion in investment in climate and environmental sustainability to combat climate change by the end of this decade. About 10% of all our investment is outside the European Union, where our EIB Global branch supports Europe’s neighbours and global development.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD BY LILYANA PAVLOVA

EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK VICE-PRESIDENT

FOREWORD BY ELISA FERREIRA

EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER FOR COHESION AND REFORMS

INTRODUCTION

THE ROLE OF COHESION SUPPORT IN MITIGATING THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC

EIB GROUP ACTIVITY IN COHESION REGIONS IN 2021

KEY FIGURES

EIB COHESION LENDING BY PUBLIC POLICY GOAL

EIB LENDING IN COHESION REGIONS BY COUNTRY

IMPACT OF EIB LENDING IN COHESION REGIONS

CONTRIBUTION TO THE UNITED NATIONS’ SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs)

SECTOR-SPECIFIC PROJECT RESULTS AND CASE STUDIES

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES

RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION (RDI)

EDUCATION

HEALTH

REGIONAL AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

TRANSPORT

ENERGY

WATER, WASTEWATER AND SOLID WASTE

SME AND MID-CAP FINANCE

EIF ACTIVITY IN COHESION REGIONS IN 2021

THE MACROECONOMIC IMPACT OF EIB LENDING TO COHESION REGIONS

SUPPORTING CLIMATE ACTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN COHESION REGIONS

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COHESION LENDING AND THE EIB’S CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT TARGET UNDER THE CLIMATE BANK ROADMAP

CLIMATE ACTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN THE EIB’S COHESION LENDING DURING THE 2021-2027 EU LONG-TERM BUDGET

EU COHESION POLICY

JUST TRANSITION MECHANISM

THE MODERNISATION FUND

GREEN TRANSITION AND ADVISORY SUPPORT IN COHESION AREAS

SUPPORT THROUGH BILATERAL FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

FOREWORD BY LILYANA PAVLOVA

European Investment Bank Vice-President

In the face of global challenges like climate change, rapid technological development, pandemic viruses and Russia’s war in Ukraine, Europe’s greatest strength is its unity. But this unity cannot be taken for granted. To preserve and strengthen it, the European Union must continue to invest in its cohesion.

Promoting cohesion has been a core mission of the European Investment Bank (EIB) since its foundation in 1958. Over the course of the European Union’s last long-term budget, between 2014 and 2020, the EIB Group supported investments worth around €630 billion, equivalent to about 16% of the Union’s gross domestic product, in less developed, so-called cohesion regions. The impact and long-term benefits of these investments go even further. As you will see in this report, by 2040 the investments supported over this period are expected to raise EU gross domestic product (GDP) by an estimated 4.7% above the baseline scenario and lead to the creation of an additional 3.2 million jobs.

With our new, bigger, bolder and more focused approach to cohesion, adopted in October 2021, we aim to do even more over the current long-term budget (2021-2027), while at the same time ensuring that half of all our lending goes towards climate action. Thus, in response to all the challenges facing the European Union and its Member States, the EU bank is increasing both its lending and advisory support for cohesion regions.

This report looks at the long-term economic challenges that cohesion regions face, as well as the ongoing impact of shocks such as the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine. It also provides an in-depth look at the activities undertaken by the EIB Group in 2021 to raise income levels and tackle other disparities.

The results are presented in terms of policy objectives, activity sectors, countries, contribution to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and sector-specific project results. The report also features case studies that offer a glimpse into the breadth of the EIB Group’s activities and their positive effects on real communities and businesses.

What emerges is a picture of real progress, coloured by challenges both persistent and new. While income inequality across the European Union has declined significantly over the last two decades as regions in Eastern Europe have caught up, other regions in Southern Europe have experienced stagnation or decline since the global financial crisis. More recently, the pandemic has been particularly hard on Europe’s poorer regions.

The war in Ukraine, which has sent millions of refugees fleeing to the Central and Eastern Member States of the European Union, is expected to hurt vulnerable households most, through its effect on growth as well as on food, energy and fuel prices.

The mobilisation of additional cohesion funding has played a valuable role in helping to contain the economic fallout from the pandemic. It will also be a powerful tool for tackling the immediate fallout from the Ukraine crisis and the longer-term implications of the changing geopolitical situation, especially the accelerated decarbonisation of the EU economy.

The EIB’s new approach, which combines and reinforces its commitment to both the European Union’s cohesion and its climate goals, will maximise our ability to support EU policy priorities and live up to our purpose as the EU bank.

FOREWORD BY ELISA FERREIRA

European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms

This first European Investment Bank Group Cohesion Report arrives at a testing time for Europe’s union and cohesion. When the COVID pandemic hit, no one was fully prepared for the deep crisis that unfolded. Nevertheless, the European Union acted with determination, mobilising the EU budget for emergency support, jointly procuring and distributing vaccines, ensuring that borders remained open and proposing the recovery plan for the European Union, the NextGenerationEU instrument. This helped cushion the economic and social damage and kick-start the recovery. Now, however, we face a potentially more damaging challenge, with the spectre of war on the European continent. The Russian invasion of Ukraine threatens our security, challenges our values and compels us to remain united and stand by Ukraine and each other.

Cohesion policy has always been the cement of the European Union and the most visible expression of European solidarity and interdependence. Time and again, cohesion policy has played a central role both as the long-term engine of European convergence and an immediate instrument in times of crisis. Cohesion policy was a first responder during the pandemic, through the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative (CRII) and REACT-EU. Now, to help Member States welcome refugees fleeing the conflict in Ukraine, we are rolling out Cohesion Action for Refugees in Europe (CARE).

Cohesion policy is also at the forefront in the green and digital transitions, with ever more of its resources focused on these objectives. The twin transitions hold the potential to create new jobs, foster innovation and generate growth. However, not all regions have the same starting point — market forces by themselves do not guarantee that every region will have its fair share of growth. We must ensure that all territories and people can benefit from this transformation. Cohesion policy provides the framework for territorial-based development plans prepared in partnership with regional and local governments and stakeholders.

We know from experience that crises and technological change have a very asymmetrical impact and tend to aggravate regional disparities. So, it is imperative that the funds made available by the resolute European response are used in a way that reinforces economic, social and territorial cohesion. This is a challenge of historic proportions. We must ensure that the recovery is a reality for all European regions, building on their different competitive advantages and delivering sustainable long-term growth, leaving no one behind.

To rise to the challenge, we need the very best design for national and regional strategies. The thematic focus of the EIB Group Cohesion Report provides very useful contributions on how we can best support our regions and promote cohesion. Its analyses and findings complement the Commission’s 8th Cohesion Report: Cohesion in Europe towards 2050[1], which evidences that the poorest regions continue to catch up, while some regions closer to the middle are falling behind, stuck in a development trap. These factors, coupled with challenges such as technological developments and changing demographics, will require a concerted effort by all involved in overcoming the existing bottlenecks, from infrastructure to institutions.

This is why I warmly welcome the highlights the EIB report provides for cooperation between our institutions. Supporting cohesion has been a key goal of the EIB Group since its creation. The EIB Group’s action has been substantial, by financing projects in less developed or transition regions, by providing technical assistance and advisory support, and by carrying out fund management activities. Such support and focus need to remain at the core of the EIB’s future action. The recent EIB Cohesion Orientation paper for 2021-2027 and increased lending targets for less developed regions are encouraging — as are the European Investment Fund (EIF)’s horizontal pillar for cohesion and dedicated spending target.

As the EU climate bank, we also welcome EIB expertise in financing climate investment, as well as its commitment to climate action and environmental lending in transition and in less developed regions. This provides room for increased synergies with EU funds in the context of the European Green Deal, such as the Just Transition Mechanism.

Cohesion is a core European value, an enabler of the recovery and of the twin transition and a leveller to guarantee that we keep moving forward together. I welcome the EIB Group’s support for these shared objectives and I look forward to continuing our joint work for a cohesive and strong Union.

INTRODUCTION

EU Cohesion Policy aims to ensure economic, social and territorial cohesion between the different regions of the European Union, to bring about a convergence of living standards and prosperity. By tackling regional disparities, the policy contributes to the harmonious development of the Union and reduces the risk of fragmentation. In addition to regional differences in GDP, the policy seeks to redress other inequalities such as differences in opportunities or varying exposures to the negative impacts of globalisation and climate risks. Cohesion was one of the original reasons behind the foundation of the European Investment Bank in 1958, and remains one of its core priorities.

The EIB Group, which includes the European Investment Bank and the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)-focused European Investment Fund, provides loans and other financial instruments[2] that complement and leverage EU grants to support cohesion projects, which seek to address social inequalities by providing employment and educational opportunities, access to public infrastructure and services, and a healthy and sustainable environment. The Bank also advises public authorities and project promoters in cohesion regions on how to improve the technical and financial quality of their projects, adopt successful investment strategies, strengthen their institutional capacity and attract funding, notably from the private sector. Between 2014 and 2020, the EIB Group's financing in EU cohesion regions supported a total investment volume of close to € 630 billion. This is a sizeable investment volume, which in total would make up some 16% of GDP in the cohesion regions[3].

EU Cohesion Policy for the 2021-2027 programming period devotes special attention to all regions where economic development is below the EU average. EIB cohesion priority regions for the period are defined by the new EU Cohesion Policy map and fall into two categories:

1.Less developed regions — GDP per inhabitant less than 75% of the EU average.

2.Transition regions — GDP per inhabitant between 75% and 100% of the EU average.

All the EIB Group’s financing of projects located in the two categories of regions described above count towards the Group’s cohesion lending. This report analyses the EIB Group’s activity in Europe’s cohesion regions in 2021. As this is the first annual report on cohesion, it aims to provide a comprehensive view of how the Group supports the European Union’s cohesion policy by discussing the Group’s activity in cohesion regions from various angles and referencing back to the Bank’s recent Cohesion Orientation[4]