European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed an ambitious Guarantee Agreement through which the European Commission will support up to €26.7 billion of EIB financial operations to enable crucial public investments in sectors like clean energy, digital and transport infrastructure, health and education over the next seven years, rolling out Global Gateway worldwide.

Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, said: “This landmark guarantee agreement with the European Investment Bank will enable to finance the implementation of our Economic and Investment Plans for the Western Balkans, the Southern and Eastern Neighbourhood. We launched these three substantial investment plans to support their post-COVID socio-economic recovery and to speed up the closing of their development gap with the EU.

We worked together with the region to identify the key bottlenecks of their development. Although each investment plan is individually designed for the region it aims to build faster and more sustainable road, rail and digital connections, decarbonise the economies, ensure safe energy supplies, create sustainable business opportunities and put conditions in place that make the young generation stay in the region. In the next years together with the EIB we will be able to deliver in the Western Balkans, the Southern Neighbourhood, and the Eastern Partnership countries these much needed and awaited investments, bringing growth and jobs directly and on a larger scale than ever before.”

This Guarantee Agreement will enable the EIB to finance the implementation of key investments identified in the EU’s Economic and Investment Plans for the Western Balkans and the Southern and Eastern Neighbourhood regions. More than two thirds of this guarantee cover is planned for investments in enlargement and neighbourhood countries. It will also contribute to financing Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction. The remaining part will be used for EIB loans for projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean.

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