European Investment Advisory Hub sends projects worth €34 billion to European Investment Bank pipeline

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

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• Advisory Hub has received 2,300 advisory support requests since 2015
• Majority of requests from cohesion countries
• More than 150 projects worth €34 billion have applied for EIB financing as a result, as part of an ever increasing contribution to an investable project pipeline

The European Investment Advisory Hub releases its 2019 annual report today, which provides an overview of the impact it has had across the EU. Launched in 2015 as a key component of the Investment plan for Europe, the Advisory Hub has received more than 2,300 requests for advisory support and technical advice. The requests come from across the EU, with the majority coming from cohesion countries, and especially Poland, Bulgaria and Romania. As a direct result of the support received from the Advisory Hub, 150 investment projects worth a total of €34 billion are now being considered for European Investment Bank financing. Around half of those are potentially eligible for backing from the European Fund for Strategic Investments. This figure is expected to increase as advisory support translates into investable projects. European Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, said: “Providing local authorities and project promoters with tailored technical assistance can help unlock the financing they need to make their projects a reality. Thanks to the European Investment Advisory Hub, up to €34 billion could flow into various projects, including those in clean energy, innovation as well as smart and social infrastructure. We will build on this positive experience in the future InvestEU Advisory Hub.” EIB Vice-President Lilyana Pavlova said: “Development of quality, bankable projects has been a major challenge for most of the European countries for years, limiting investments, growth and development especially in cohesion countries. We can be proud of what the Advisory Hub achieved to help European public and private sector overcome this challenge and attract additional financing, thanks to the EIB signalling effect. The Hub proved to be of key support to European project promoters, helping them identify, prepare and implement investments in line with the priority objectives of the Investment Plan for Europe”. Clean energy, safe roads, social housing and healthcare The Advisory Hub provides tailored advisory services and technical support to an array of sectors. It receives requests from cities, regions, private promoters and small businesses. Some projects to which it has provided support include:

• Integrating green urban buses in Sofia and Flanders
• Developing a climate strategy in Florence
• Boosting healthcare services in Romania
• Improving road safety in Greece
• Implementing energy-efficient street lighting in Vilnius
• Providing more affordable housing in Poznań

You can find many more case studies on the Advisory Hub website. Background The European Investment Advisory Hub is a partnership between the European Investment Bank Group and the European Commission under the Investment Plan for Europe. The Advisory Hub is designed to act as a single access point to various types of advisory and technical assistance services. It supports the identification, preparation and development of investment projects across the EU. Its advisers work directly with project promoters to prepare a tailor-made advisory package to support investment projects. While the Advisory Hub specialises in complex, large-scale advisory requests, it recognises that some project promoters need just a few hours or days of light strategic advice to get them on the right track. Since its launch, the Advisory Hub has provided this kind of support to more than 700 promoters active in the transport, energy, innovation, and health sectors. To enable the successful delivery of its advisory support locally, the Advisory Hub established a network of local partners – national promotional banks and institutions – and reinforced their advisory capacity with funds and technical support. To date, the Hub has committed more than €3 million for reinforcing advisory programmes of its local partners through seven funding agreements signed with national promotional banks and institutions in Bulgaria, Hungary, France, Lithuania, Italy and Slovenia. The Hub has also continued funding the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s small business support programme in Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Greece.