EIB Group invests €12.6 billion to back growth, the green transition and innovation in France in 2024

This article is published in association with European Investment Bank.

• The EIB provided €10 billion, while the EIF contributed €2.6 billion.
• More than two-thirds of EIB investment went to climate-related projects and a third supported innovation.
• Over 100 high-impact projects backed decarbonisation and clean mobility, social infrastructure for education and health, and financing for small businesses, micro-enterprises and startups.

The European Investment Bank Group (EIB Group) delivered a strong performance in France last year, with €12.6 billion in long-term investment provided directly or indirectly to private sector companies of all sizes and public sector organisations. France received more EIB Group funding than any other country in 2024, partially as a result of an 85% increase in EIF financing.

EIB activity in France in 2024 focused on loans helping to combat climate change and adapt to its consequences, back innovation and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and build and renovate public infrastructure. It has mobilised investments of up to €62 billion to finance the real economy.

“The EIB Group’s 2024 results for France underscore our key role in backing investment,” said EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle.“The importance of financing to the energy transition makes it possible to attract more private sector investment in sectors that are vital to our future competitiveness. The EIF’s outstanding performance shows its role in driving forward innovative companies and expanding venture capital in Europe.Lastly, projects supporting local authorities in education infrastructure, public transport, healthcare and housing have a tangible impact on people’s daily lives.”

“With €2.6 billion in financing for SMEs and startups, France was the EIF’s biggest and most active European market in 2024,” added EIF Chief Executive Marjut Falkstedt. “With its bank guarantees enabling financial intermediaries to take on greater risk and record financing for investment funds in a difficult environment for capital fundraising, the EIF is a key player in developing greener, more competitive and more digital businesses.”

France receives more EIB climate and environment financing than any other country

With 69% of its lending volume devoted to climate action and environmental sustainability, France was the largest beneficiary of EIB financing in this area in 2024. This resulted in an overall investment of €7 billion in renewable energy, clean mobility and energy efficiency.

Several loans backing green energy and electrification were granted in 2024. A total of €334 million in InvestEU funding went to Verkor’s electric vehicle battery giga-factory in Dunkirk, while €500 million was provided to help power company Enedis to adapt its network to new renewable energy sources. The EIB also supported the production of high-voltage cables at Prysmian’s factory in Gron (Yonne department).

Green bond development

Other EIB-backed climate action projects included investing in four green bond issues totalling €544 million with Île-de-France Mobilités, SNCF, Engie and EDF. This shows the leading role the EIB is playing in helping companies to finance their green transition, while also strengthening the green bond market. The EIB Group also signed its first €500 million counter-guarantee with Société Générale France to support the wind industry, as well as a €350 million loan with leasing subsidiary Ayvens for the rollout of 19 000 electric light commercial vehicles to cut road transport emissions.

In 2024, the Bank invested €3.9 billion in France under REPowerEU, an initiative to reduce Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels and accelerate the green transition.

Increased support for all innovation

Innovation is another essential part of all activity in France. Investment in this area reached €3.3 billion last year, including research and development financing for semiconductor manufacturer NXP’s sites in France. In life sciences, the EIB backed Lyon-based biotech company Fabentech (which specialises in bioterrorism and pandemic threats) and Bordeaux-based Treefrog Therapeutics (which is developing a portfolio of regenerative medicine cell therapies).

Better access to finance for SMEs via bank-intermediated lending

Intermediated lending to micro-enterprises, SMEs and mid-caps via partner commercial bank networks was particularly strong last year. There were 14 operations worth a total of €3.1 billion for various credit envelopes: investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and innovation, and startup support for healthcare professionals with a particular focus on women and combating medical deserts. The provision of these EU funds to banks enables them to offer loans with better conditions to final recipients across the country, thereby expanding and facilitating the granting of loans by these intermediaries.

Supporting the public sector transition

The EIB directed 72% of its investment in France to cohesion policy regions last year. A partner of regional authorities, it provided €4.24 billion in financing to the public sector (44% of lending), including €1.7 billion for transport, which received more EIB support than any other in France. It contributed €400 million to finance the purchase of rail rolling stock by the Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie regions and upgrades to the Nancy-Contrexéville line in the Grand Est region, which is set to reopen in late 2027. The EIB also helped authorities in Marseille to extend their tram network, and provided green loans to those in Lille and Rouen to support public transport and cycle lanes.

The EIB also signed two major healthcare-related loans worth almost €400 million in 2024. AP-HP Lariboisière hospital in northern Paris will be modernised and restructured around a new building bringing together all its services and merging with Fernand-Widal hospital. With its €150 million EIB loan, this new Lariboisière hospital is the first step of Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris’ strategy to rebalance the provision of university hospital care throughout Greater Paris, to the benefit of Parisians and residents of the north of the capital. The EIB is also providing €240 million to finance the construction of the new CHU de Tours, which will be reorganised with the creation of a new hospital on the Trousseau site and a new psychiatric hospital.

More investment in the education sector

The education sector saw massive lending growth in 2024. €1.4 billion of EIB investment helped finance the construction and renovation of infrastructure for all pre-school and school levels: early childhood, nurseries, primary schools and upper and lower secondary schools. Three of the 11 projects to receive funding were with municipalities for crèches and primary schools (Lille, Montpellier and Toulouse), five were with departments for lower secondary schools (Calvados, Pas-de-Calais, Rhône, Seine-Maritime and Seine-Saint-Denis) and three were with regional authorities for upper secondary schools (Brittany, Grand Est and Occitanie). The EIB investments focus on the energy efficiency of these institutions, their resilience and adaptation to climate change (revegetation of school playgrounds) and digital equipment.

Adapting water infrastructure to the new climate reality

The EIB financed various local authority-led public water infrastructure projects, providing almost €500 million in total to back Eau du Ponant’s water supply and treatment investment plan in Finistère, renovate the main Nice Côte d’Azur wastewater treatment plant and modernise Syndicat des eaux d’Île-de-France’s drinking water production and distribution facility. In Nîmes, the EIB will finance water supply, sewerage and stormwater drainage infrastructure to protect the environment and cope better with the worsening impact of climate events (the city has seen various floods over the last few decades). This is a high priority area for the EIB. Its investments are helping to make cities more sustainable and better adapted to the new climate reality.

€2.6 billion in SME and startup financing from the EIF

EIB Group subsidiary the European Investment Fund (EIF) experienced a record year in France in 2024. The country received €2.6 billion in EIF investment – 18% of the Fund’s total for the year. 23 bank guarantee operations via financial intermediaries worth €722 million are expected to mobilise €5.1 billion of funding for SMEs, facilitating investment in innovation, access to finance for farmers by way of a partnership with several regional authorities, micro-enterprises and social enterprises in micro-finance.

Fund financing operations at record level

39 venture capital, growth capital and infrastructure investment operations totalled a record €1.96 billion and backed the financing of innovation and startups in a difficult fundraising environment. The EIF invested in scale-up funds to rapidly grow European tech champions and in five infrastructure funds, providing a total of €485 million. It also provided €30 million to Sistafund – its largest investment to date in a gender equality-focused fund – and €25 million to Logical Content Ventures, which invests in European audiovisual content creation.

These fundraising investments are expected to mobilise a total of up to €36 billion for key sectors for the energy transition and European competitiveness such as clean technologies, artificial intelligence, space and cybersecurity.

In total and including all activities, the EIB Group directly or indirectly supported more than 58 000 SMEs and mid-caps in France in 2024, helping to safeguard 819 000 jobs.

Annual EIB Investment Survey

The EIB Group Investment Survey (EIBIS) is an annual report based on polling of approximately 13 000 firms across all 27 EU Member States, with an additional sample from the United States.

The most recent survey – conducted in 2024 – shows French companies’ strong awareness of the reality of climate change: 96% have already taken measures to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, compared to 91% on average for EU companies. French companies still invest more often in combating the consequences of weather events, exceeding the EU average in this area (68% have already invested vs. 61% on average across the European Union).

Investing in waste reduction and recycling (82% of companies in France vs. 76% of EU companies), energy efficiency (63% in France vs. 65% across the European Union) and sustainable transport (59% vs. an EU average of 52%) are the actions most often proposed as ways to achieve this.

The share of companies that have implemented climate change adaptation measures is more limited both in France and across the European Union, with fewer than 50% of companies having done this. Only 12% of French companies are insured against climate risk – less than the EU average of 21% – despite 63% of them saying that they had already been affected by a climate change risk. Although French companies have a similar pace of innovation to their EU neighbours, they are behind the EU average for adopting digital technologies (60% vs. 74%).

Background information

About the EIB

The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. It finances investments that contribute to EU policy objectives.

About the EIF

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the EIB Group. Its goal is to help European SMEs access financing. The EIF designs and deploys venture capital, growth capital, guarantee and microfinance instruments specifically targeted at this market segment. Its activities pursue EU objectives promoting innovation, research and development, enterprise creation, growth, and job creation.