nl flag go to the original language article
This article has been translated by Artificial Intelligence (AI). The news agency is not responsible for the content of the translated article. The original was published by ANP.

EU countries: EIB should invest more in defense

by AI | 31.Jan 2025 | Europe in brief AI

The Netherlands and most other EU countries are urging the European Investment Bank (EIB) to invest more money in the neglected European defense industry. Currently, the main European credit institution’s own rules of conduct make this difficult.

The Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof (Photo: Ramon Van Flymen/ANP/dpa)

BRUSSELS/LUXEMBOURG (ANP) – Ahead of the European summit on defense, next Monday, nineteen European leaders are calling on the EIB to take on “an even stronger role” to help boost the defense sector. The investment bank should “reassess” its credit rules. They should be articulated “more precisely” and exclude “as few” candidates as possible.

The creditworthiness of the bank must not suffer, note Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof and his eighteen colleagues in a letter to the EIB.

The EIB should further free up more money for investments in the security and defense sector. The bank could also issue special defense bonds, allowing individuals to easily invest in them, the EU leaders suggest.

During the past decades of relative peace in Europe, the European arms industry has stagnated. Financial institutions also no longer invest money in arms manufacturers and other companies due to their own rules or international agreements. This makes it extra difficult to scale up quickly now, as the alarmed EU countries want.

A number of EU countries have long urged the EIB to invest more in defense itself and to encourage other lenders to do the same. But among others in Berlin, there were concerns about the impact on the credit status of the investment institution in Luxembourg. Now a sizable majority is emerging, including heavyweights like Germany, France, and Spain.

The EIB already eased its rules somewhat last year. The bank no longer excludes investment in products that can be used both civilian and military, such as some drones.

(January 31, 2025)