Chronology of the EIB: 1978-1987
28 January 1987
Support for innovative European companies, at the core of EIB’s lending strategy. Our investments enabled the automatisation of a CD factory in Hasselt, Belgium.In the telecommunications sector, the EIB financed the acquisition and launch of some of the first broadcasting satellites of SES Astra, the world-leading satellite operator, based in Luxembourg.
1 August 1984
Start of the presidency of Ernst-Günther Bröder.
2 June 1981
First borrowing operation in ecus. This cartoon by Plantu, from March 1979, published in Le Monde, refers to the launch of the ECU, a ship created to sail on the stormy seas of the international monetary system, which had certainly evolved since the fixed exchange rates of the post-war period.
August 1980
Move to new Kirchberg building, currently known as West building. The Kirchberg building’s first phase (1974-80) was designed by British architect Sir Denys Lasdun and is one of his few works outside the UK. The same architect built the West building extension which was operational in 1995.