The European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union's financing institution, is lending ITL 70 billion (EUR 37 million) to Centro Agroalimentare Roma S.c.p.A, through Mediocredito di Roma S.p.A., for the building of a new wholesale market in the city of Rome.

The new market will be located on the outskirts of the city in Tenuta del Cavaliere, in the Municipality of Guidonia. Relocating the market from its existing site in the Via Ostiense (Mercati Generali) will bring a major improvement to the urban environment in central Rome, by transferring a traffic intensive and noisy night activity to an outside area. The project is part of general initiatives undertaken by public authorities, and co-financed by the EIB, aiming at urban renewal in the city of Rome.

Wholesale activities in Italy have a significant economic importance, as they account for about one quarter of all enterprises involved in the distribution sector. CAR is a limited liability company set up in 1990 by the Commune of Rome with wholesale operators, the Chamber of Commerce and local banks.

The EIB was set up in 1958 with the remit of financing projects designed to achieve EU objectives, particularly in the fields of regional development, trans-European transport, telecommunications and energy networks, and the environment. In response to the Amsterdam Resolution on growth and employment (June 1997), the Bank approved extension of its operations to embrace the health, education and urban development sectors, serving to generate stable job opportunities (Amsterdam Special Action Programme, ASAP). Since adoption of ASAP, the EIB has granted new loans totalling some ITL 6 000 billion (EUR 3 billion) in the urban development sector.

1 euro = 0.705455 GBP, 1 936.27 ITL.