European Investment Bank (EIB)
Policy objectives:
EIB is a public institution driven by the policy objectives of the European Union. It finances projects that help directly improve the environment, promoting not only EU environmental policy but in particular the Sixth Environmental Action Programme[1]. It adapts its activities to the development of EU policies.
Environmental Requirements:
Protection and improvement of the environment is of central concern for the EIB. It has translated EU goals and directives as well as multilateral environmental agreements into its own internal procedures. The EIB's environmental due diligence process ensures compliance with the Directive on Environmental Impact Assessment (85/337/EEC amended by Directive 97/11/EC), the principles of prevention, precaution, and the polluter pays and the application of best available technologies (BATS) as called for in EU policy. The environmental acceptability criteria of the Bank include legal compliance, screening and quality of the EIA, environment related risks, environmental capacity of the promoter, environmental impact and mitigation measures to be implemented.
Legal compliance:
As the official financing institution of the EU, the EIB is bound by the European Treaties and their principles of representation, public participation, accountability and sustainable development. Thereby projects funded by EIB within the EU are clearly subjected to the strict application of the European environmental policy standards. This means that European environmental standards, as they are laid down in Community directives, are complied with unless the national standard is higher. As the international agreements concluded by the EU form an integral part of EU law, the international treaties and other equivalent instruments concluded by the EU on environmental matters constitute part of the evaluation of the environmental eligibility of a project proposed for financing to the EIB. This due diligence applies as well to all projects located in EU Candidate Countries, where the respect of the Community acquis in the environmental field is an essential part of the eligibility of the project for purposes of EIB financing.
For projects outside of the EU, EU law is not binding; hence a slightly different approach is followed. Based on Article 174 (i) of the Treaty, the non-EU member state should comply with European environmental requirements or, at the very least use them as guidelines as the Article refers to promoting high environmental measures at an international level to deal with regional or worldwide environmental problems. EIB applies a balanced approach, requiring that all projects comply with EU standards but subject to local conditions and laws[2]. In specific cases, it may be appropriate and/or practical to approach EU requirements in stages, however EIB will ensure that its operations adhere to international good environmental practice and to any obligations and standards of multilateral environmental agreements to which the host country is a party (Appendix I).
[1] Environmental Statement 2004, May 2004
[2] EIB Environment Progress Report, 2005
