EIB Group Forum: New support announced to reinforce European defence and tech sovereignty

• President Calviño opens 4^th edition of EIB Group Forum bringing together European and global policymakers, business leaders and institutions
• EIB Group to expand European Tech Champions Initiative and introduce new instruments to strengthen Europe’s venture capital ecosystem, in push for speed and scale to close funding gap for EU’s tech pioneers
• EIB Group Annual Investment Report launched today shows resilience of EU firms, strong momentum in digital and green investment, and opportunities to unlock Europe’s single market and mobilise savings

The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group today opened the 4^th edition of the EIB Group Forum in Luxembourg, with President Nadia Calviño announcing new financing to strengthen European security and defence and laying out a set of actions to advance the Savings and Investment Union, supporting businesses seeking to innovate, expand and compete globally. Held from 3–5 March, the Forum brings together policymakers, innovators, academics and business leaders, this year under the theme of building “A Strong Europe in a Changing World”.

In her opening speech, President Nadia Calviño underlined Europe’s strong fundamentals and the need to accelerate investment, as well as capital market integration, simplification. She stressed the importance of reinforcing Europe's sovereignty and strengthening global partnerships was more important than ever in these turbulent times.

The EIB Group will propose to its Board – representatives of the 27 member states – the expansion  of the successful European Tech Champions Initiative (ETCI) to increase scaleup-funding in Europe, as well as  the  introduction of a pilot exit toolbox for early investors and start up founders including expanded scaleup debt, convertible instruments, acquisition finance, and support for listings on European stock markets. The plans mark a decisive step to support the Savings and Investment Union with concrete pan-European instruments complementing regulatory measures. 

“These tools will help ensure that ideas, technologies and companies born in Europe can grow and thrive in Europe,” Calviño said. “Europe is a global superpower, with the willingness, capacity and the resources to lead the way into the future.”

President Calviño also said in her opening speech that the EIB Group plans to expand the successful Defence Equity Facility, through which the European Investment Fund acts as anchor investor for equity investments into European defence companies, mobilizing capital into specialized private funds. Another major investment into a pan-European venture capital fund dedicated to deep tech and defence technologies will be announced this week.

Also addressing the Forum, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen underlined the vital contribution of the EIB Group, “We are all aware of the profound geopolitical shifts we face. And our mission is clear.  Europe must become more independent and more competitive. In this the EIB is an indispensable partner because your investments multiply opportunities and will help us to deliver on our goals “

Keynote speakers attending the Forum include European Council President Antonio Costa, European Commission Executive Vice Presidents Teresa Ribera and Raffaele Fitto, Commissioners Valdis Dombrovskis and Jessika Roswall, Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis, Chief Executive Officer of Mistral AI, Arthur Mensch, astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, actor and United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk.

Investment Report

Among the Forum’s highlights, the flagship EIB Group Investment Report based on a survey of around 13,000 businesses across the EU, shows that European firms have proved to be resilient despite heightened uncertainty caused by geopolitical shifts and recent tariff and energy shocks. Global investors continue to view Europe as a stable, trusted market.

EU firms match US firms in digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence adoption, 90% of them continue to invest in the green transition. Such investment strengthens EU's energy security and sovereignty as renewables reach two‑thirds of EU power capacity, cutting costs and dependence on imports.

"Investment in Europe has been resilient but needs to accelerate,” said EIB Chief Economist Debora Revoltella. “Investment growth will depend on decisive push for private investment, driven by business opportunities. In this context, leveraging the scale of the EU single market is critical. It will increase business opportunities, firms’ investment, and resilience to external shocks. EU market scale is also critical for the growth of strategic sectors and for further reinforcing the European global role.”

The Report also stresses the need to accelerate investment in grids, storage and cross-border interconnections, address emerging bottlenecks in the energy transition, and strengthen coordination in defence investment as EU governments move toward spending 5% of GDP on security and defence by 2035.

At the same time, the Report shows that removing barriers within the single market could increase firms’ investment intensity by 10%, particularly for intangible assets vital for innovation. Free‑trade agreements under negotiation could increase exports by more than 20% to partner countries.

Additional information on the latest EIB Group Investment Report is available here.

Forum Highlights

Over the next three days, participants will discuss Europe’s investment priorities and the steps needed to reinforce its competitiveness, from digital infrastructure and climate action to strategic autonomy, deeper capital markets and win-win global partnerships.

A number of new agreements and financing commitments will be announced including finance for Europe's security and defence capabilities, energy efficiency, and tech innovation, deepening cooperation with EU partner financial institutions, clean energy projects in Africa and, and a new partnership with the World Trade Organization. The EIB Group will also launch its third Gender Action Plan, to advance gender equality and women’s economic empowerment in Europe and worldwide.

The President's full speech is available here

Background information    

EIB Group   

The European Investment Bank (ElB) Group is the financing arm of the European Union, owned by the 27 Member States, and one of the largest multilateral development banks in the world. In 2025, the EIB Group signed €100 billion of new financing and advisory services for over 870 high-impact projects in eight core priorities that support EU policy objectives: climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, territorial cohesion, agriculture and bioeconomy, social infrastructure, strong global partnerships and the savings and investment union. Beyond long-term loans for large infrastructures, the EIB Group crowds-in private investment for high-risk innovative projects and businesses, with a growing role in Europe’s markets for venture debt, venture capital, guarantees and securitisations

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is the subsidiary of the EIB specialised in providing equity, guarantees and securitisations to improve access to finance for small and medium size businesses and startups across Europe. Acting as an anchor investor, through its extensive network of partnering banks and investment funds, the EIF mobilises private investment and nurtures the ecosystem of venture capital funds to support innovative European entrepreneurs.  

In 2023, the EIF launched together with six member states (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands) the European Tech Champions Initiative, a fund of funds to scale-up innovative startups. This initiative has already enabled the creation of 14 European venture capital mega-funds and scaled up 40 companies, including 11 unicorns (with more than €1 billion in valuation).

High-quality, up-to-date photos of the organisation’s headquarters for media use are available here.