The Permanent Representation of the EIB in Brussels organises Lunch Dialogues, informative and interactive discussions on topical issues. The dialogues provide first-hand knowledge and expertise from the participating organisations to Brussels-based stakeholders.
Lunch Dialogues begin at 1pm followed by a discussion and a Q&A session with the audience.
Coming soon
Catch up with any dialogues you may have missed. Videos of the dialogues are available.
Monday 2 October 2023
in the EIB Brussels Office, 6 Rond-Point R. Schuman - 1040 Brussels.
Speakers:
Moderator:
Following the COVID-19 outbreak, the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) has been created, offering Europe a comprehensive mechanism for concerted actions on epidemic and biosecurity threats.
The EIB has been historically involved in addressing the needs of healthcare systems.
The signature of the EUR 100m HERA Invest Top-Up between HERA and the EIB (within the broader InvestEU framework) is offering EIB the unique opportunity to support relevant European projects towards market approval and successful commercialisation. Policy makers, industry leaders, NGOs and other stakeholders were invited to this Lunch Dialogue to mark this important event.
Watch the recording here
Monday 18 September 2023
in the EIB Brussels Office, 6 Rond-Point R. Schuman - 1040 Brussels.
Speakers:
Moderator:
All regions will need to transform in the coming decades to reach the EU’s climate goals. However, not all regions in Europe have the same starting point. Different regions have different investment needs and innovation potential. The European Investment Bank is committed to bring more investments to less developed and transition regions, and facilitate innovation and deployment of new technologies in these regions. In 2022, the EIB Group financed a record high of €28.4 billion in investment projects in cohesion regions, of which 66% were for climate action and environmental sustainability. Cohesion and climate objectives go hand in hand, but what about cohesion and innovation?
Watch the recording here
Wednesday 28 June 2023
at the EIB Brussels Office, 6 Rond-Point Schuman - 1040 Brussels.
Speakers:
The EU is a leading provider of funding for sustainable and inclusive development to Latin America and Caribbean countries, allocating around €3.4 billion for bilateral and regional programmes under NDICI-Global Europe for 2021-2027. In line with EU priorities and in light of its role as the EU Climate Bank, the EIB Group, through its specialised arm EIB Global, is playing a key role in supporting climate action, adaptation and environmental sustainability in LAC countries. To date, EIB Global has invested over €13.4 billion financing over 370 projects in the region.
In view of the upcoming EU-CELAC summit and ongoing EU Global Gateway flagship projects, the panel discussed the investment opportunities, challenges and gaps in the Latin America and the Caribbean region, with a focus on smart, clean infrastructures and energy and transport sectors.
Watch the recording here
Monday 05 June 2023
in the EIB Brussels Office, Rond-point R. Schuman, 6 - 1040 Brussels.
Speakers:
Moderator:
Water is a critical resource, and it is an integral part of the green transition in the EU and beyond. The EIB is one of the largest multilateral lenders in the water sector, and finances, on average, more than €2 billion per year of water projects both inside and outside the EU. Last year the independent evaluation function of the EIB Group assessed the Bank’s support for the water sector outside the EU to determine what worked and what didn’t work with specific focus on development outcomes and the contribution to climate action and environmental sustainability. The 2023 water sector orientation brings out the strategic role the sector can play to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change and highlights the types of investments that will maximise the Bank’s impact and accelerate the achievement of its climate and environment objectives.
Thursday 25 May 2023
in the EIB Brussels Office, 6 rond-point R. Schuman - 1040 Brussels.
Speaker:
Moderator:
Marjut Falkstedt, the new Chief Executive of the European Investment Fund, joined by Eric de Montgolfier, Chief Executive Officer of Invest Europe, talked about the investment gap in Europe and the role of the EIF.
Marjut addressed challenges and opportunities for the EIF, including the vital role of women in venture capital, and the prospects of the European Tech Champions Initiative. And this just fresh after her new leadership start at the EIF this January 2023, and moderated by Eric in the year of Invest Europe celebrating its 40th Anniversary.
Watch the recording here.
Thursday, 9 March 2023
in the EIB Brussels Office, 6 rond-point R. Schuman - 1040 Brussels.
Speakers:
Moderator:
The “Africa’s Extraordinary Green Hydrogen Potential” study represents the first detailed research into the Continent’s potential contribution to emerging domestic and international markets in green hydrogen. It combines analysis of investment opportunities focusing on selected hubs: Egypt, Mauritania, Morocco, and Southern Africa with a roadmap of technical, economic, environmental and financial solutions to unlock commercial development.
Harnessing Africa’s solar energy to produce 50 million tons of green hydrogen a year by 2035 can help decarbonise domestic industry and economic growth, creating jobs, transforming access to clean water and sustainable energy, as well as enhancing global competitiveness for new green and sustainable products, like ammonia, steel and fertiliser. The analysis has been commissioned by EIB Global, the International Solar Alliance and the African Union, and was officially launched at COP27 alongside the Government of Mauritania, HyDeal and UCLG Africa.
Find the slides here.
Watch the recording here.
Thursday, 2 March 2023
Presentation of the EIB Report "Cutting plastics pollution - Financial measures for a more circular chain" by Guy Hudson and Paulina Brzezicka, Advisors, Innovative Finance Advisory, Operations Department.
Panel discussion:
Moderator:
Monday, 19 September 2022
Welcome remarks:
Speakers:
Moderator:
Watch the recording here.
Further resources:
Tuesday, 28 June 2022
Measuring the biodiversity footprint of a project is an important step to identify bankable biodiversity projects and to develop a pipeline of viable investment projects.
Based on the experience gained by the EIB and CDC Biodiversity, the aim of this online dialogue was to discuss the kind of criteria and indicators are needed to identify and screen projects in order to minimize their biodiversity footprint, how to make biodiversity projects bankable and how the public and private sector could join forces to accelerate investments for biodiversity conservation and nature-based solutions for climate adaptation and resilience.
Speakers:
Moderator:
Watch the recording here.
Thursday, 3 March
Global health is among the priority areas for further deepening the integration between Europe and Africa. Addressing the current pandemic requires the acceleration of global vaccination, fairly and fully distributed at an affordable price, strengthening of healthcare resilience in partner countries and development of vaccines and medicines production in Africa for Africa.
In the context of the COVID-19 crisis, the EU and Africa have launched different initiatives to strengthen pandemic and other health emergencies prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR) in line with International Health Regulations.
Through the Team Europe approach, the EU and its Member States have contributed over €3 billion to COVAX and have pledged EUR 100 million to support vaccine deployment in Africa. As part of Team Europe, the EIB provided €400 million in December 2020, and following disbursement thereof, a further €200 million in November 2021 to COVAX. In addition, the EIB has been able, thanks to its in-house expertise in the health sector, to support the increase in the production capacities and accessibility of health products and technologies in Africa.
In the light of the increased role of the EU and of the EIB to support Africa health systems, the aim of this Lunch Dialogue was to investigate how to further strengthen the resilience of the health systems in Africa and to enhance their pandemic preparedness, prevention and response capacity.
Speakers:
Moderator:
Watch the recording here.
Monday, 14 March
The semiconductor industry is a key industry for Europe to achieve digital sovereignty and therefore Europe needs to match the manufacturing investment support seen by its geopolitical rivals.
But even established actors operating in this sector face substantial risk because, apart from pronounced market cycles, cost of individual production plants are very big and depreciation is rapid due to technological obsolescence.
Policy makers are aiming at structural change for the European semiconductor industry. The Chips Act, recently adopted by the European Commission, seeks to enhance the international competitiveness of European industry and mobilize resources for investment in additional manufacturing capacity.
Will subsidies alone allow Europe to reduce its trade deficit in semiconductors? Most likely substantial private sector investment will be required as well. But substantial new capacity should come on stream globally during the next few years and the risk of structural overcapacity, for at least a certain period, is growing. It therefore becomes crucial to assure a long-term perspective for investment and appropriate management of financial risks.
Whichever path is chosen, the required investments in new production capacity in the EU are large, and the EIB can play an instrumental role to facilitate such investments. The Bank's intervention can be justified by its role in promoting innovative investment projects and furthering the international competitiveness of a strategic European industry. This Lunch Dialogue explored how industry can work with government and financial institutions to balance the opportunities and risks involved.
Speakers:
Moderator:
Watch the recording here.