The European Investment Bank and Portugal have signed a framework agreement to coordinate finance for key infrastructure projects in Portugal up to 2018.

Philippe Maystadt, President of the EIB, Fernando Teixeira dos Santos, Minister of State and Finance, and Carlos da Silva Costa, Vice-President of the EIB, participated in the signature ceremony that took place on 14 November 2008 in Lisbon.

As stated by President Maystadt, “given the magnitude, complexity and importance of the forthcoming projects it would be very useful to have a planning tool establishing indicative amounts, timing and sectors of target projects for the coming years”.

The framework agreement is not binding. It is rather intended to provide a consistent framework for the development of EIB operations in Portugal in future years. The granting of loans will there fore be subject to a positive outcome of the Bank's customary technical, environmental, economic and financial appraisal of each project, and to the specific approval by the Bank's management and governing bodies of individual projects.

According to Minister Teixeira dos Santos, the EIB has played a central role in enabling the creation of basic infrastructure in Portugal over more than 20 years.

The programme covered by this framework agreement caters for investments over a period of 10 years whose aggregate cost is currently estimated at EUR 40 billion. It has a particular focus on the following sectors and projects, although this list is not exhaustive:

  • Transport: high-speed rail network; new Lisbon international airport; road infrastructure;
  • Energy: renewable energies (water, wind and solar power); development of the electricity supply network and improvement of energy efficiency;
  • Water: management and planning of water use and supply;
  • Waste: waste disposal and treatment;
  • Urban centres: regeneration and rehabilitation of urban centres.

The EIB could finance up to one third of those investments or, over 10 years, provide finance for a total amount of some EUR 13-14 billion.

Note for the editor:

The European Investment Bank Group, the banking group promoting European objectives and financing European projects, provides capital investment aimed at modernising the economies of the Member States and the countries close to the Union.

In 2007, the European Investment Bank lent a total of EUR 47.8 billion for projects promoting the European Union’s policy objectives. Finance for the EU-27 Member States represented 87% of its activities and amounted to EUR 41.4 billion. To fund its activities, the EIB raised an aggregate amount of EUR 55 billion on the international capital markets through 236 bond issues in 23 currencies. Owned by the Member States, the EIB (with its AAA rating) is the world’s largest supranational issuer.

In 2007, the European Investment Bank provided a total of EUR 1.5 billion for projects in Portugal for achieving the Union’s objectives and the Bank’s six top priorities: economic and social cohesion; a competitive and innovative European economy; efficient and easily accessible trans-European transport and energy networks (TENs); support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); the "climate change” dimension of environmental protection, but also that of conserving natural resources and improving the quality of life in urban areas; as well as the objectives of efficiency, diversification and security in the energy sector. It is currently estimated that the total amount of loans signed in Portugal in 2008 could reach some EUR 2.5 billion.