The EIB is now in the spotlight at virtually every EU summit. This is because, down the years, it has supported the European project since its launch and at every new stage of its implementation; and the histories of the EIB and Europe are inseparable.

With the Bank approaching its 50th birthday, it was the right time to look back on its genesis and history, recalling and examining its achievements in the light of what it has become. This task was entrusted to a team of renowned historians jointly led by Michel Dumoulin, professor at UCL (Belgium), Eric Bussière and Emilie Willaert, professors at Paris IV-Sorbonne (France), with the collaboration of Charles Barthel (Luxembourg), Jürgen Elvert (German), Paolo Tedeschi (Italy) and Arthe Van Laer (Belgium). 

The fruits of this joint effort have now been published. This is an academic history moulded by the successive rounds of enlargement of the European Union and the constantly changing economic and political environment. And by following the thread of events described we will gain an understanding of how the EIB has plotted its course through the upheavals of half a century while remaining faithful to its original purpose.

As EIB President Philippe Maystadt says in the book's preface: "It is a truism to say that the degree of integration achieved by the European Union fifty years after its foundation has exceeded the hopes and expectations of the founding fathers in the mid-1950s. The same applies to the European Investment Bank. And it is unlikely that any of the negotiators or signatories of the EEC Treaty would have thought that the EIB would one day become the biggest lender (and the biggest borrower) among the international financial institutions and a vital player in long-term financing within the European Union". Echoing the President's words, it would be doing an injustice to the book's authors to attempt to summarise the key points of their analysis in a few paragraphs, less still in a press release. We therefore invite you to read and reflect on this reference work, which is available for you to consult.

Printed and published by Imprimerie Centrale in Luxembourg, the book is on sale on the EIB's website: www.ic.lu/BEI_50ans

For the media:

 Any journalists who wish to write an article on the publication of this book are invited to contact the EIB's press office, which will provide them with a copy. The book is available in English, French and German.

Further information: a summary, table of contents and introduction to the authors can be found in the leaflet "The Bank of the European Union - the EIB, 1958-2008"