With this new loan under the national Operation Campus programme, the European Investment Bank (EIB) is confirming its commitment to supporting training for young people and the development of world-class and sustainable campuses that are attractive for students, teachers and researchers, both nationally and internationally.
The President of the University of Bordeaux Manuel Tunon de Lara and EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle signed today, in the presence of the Prefect of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region Pierre Dartout and partners of Bordeaux Operation Campus, a finance contract worth EUR 100m for the reconstruction, renovation and extension of existing university buildings dedicated to teaching and research as well as to improving the living and working conditions for students, teachers and researchers.
“This is a priority project for the bank of the European Union as it concerns above all the training and future success of young people”, said Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle at the signing ceremony. “By providing the University of Bordeaux with the opportunity to borrow cheaply, together we are choosing excellence to create a modern campus that is globally-oriented and firmly focused on the world of business. This new financing operation in support of French universities reflects the Bank's strong commitment to higher education and research in accordance with the priorities of the French Government's investment plan.”
This is a large-scale financing operation for the EIB, one of the biggest signed by the Bank with a French university. Supporting nine projects at various sites within the university, it will help to improve teaching and research conditions there and better accommodate the growing number of talented students attracted by the University of Bordeaux. Fully in line with the EIB's priority commitment to climate action, this loan will also be used for the thermal refurbishment of 23 university buildings designed to achieve a tangible improvement in the energy efficiency of the facilities and thus reduce operating costs. Some 29% of the programme will go towards investments to improve energy performance.
Bordeaux is the 10th university campus to have received EIB funding under the Operation Campus programme, which was launched in 2008 by the French authorities to facilitate the emergence of premier campuses and is being financed by the Bank to the tune of EUR 1.3bn. The EIB's involvement means that the University of Bordeaux will benefit from a loan with a long maturity and attractive financial terms thanks to the Bank's “AAA” rating. This will enable the university to optimise the use of the interest accrued by the Campus allocation.
With this loan to the university, the EIB is now supporting young people in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region at all stages of their education. Having helped finance the refurbishment of lycées (upper secondary schools) in the newly-created Region (loans totalling EUR 723m in Poitou-Charente, Limousin and Aquitaine), this year the EIB also signed a EUR 70m loan for the refurbishment and modernisation of collèges (lower secondary schools) in the Gironde Department.
