At the Congress of French Regions, whose 14th edition is taking place in Marseille, EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle and President of the Sud Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region and MEP Renaud Muselier signed a finance contract worth EUR 150m for the refurbishment and modernisation of lycées in the region.
This new partnership, granted with particularly attractive financial terms thanks to the EU bank's AAA rating, brings to EUR 800m the total amount of EIB financing dedicated to lycées in this region. This is the largest overall investment granted by the EIB to a single region for its lycée pupils.
This new EUR 150m loan will be deployed for the implementation of 20 operations in support of public lycées in the Sud Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region: Seven new lycées will be built in the region and 12 others will be modernised and refurbished to meet the lycées’ new capacity and training requirements. This loan will also enable the purchase and refurbishment of a building in the region used for services dedicated to the education and training of young people.
“This large-scale financing will support youth training and employment in the region”, said EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle during the signing ceremony. “Faced with continuing high youth unemployment, our aim is to increase the chances of a successful future for young people. Optimising the energy efficiency of buildings is also a priority for this loan in order to create optimal conditions for education and lycée life whilst also cutting operating costs and carbon emissions. Educating young people and modernising education facilities are top priorities for all French regions. This is why already in 2019 an additional loan of EUR 750m will be made available to accelerate the financing of the education and training sector in France.”
“The signature of this agreement shows once again that the EU is a powerful tool for our regions. It realises that we know how to use it! In three years, our Region has already obtained over EUR 2bn supporting our businesses, vocational training, the world of research and of course our farmers. That is a major commitment.
We have an excellent working relationship with the European Investment Bank and our key goal is to provide our 195 000 lycée pupils with the best possible conditions to pursue their studies and get ahead in life. I am delighted to sign this agreement today”, added Renaud Muselier.
The EIB has formed a long-standing, high-quality partnership with the Sud Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region with more than EUR 2.2bn provided for direct investments, supporting this region’s development via projects in key sectors such as transport with the regional express railway (TER), Nice Airport, the tramway systems in Marseille and Nice, and the L2 Marseille ring road; youth education with the Aix-Marseille campus, lycées and very shortly collèges; and support for innovation and innovative businesses, e.g. Sunpartner Technologies, Amadeus and Virbac, financed under the Juncker Plan.
