France: EIB and Caisse des Dépôts Group celebrate ten years of partnership in support of the European Union’s grand ambitions.

• Established in 2013, this partnership has enabled the two institutions to co-finance projects in France to the tune of €1 billion per year on average.
• It benefits small and medium-sized local authorities, social housing and businesses and takes increasingly diverse forms (financing, technical assistance).
• This French version of major EU investment plans aims to support the ecological transition, economic development and social cohesion of the regions.

On the occasion of today’s signing of the renewal of their partnership, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Caisse des Dépôts (CDC) Group celebrate ten years of a multifaceted financial partnership established in 2013 in support of national and European public policy priorities. With €6.4 billion in current commitments, the CDC Group is one of the EIB’s main banking partners in France and Europe. Present across France through the Banque des Territoires network, CDC is a partner that can obtain EIB financing for regional projects meeting local needs.

Since 2015, CDC has been able to mobilise €7 billion from the EIB, or almost €1 billion per year on average. This amount is divided equally between public sector financing (loans to local authorities) and social housing: €3.5 billion for each of these two sectors.

Four lines of financing set aside for local authorities (in 2015, 2019, 2020 and 2023) have in recent years helped facilitate small and medium-sized investment projects costing less than €25 million. They have, for example, made it possible to invest in energy efficiency of buildings and urban renewal, water and sanitation networks, education, sustainable mobility and clean public transport. This fixed-rate financing supplements Banque des Territoires’ range of funding and its products that are index-linked to the Livret A, a government-sponsored variable rate savings account.

In the field of social housing, the various financing envelopes provided by the EIB and distributed by CDC have, in particular, helped support the creation of new social housing and thermal renovation programmes via booster loans by giving all organisations, without distinction, access to these loans on the same terms.

Local authorities and social housing operators can thus benefit from the very long maturities of the Livret A loans offered by Banque des Territoires on the regulated savings of the French population and the additional fixed-rate resources provided by the EIB.

Many other forms of cooperation have developed within the framework of this multi-faceted partnership: co-financing of public investments in the education (Campus Plans and Collèges [lower secondary schools] Programme), health (hospitals) and digital sectors, development of investment platforms, and joint participation in renewable energy projects such as financing of the pilot floating wind farm in the Gulf of Lyons in the Mediterranean Sea.

Over the past ten years, the partnership between the EIB and the CDC Group has evolved and adapted to meet investment needs in accordance with the prevailing economic climate. Mainly focused on traditional priorities of public service financing until 2016 against the backdrop of a financial crisis and the disruption of long-term financing (infrastructure, means of transport, etc.), it was then complemented by more targeted growth and investment support (SME and local infrastructure financing) under the Investment Plan for Europe (“Juncker Plan”) until the end of 2021 and its successor InvestEU. This guarantee provided by the European Commission is deployed in France through financing from the EIB and the CDC Group and is part of the European Recovery Plan and its Green Deal.

This highly complementary relationship is set to continue and grow in the future to better meet investment needs now largely centred around financing the energy transition and supporting reindustrialisation of the regions to strengthen the European Union’s strategic autonomy.

“I am pleased to celebrate these ten years of partnership between two French and EU public financial institutions that share a common concern for the general interest in the long term. By joining forces, we have been able to contribute €1 billion of funding each year for projects with a very tangible impact on the lives of the French people, such as improved public facilities in small municipalities and housing. This collaboration recently enabled us to finance Oblibus electric buses on the Isle of Yeu in Vendée and social housing renovation in Marseille. These very tangible results illustrate how EU funding contributions have a lasting impact on France’s mainland regions and overseas territories,” said EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle.

“In their daily lives, whether people take a clean electric bus in Paris or on the Isle of Yeu, are social housing tenants in the Plaine district of Oyonnax or work in a gigafactory in Dunkirk, they are benefiting directly from the partnership that CDC has formed with the EIB! Over the past ten years, this partnership has continued to flourish in response to the challenges presented by long-term financing of the economy. This cooperation shows that our unique model and knowledge of the regions enable us to coordinate investment plans throughout France in support of the European Union’s grand ambitions: ecological transformation, economic development, and social and regional cohesion,” said CEO of CDC Eric Lombard.

Background information

About the European Investment Bank

The European Investment Bank (EIB) was established in 1958 under the Treaty of Rome. The EIB is the long-term lending institution of the European Union (EU) owned by its 27 Member States. The EIB’s remit is to finance projects that contribute towards the integration, balanced development and economic and social cohesion of the European Union. It borrows substantial volumes of funds on the capital markets and lends them on very favourable terms to support projects that help the European Union achieve its major objectives. As the EU climate bank, it aims to encourage the emergence and deployment of investments to meet ongoing challenges such as the energy transition to a new low-carbon growth model. In 2022, the EIB made available €5.9 billion for renewable energy, clean mobility and energy efficiency in France, representing 70% of its total financing in the country (€8.4 billion).

About Banque des Territoires

Set up in 2018, Banque des Territoires is one of the five arms of Caisse des Dépôts. It brings in-house regional expertise together within a single structure. It is a single point of entry for clients, providing made-to-measure advice and financing solutions for loans and investments to meet the needs of local authorities, social housing associations, local public enterprises and legal professionals. It is aimed at all French regions, from rural areas to large cities, with the goal of eliminating social and regional inequalities. Banque des Territoires is represented by 16 regional offices and 37 local branches of Caisse des Dépôts to enhance visibility and proximity to its customer base.