The President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Werner Hoyer, attended a hearing by the European Parliament´s Development Committee on Monday 8 July, to discuss the activities of the EIB in developing countries.

During the meeting he stressed the urgency to finalise the new External Lending Mandate (ELM).

The President stated: “Europe needs a rapid legislative procedure because time is extremely tight. We must have the new mandate in force by June 2014 at the very latest if we are to avoid an interruption in our external operations.”

He also emphasised that sufficient funds are needed for the guarantee to enable the EIB to at least match its lending capacity under the current Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), which is around EUR 30 billion.

Also present at the hearing were EIB Vice-President Pim van Ballekom, Ben Knapen, head of the Brussels EIB Office, and the Director General of EIB Operations outside the EU and Candidate Countries, Tamsyn Barton.