At a special conference at the European Parliament in Brussels on 21 June 2017, EIB Vice-President Dario Scannapieco laid out the actions that the EU bank is taking to help manage migration to Europe and to tackle its root causes in Europe’s neighbourhood and beyond.
Speaking alongside European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, Vice-President Scannapieco told the conference: “While we hope that international conflict resolution efforts will soon reduce the current refugee crisis, economic migration is, and will remain, a constant issue for the EU. So we must build long-term economic resilience and help countries that face political and economic instability. At the EIB we are using our knowledge, experience and resources as the largest multilateral financial institution active inside and outside the EU to address these needs.”
Sustaining 38 000 jobs in the Mediterranean Neighbourhood
Dario Scannapieco also announced progress under the EIB’s new Economic Resilience Initiative for the Southern Neighbourhood: “We have recently approved loans for SMEs for EUR 600 million that will be intermediated through banks active in Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and the West Bank that will support growth and sustain approximately 38 000 jobs. We are discussing a blended Municipal Infrastructure Facility to support local communities in Serbia impacted by the refugee crisis in sectors such as waste, health, education and social housing.”