Changes from plenary report to adopted text

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group 2024 Activity Report of 30 January 2025 entitled ‘Priorities for prosperity’,

– having regard to the EIB Investment Report 2024/2025 of 5 March 2025 entitled ‘Innovation, integration and simplification in Europe’, and to the EIB Investment Report 2023/2024 of 7 February 2024 entitled ‘Transforming for competitiveness’,

– having regard to the EIB Group report on the implementation of the EIB Group Transparency Policy in 2023, published on 1 July 2024, and to the EIB Transparency Policy, approved on 17 November 2021 and amended on 16 July 2025,

– having regard to the EIB Group 2024-2027 Strategic Roadmap of 21 June 2024,

– having regard to the EIB Global Impact Report 2023/2024 of 13 June 2024,

– having regard to the EIB Group Security and Defence Industry Action Plan, presented at the Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg on 12 April 2024,

– having regard to the EIB Group Operational Plan 2024-2026 of 9 February 2024 and to the EIB Group Operational Plan 2025-2027 of 30 January 2025,

– having regard to the EIB Group’s third annual report of 15 July 2024 entitled ‘EIB Group activities in EU cohesion regions’,

– having regard to the EIB Board’s decision of 21 March 2025 limiting excluded activities, which follows the European Council position dated 6 March 2025,

– having regard to the Commission communication of 19 March 2025 entitled ‘Savings and Investments Union – A Strategy to Foster Citizens’ Wealth and Economic Competitiveness in the EU’ (COM(2025)0124),

– having regard to the report of 10 June 2025 by the EIB Group entitled ‘Complaints Mechanism – 2024 annual report’,

– having regard to the EIB Audit Committee annual reports for the year 2024, published on 12 September 2025,

– having regard to the EIB Group report of 26 June 2024 entitled ‘EIB Group support for EU businesses: Evidence of impact in addressing market failures’,

– having regard to the joint communication from the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of 5 March 2024 entitled ‘A new European Defence Industrial Strategy: Achieving EU readiness through a responsive and resilient European Defence Industry’ (JOIN(2024)0010),

– having regard to European Court of Auditors (ECA) Special Report 22/2024 of 21 October 2024 entitled ‘Double funding from the EU budget’,

– having regard to ECA Special Report 07/2025 of 19 March 2025 entitled ‘The European Fund for Strategic Investments’,

– having regard to the report by the EIB Group of 8 August 2025 entitled ‘December 2024 European Investment Bank Group Risk Management Disclosure Report’,

– having regard to the EIB Group Investigations Activity Report 2024, published on 4 August 2025,

– having regard to the joint communication of 19 March 2025 from the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy entitled ‘Joint White Paper for European Defence Readiness 2030’ (JOIN(2025)0120),

– having regard to the report by the EIB Group of July 2025 entitled ‘EIB Group’s contribution to the European Union’s 2021 – 2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF): A synthesis of evaluative evidence’,

– having regard to ECA Opinion 01/2026 of 12 January 2026,

– having regard to statement CC 1/2025 of the Contact Committee of the Supreme Audit Institutions of the European Union of 30 September 2025 on the external public audit of the European Investment Bank,

– having regard to the report by Enrico Letta of 17 April 2024 entitled ‘Much more than a market – Speed, Security, Solidarity: Empowering the single market to deliver a sustainable future and prosperity for all EU citizens’ (Letta report),

– having regard to the report of 25 April 2024 by the committee of experts chaired by Christian Noyer entitled ‘Developing European capital markets to finance the future’,

– having regard to the report of 9 September 2024 by Mario Draghi entitled ‘The future of European competitiveness’ (Draghi report),

– having regard to the press statement by the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, of 4 March 2025 on the defence package,

– having regard to the EIB Group list of excluded activities, published on 17 July 2025,

– having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A10-0086/2026),

A. whereas the EIB Group consists of the EIB – the world’s largest multilateral financial institution, wholly owned by EU Member States – and the European Investment Fund (EIF); whereas the activities of a public bank should be to tackle clear market failures and investment gaps where private finance is lacking;

B. whereas the EIB Group should, according to the provisions of the EU Treaties, contribute to the balanced and steady development of the internal market in the interest of the Union; whereas its investments should focus on projects delivering demonstrable additionality and value for money and aiming at developing the internal market, or projects of common interest that cannot be entirely financed by the means available in a Member State;

C. whereas EIB financing should complement, not replace, national budgets and private finance and respect the subsidiarity principle, in particular in policy areas of primarily national competence; whereas EIB financing must provide clear EU added value and demonstrate measurable results in terms of genuine additionality;

D. whereas the EIB Group contributes to the promotion of economic, social, and territorial cohesion within the EU and supports the Union’s development cooperation policy through measures implemented outside the EU;

E. whereas the Letta and Draghi reports on the future of the EU call for the EU’s competitiveness to be strengthened, emphasise the vital role of market integration and underscore the need to accelerate both public and private investment to build a stronger Europe; whereas the EIB Group has a key role, in particular through the EIF, in supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), thereby enhancing their ability to access financial markets; whereas the EIB’s role in housing should be assessed against additionality criteria and complement national efforts rather than substitute for them;

F. whereas the EIB’s AAA credit rating constitutes a strategic asset for the European Union and its Member States;

G. whereas this report focuses on the control dimension of EIB activities and assesses value for money, accountability and the sound management of EU resources; whereas the continuous expansion of the EIB’s mandate and the increase in EU budget guarantees backing the EIB’s operations make it legitimate and necessary for the level of external scrutiny to grow correspondingly;

H. whereas democratic accountability must keep pace with the EIB’s evolving role; whereas the depth and quality of Parliament’s oversight of the EIB’s financial operations should be in line with the intensity of EIB-Commission cooperation, which has become very significant; whereas the EIB’s growing role should be accompanied by greater democratic accountability and transparency; whereas increased parliamentary scrutiny would enhance the EIB’s democratic accountability and this requires transparent reporting, audit access and structured follow-up to Parliament’s recommendations;

I. whereas effective whistleblower protection and investigative journalism contribute to fraud prevention and to the pursuit of sound financial management, because they enhance transparency and public scrutiny;

J. whereas the EIB is owned by the Member States, with its EUR 248.8 billion in subscribed capital representing a taxpayer liability; whereas EIB borrowing does not appear in national debt statistics; whereas this off-balance-sheet nature makes rigorous efficiency standards and external audit essential; whereas the expansion of the EIB’s mandate must be matched by the strengthening of external audit arrangements;

K. whereas the EIB Group has internal mechanisms for accountability, which are, however, not a substitute for independent external democratic control and oversight by the ECA;

L. whereas, under the current Treaty framework and the EIB Statute, cooperation between the EIB and Parliament in the context of the annual control report is largely based on informal arrangements and established practices rather than on binding institutional obligations;

M. whereas the EIB’s business model demands the highest standards of integrity, accountability and transparency, and adequate measures need to be adopted and continuously updated to avoid financing all forms of fraud, money laundering, terrorism, and organised crime and tax avoidance;

N. whereas the EIB plays a key role in advancing the Union’s external objectives through its lending activities in non-EU countries, including through EIB Global, launched in 2022, which is to be aligned with the EU’s policies and priorities around the world; whereas effective cooperation with partner countries on migration management, including readmission and return of migrants who have no legal right to stay in the Union, is a relevant consideration in the context of the EU’s external lending framework;

O. whereas staff at all levels of the EIB Group, including senior management and the Board, should be gender and geographically well-balanced, while fully respecting merit-based selection principles; whereas staff well-being and a transparent and fair human resources framework are material to institutional resilience and integrity;

Financial operations and performance