EIB plans €140 million investment in Deutsche Bank fund

The infrastructure fund focuses on the energy, water, telecoms, waste and transport sectors and has a target size of €2 billion, the EIB said. EU and European Free Trade Association countries are expected to contribute at least 85% of the funds, it said.

Most of the fund's infrastructure investments will either require a full environmental impact assessment (EIA) or a screening decision by the national competent authority to say that an EIA is not needed, the EIB said.

The fund is required to ensure that its investments respect relevant EU directives and the environmental and social standards of the EIB, it said.

The EIB board of directors has yet to approve the proposed investment, the EIB said. 

The EIB approved €3bn in new financing for 17 projects across Europe in June, including clean transport and energy initiatives. The projects included research and development of new wind turbines in Germany, investment in research intensive early stage life science companies in Ireland and the UK, equity financing of small infrastructure projects in France and energy transmission in Italy.

The projects announced in June are backed by the EU budget guarantee under the European Fund for strategic Investments (EFSI). The EFSI was established last year by the EIB as a joint initiative of the European Commission and the EIB. It will manage a guarantee from the EU budget of €16bn and an EIB contribution of €5bn to trigger private and public investment of €315bn.