European Investment Bank (EIB) Group’s shareholders, EU Member States are earmarking €70bn for TechEU, the EU’s largest funding programme aimed at supporting tech innovation in Europe.
On Friday, the EIB Board of Governors, composed of EU finance ministers, met in Luxembourg to announce an increase in the 2025 funding ceiling to €100 billion for 2025 to finance security and defence, energy networks, and technological advances.
The EIB said that the €100 billion allocation includes an increase to 3.5 per cent of total funding for the security and defence sector in Europe, funding of more than €11bn for power grids and storage in Europe, and increased support for EU technological and industrial innovation.
As part of the move, TechEU will provide €70 billion in EIB Group equity, quasi-equity, loans and guarantees in 2025-2027 and crowd in private capital to generate at least €250 billion in investments, EIB said.
The initiative will aim to provide increased support for supercomputing, AI, digital infrastructure, critical raw materials, green industries such as offshore wind, health, security and defence technologies, robotics and advanced materials.
It will target innovative companies at every stage of their development, from initial ideas to listing on the stock exchange.
The EIB Board has also approved the first wave of instruments under TechEU to support Europe’s leadership in cleantech, in line with the EU Clean Industrial Deal.
The initiative will include a €1.5 billion package to provide counter-guarantees, through partner banks, to power grid component manufacturers to ensure sustainable supply. #
The programme aims to give companies greater certainty for the start-up of electricity grids across Europe, facilitating the integration of renewable energy into the grid and the supply of affordable electricity to EU businesses and households.
The EIB and the European Commission also announced a €500 million pilot programme to support the uptake of more power purchase agreements (PPAs) by businesses, a €250m CleantechEU guarantee scheme and a €1.5 billion additional investment to support European manufacturers of wind turbines and components.
“The unanimous support of our shareholders, the 27 Member States, for our proposals to provide record financing for defence, energy security and tech leadership, shows the key role of the EIB Group to support Europe’s strategic priorities,” said EIB Group President Nadia Calviño.
“In a world where everything everywhere is changing all at once, the EU is a beacon of clarity, confidence and stability.”
