News

Governor Wenzel on an official visit to Norway

13 November 2015

The Governor of the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), Rolf Wenzel, made an official visit to Norway, where he held meetings with senior government officials.

On 13 November, Governor Wenzel met with State Secretary Elsbeth Sande Tronstad, with whom he discussed the migrant and refugee crisis and other current developments. He informed the State Secretary about the initiatives that the Bank had taken in order to assist its members in their response to the crisis, particularly the new Migrant and Refugee Fund.

Governor Wenzel participated in a seminar entitled “The CEB: its role and potential for cooperation with Norway”, which presented the activities of the Bank and explored areas of possible future cooperation. Also participating in the seminar were Director General Anne Lund and representatives of Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Finance and the Norwegian Association of Regional and Local Authorities.

A member of the CEB since 1978, Norway has had an excellent cooperation with the Bank. It established the Norway Trust Account (NTA) in 2003 and co-founded the Human Rights Trust Fund in 2008 to finance technical assistance for projects in the areas of human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe.

In 2012 Norway committed €5 million to the Regional Housing Programme (RHP), which is managed by the CEB. Norwegian Kommunalbanken AS has had loans approved by the CEB for social projects in 2001 and 2004.   

Set up in 1956, the CEB (Council of Europe Development Bank) has 41 member states. Twenty-two Central, Eastern and South Eastern European countries, forming the Bank's target countries, are listed among the member states. As a major instrument of the policy of solidarity in Europe, the Bank finances social projects by making available resources raised in conditions reflecting the quality of its rating (Aa1 with Moody's, outlook stable, AA+ with Standard & Poor's, outlook stable and AA+ with Fitch Ratings, outlook stable). It thus grants loans to its member states, and to financial institutions and local authorities in its member states for the financing of projects in the social sector, in accordance with its Articles of Agreement.