The social development bank for Europe

70 years
Investing in people
For people

e finance projects that make life better for millions of Europeans. For seven decades we have invested over €93 billion in schools, hospitals, affordable homes, greener cities, skills and sustainable jobs.

We work with governments, financial institutions, social entities and partners globally with a clear social mission:

To build a more resilient Europe, together, and leave no one behind.

#CEB70 in figures

countries in Europe

Growing from eight founding members.

€93 billion

for social investment projects

Loan activity accelerated in the past 20 years in response to major European and international crises, ushering in new demands for social investment.

2 300

social investment projects financed

Key dates

CEB's gradual transformation into a fully-fledged, multilateral development bank with an exclusively social vocation has been inextricably linked with the history of the European continent itself.

The CEB was created by eight Council of Europe member countries to finance the resettlement of refugees after the Second World War.

The Vienna Summit of the Council of Europe saw a wave of new member countries from Central, Eastern and then South-East Europe joining the CEB.

The Strasbourg Summit widened the CEB’s mandate to include strengthening social cohesion.

The Warsaw Summit invited the CEB to contribute to the development of a free, democratic and more inclusive European society.

In the wake of the influx of migrants and refugees from Syria, the Middle East and Northern Africa into Europe, the CEB established its Migrant and Refugee Fund.

From emergency measures to ramping up resilience, the CEB supported member countries with close to €4 billion in loans to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

CEB’s 2023-2027 Strategic Framework and a historic capital increase were approved. With a participation rate of over 95%, the capital increase signalled the membership’s strong confidence in the CEB’s social mission and its ability to deliver.

Ukraine joined the CEB as the 43rd member country. Supporting Ukraine's recovery is one of the CEB’s strategic priorities.

The CEB held the rotating chair of the Heads of Multilateral Development Banks Group for the first time and hosted the MDB Heads at its Headquarters in Paris.

Warsaw Joint Meeting 70th anniversary