CEB and InvestEU

In November 2022, the European Commission (EC) and the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) signed an EU budget guarantee agreement under the InvestEU Fund worth up to €159 million. The agreement is expected to mobilise around €500 million in additional financing for social projects in EU member states*. This was followed, in January 2023, by the signature of a contribution agreement of up to €9.8 million in EU and CEB grant support under the InvestEU Advisory Hub.

InvestEU Fund

What type of financing?

Supported by the InvestEU Guarantee, CEB provides direct financing (loans) for projects that enhance social inclusion.

In line with its exclusively social mandate, the Bank’s InvestEU product directly contributes to the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan and associated EU policies and priorities.

Which policy objectives?

Under the InvestEU, CEB will help unlock €500 million of investments in support of the InvestEU Social Investment and Skills Window (SISW): Financing projects in skills, education, training, social housing, schools, universities, hospitals, social innovation, healthcare, long-term care and accessibility, microfinance, social enterprise, integration of migrants, refugees and vulnerable people and more.

In particular, through InvestEU, CEB aims to further increase its support for:

• Social, affordable and student housing
• Education, employment, and skills
• Health care, long-term care and social care.

In addition, in line with CEB’s Strategic Framework, the projects will support cross-cutting themes such as climate action, gender equality, and digitalisation.

Who is eligible?

• Governments
• Local or regional authorities
• Financial institutions (e.g. microfinance institutions, loan funds, credit unions)
• Other public or private entities (e.g. social enterprises, associations, foundations, social infrastructure operators)

Borrowers must be located in an EU member state*.

How to access InvestEU funding via the CEB?

As detailed here, in order to access CEB funding, loan applications should include the following information:

• Brief description of the project and its alignment with the policy objectives listed above
• Project’s financial aspects (e.g. loan amount, estimated project cost, financing plan) and implementation schedule
• Summary of your profile (e.g. legal status, years in operation, etc.).

In line with the Loan and Project Financing Policy, loan applications must be approved and submitted to the CEB by the respective national authorities.

* Except for Austria that is not a CEB member state.

InvestEU Advisory Hub

What type of financing?

The EC and the CEB have allocated a grant of up to €9.8 million to provide technical assistance and advisory support for projects that meet the InvestEU policy objectives.

What type of support?

The InvestEU Advisory Hub complements the InvestEU Fund. The policy objectives set for CEB’s Advisory Hub initiatives are the same as those established for the InvestEU Fund projects. In particular, the CEB’s Advisory Hub initiatives may support project promoters by providing:

• Advisory services, such as project identification/preparation & development/planning & implementation; financial structuring; and the establishment of investment platforms and blending facilities.
• Capacity building for microfinance institutions. This includes: training and coaching, knowledge sharing, specialised consulting services, development of manuals/guidelines, organisation of exchange visits, other activities that could improve the participating organisations’ strategic planning and/or overall performance.
• Assistance and advice on the specific subject of the impact of the displacements of people from Ukraine. This includes advisory and technical support to help address the early migrant integration challenges (such as housing, education, healthcare) and at a later stage migrant employment and access to finance.
• Information, research outputs and data, as applicable, collected from market assessments conducted by CEB, under the InvestEU Advisory Hub, in six priority segments of the social investment and skills window (affordable social housing; healthcare; universities and life-long learning and vocational training centres; student housing; elderly housing; early childhood education).

How to access InvestEU Advisory Hub support?

The InvestEU Advisory Hub support can be accessed through a central entry point, managed by the EC.

The central entry point provides access to a set of questions whose role is to identify the user’s advisory needs and the potential advisory partner, such as the CEB, most suitable to address them. While submitting your advisory request, you may indicate the CEB as the preferred advisory partner for your project.

You can find more information here or by sending a request directly to CEB at: InvestEU-CEB@coebank.org.

About InvestEU

The InvestEU programme will provide the EU with crucial long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It will also help mobilise private investments for the EU's policy priorities, such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition.

The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub, and the InvestEU Portal.

The InvestEU Fund will be implemented through financial partners who will invest in projects using an overall EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The budgetary guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investment.

For more information

• About the InvestEU Fund
• Questions and answers: InvestEU
• Final recipients supported by the CEB under InvestEU
• About the InvestEU Advisory Hub
• Frequently asked question: InvestEU Advisory Hub
• Contact: InvestEU-CEB@coebank.org