Actualités
CEB participates in the Steering Committee of the WBIF
15 juin 2017
STOCKHOLM –The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) participated in the sixteenth meeting of the Steering Committee of Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) on 13-14 June 2017, which was hosted by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), currently the co-chair of the WBIF.
On this occasion, donors to the WBIF re-confirmed that the instrument should support projects in the environmental and social sectors through investment grants, in addition to projects related to the connectivity agenda agreed during the 2014 Western Balkans Six Summit in Berlin. Donors agreed to support a CEB-financed prison project in “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”. Bilateral donors also demonstrated their support for the WBIF by pledging € 5 million in additional funding and announcing further contributions in the future.
The WBIF was established in 2009 as a multilateral initiative of the EU, International Financial Institutions (IFIs), bilateral donors and the governments of the Western Balkan countries. It provides technical assistance and investment grants, which are blended with IFI loans, to finance projects to improve infrastructure, foster socio-economic development and speed up EU accession in the Western Balkan countries.
The CEB is one of the founding members of the WBIF. Six of the CEB member countries are beneficiaries of the WBIF: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.” The CEB’s present lending to the Western Balkans countries exceeds € 800 million.
Fondée en 1956, la CEB (Banque de Développement du Conseil de l'Europe) compte 41 États membres, dont 22 pays d'Europe centrale, orientale et du Sud-Est formant les pays cibles de la Banque. En tant qu'instrument majeur de la politique de solidarité en Europe, la Banque finance des projets sociaux en mettant à leur disposition des ressources levées dans des conditions reflétant la qualité de sa notation (Aa1 auprès de Moody's, perspective stable, AA+ auprès de Standard & Poor's, perspective stable et AA+ auprès de Fitch Ratings, perspective stable). Elle accorde des prêts à ses États membres, à des établissements financiers et à des autorités locales pour le financement de projets dans le secteur social, conformément à son Statut.