European Investment Bank launches EUR1 billion bioeconomy financing initiative

In Luxembourg, the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced the launch of a new financing initiative that aims to unlock close to EUR1 billion of investment in the agriculture and bioeconomy sector. Bioeconomy encompasses the value chains of production and the processing of food, material and energy using renewable biological resources from land and sea. This large EIB lending program for agriculture and bioeconomy outlines the Bank’s broader support to this sector. The operation will be guaranteed by the EU budget under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), which forms a central part of the “Investment Plan for Europe” of the European Commission under the Juncker administration. In a new Regulation applicable from early 2018, the scope of EFSI was extended to include a specific sectorial focus on sustainable agriculture and the wider bioeconomy.