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  • New strategy aims to fight existing inequalities and potential new ones triggered by climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic
  • A Just Europe and a Green Europe are the overarching objectives

The EU ministers responsible for spatial planning and territorial development and/or territorial cohesion agreed today on the Territorial Agenda 2030, an action-oriented policy framework to promote territorial cohesion and ensure a sustainable future for all places and people in Europe. The European Investment Bank (EIB) has actively participated in its preparation and stands ready to contribute to its successful implementation through its lending, grant-loan blending and advisory services. The new Territorial Agenda sets out an active role for the EIB in financing sustainable investments of all sizes in the areas covered by the framework, with the Bank contributing to pilot actions initiated by EU Member States. It defines two overarching objectives, namely a Just Europe and a Green Europe, with six priorities for developing the European territory as a whole (see Figure 1).

Lilyana Pavlova, EIB vice-president responsible for economic and social cohesion financing, said: “We welcome the adoption of the Territorial Agenda 2030 and fully support it. For more than 60 years, the EIB has played an important role in tackling territorial disparities, and we will certainly continue to do so by devoting a substantial share of our financing and advising activities to this goal. At the same time, the Agenda also works towards a greener Europe. A transition to an environmentally friendly and climate neutral society where no one is left behind is of strategic importance for the EIB - Europe’s climate bank.”

Read the speech given by Vice-President Pavlova at the informal meeting of ministers responsible for territorial cohesion here.

Read more from our regional development experts about spatial inequalities and how the EIB helps address them here.

Figure 1

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Background information

The EIB’s annual target for cohesion lending is 30% of all new operations in the European Union, Pre-Accession and EFTA countries and the Bank has met this target consistently. In the period 2015-2019, the EIB provided €84.4 billion to projects in EU cohesion regions. By launching its Climate Bank Roadmap, the EIB has committed to aligning all its financing activities with the principles and goals of the Paris Agreement by the end of this year and to dedicate 50% of its total lending to climate action and environmental sustainability by 2025.