Over the past years, the EIB has developed a solid cooperation framework with several International Financing Institutions (IFIs) and other international and European organisations operating in the region.

The European Commission

With a view to supporting EU external action by Council Decision 2006/1016/EC, the EIB is granted a Community guarantee against losses under loans and loan guarantees outside the Community.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding signed on 26 May 2008 between the EIB and the European Commission, based on the Council Decision 2006/1016/EC, the Commission has been given a key role in consolidating the policy dialogue between the two institutions in respect of cooperation and coordination in the regions outside the EU. The EIB shall request the EU Commission's opinion on all financing operations within the framework of the procedure provided for in Article 19 of the Statute of the EIB.

Following the ruling by the European Court of Justice (6 November 2008) recognising the right of co-decision of the European Parliament over the EIB external lending mandate, both the European Parliament and the Council adopted Decision No 633/2009/EC of 13 July 2009, which now constitutes the current legal framework to grant a EU guarantee to the EIB against losses under loans and loan guarantees for projects outside the EU.

According to Decision No 633/2009/EC of 13 July 2009, the EU guarantee shall cover EIB financing operations signed during the period beginning on 1 February 2007 and ending on 31 October 2011. In case no agreement has been reached between the two institutions on the mandate until this latter date, that period shall be automatically extended by 6 months.

In any case, the EIB operations signed under the previous Council Decisions 2006/1016/EC and 2008/847/EC, as well as the operations already signed under Decision 633/2009/EC, shall continue to benefit from the EU guarantee.

Cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

EIB operations in Central Asia are carried out in close cooperation with the EBRD on the basis of a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the EIB, the EBRD and the European Commission.

The two institutions share appraisal work and carry out joint appraisal missions. Labour is typically divided in a manner that the EBRD performs the financial analysis / projections modelling and the security structuring, and the EIB the project technical/economic appraisal work. The two institutions then use the work of the other institution as input to their respective, independent, credit and project evaluations.