The European Investment Bank: Accountable Only to the Market?

International financial institutions (IFIs) around the world have been asked in recent years to take on new policy issues, in an effort to improve their performance and transparency. Many have made a concerted effort to do so, although to mixed reviews. One important exception is the European Investment Bank (EIB), a secretive bank of the European Union (EU). When other IFIs are taking steps to address these policy issues, the EIB has shown the least amount of change.

This report focuses on EIB performance and lending outside the EU, mostly in Central and Eastern Europe, which is the main area of interest of the CEE Bankwatch Network. It argues that the EIB has shown a notable disregard for addressing a number of important policy issues, such as environment, transparency and accountability or public participation. It also puts together a number of recommendations for changes necessary to improve EIB's performance.

The study is also available in French (pdf) and German (pdf) language.