The European Investment Bank should become less risk-averse but cautious, Labour MEP Alfred Sant said at a meeting of the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) Committee.

Sant acknowledged that the bank is a successful institution in the European Union.

“However, sometimes the suspicion does creep in that it has been so successful because it has played it so safe and that it has always been really featured, or featuring, in investments that are triple A basically, where commercial investments from banking could have been as fruitful”, he noted. To this end, Sant suggested that the time is ripe for the European Investment Bank to better open towards riskier investment.

Alfred Sant is the S&D shadow rapporteur for the European Investment Bank 2022 annual report. The main issues that he will be raising during this process include the regional outreach of the European Investment Bank financing and its attractiveness to certain European regions and economic sectors, his office said. One other issue is the need to have a stronger focus from the European Investment Bank on the social element of its financing – including in sectors such as housing, education sector and health.

The Labour MEP emphasized that the European Union should embark on new discussions to make and help the European Investment Bank become less risk averse but cautious. At the same time, the bank should be open to generate more investment. To date, this challenge was not being tackled well enough, he claimed.

On the social dimension, he argued that the bank still lags on issues of governance and the social responsibility of investments.

Sant stressed that the exposure of the European Investment Bank to non-European sectors of investments, is something that needs to be looked at rigorously and critically. This includes the impact of the internal market on SME investment. He highlighted that the role of the trickle down, towards SME investment is unclear, and it has not been transparent and effective.