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The president of the European Funding Financial institution Group (EIB), Nadia Calviño, introduced a brand new financing package deal value €3 billion for agriculture, forestry, and fishing throughout Europe, coupled with measures to strengthen agricultural insurance coverage. The EIB Group’s loans might be mixed with equal participation from different monetary establishments, thus unlocking long-term investments of roughly €8.4 billion for the bioeconomy sector.
The brand new financing package deal marks the EIB’s largest monetary initiative for European agriculture and targets small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in addition to mid-cap firms. The funding might be allotted over the subsequent three years, with the primary loans anticipated to be signed within the first half of 2025.
A portion of the loans might be allotted to younger farmers or new farmers, as they often discover it tougher to acquire conventional financial institution financing. The monetary assist may even give attention to girls farmers to handle gender imbalance in agriculture, in addition to on inexperienced investments to assist the European Union’s sustainability targets.
Agriculture is a crucial a part of European life and a productive a part of our financial system and safety. The EIB Group’s financing introduced right now will assist safe the long run for a brand new technology of farmers and companies lively within the agri-food sector and the bioeconomy worth chain,” mentioned EIB President Nadia Calviño on the EU Agri-Meals Days convention in Brussels right now.
Agriculture and Meals Commissioner, Christophe Hansen, mentioned: “I welcome the EIB’s robust dedication to supporting the EU’s rural neighborhood, particularly younger farmers and ladies farmers. Bridging the financing hole within the sector is important, and with the assist of the EIB Group, we give agriculture the instruments it must flourish. We’ll work carefully with the EIB to make sure that this financing alternative is absolutely exploited, delivering the most effective outcomes. Collectively, we guarantee a sustainable future for the sector.”
The brand new funding goals to advertise investments in a spread of actions, together with soil well being, digital instruments, water administration, and local weather change resilience. Moreover, it goals to reinforce coaching in sustainable agricultural practices and the acquisition of land by younger farmers or new farmers, contributing to the rise within the proportion of European farmers underneath 40 years previous (12%) and the proportion of girls (31.6%).
“We’re rising our assist for agriculture and the bioeconomy, utilizing a variety of progressive instruments,” mentioned EIB Vice President Gelsomina Vigliotti. By working with companions throughout the worth chain, we purpose to contribute to addressing agriculture’s triple problem of manufacturing inexpensive meals, defending rural manufacturing, and farmers’ livelihoods within the face of local weather change, and preserving the setting and pure sources.
To make sure favorable lending phrases, the package deal permits for the supplementation of financing with rate of interest subsidies or capital grants inside the EU and nationwide budgets. Taking part monetary establishments will obtain extra advisory assist by means of the Inexperienced Gateway packages and the improved Inexperienced Eligibility Checker – a web-based software for assessing the eligibility and local weather influence of inexperienced funding plans.
As a part of its elevated assist for the bioeconomy, the EIB Group is exploring methods to enhance agricultural insurance coverage towards more and more frequent excessive climate occasions, reminiscent of floods and droughts. It’s going to collaborate with the European Fee, the insurance coverage business, and different stakeholders to look at choices for enhancing the EU’s assist for current insurance coverage methods, alongside pan-European measures to speed up funding in local weather adaptation or present higher liquidity and credit score danger protection for firms affected by local weather disasters.
The brand new initiatives are a part of the EIB Group’s motion plan inside the framework of the “Strategic Dialogue for the Way forward for EU Agriculture” initiated by European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen in January 2024. This dialogue is a brand new discussion board geared toward growing a standard understanding and shaping a standard imaginative and prescient for the long run agricultural and meals system of the EU.
The EIB Group will work carefully with the European Fee to implement this plan, aiming to maximise public funding sources whereas mobilizing non-public capital leverage and concurrently decreasing the dangers of personal capital within the agricultural sector.
The EIB Group’s motion plan additionally consists of:
– A enterprise debt program, which is able to present loans to progressive firms throughout the agricultural worth chain, engaged, for instance, in new applied sciences, the event of funds for ecosystem companies, or sustainable biofuel and biomaterial applied sciences.
– Assure schemes that will make the most of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Improvement (EAFRD) and/or nationwide sources inside the framework of Frequent Agricultural Coverage strategic plans.
– A non-public fairness program to assist European fund managers specializing in European progressive applied sciences and options for the way forward for meals (agritech, meals expertise) and attracting non-public buyers within the sector.
– An expanded vary of direct lending to medium and huge counterparties to incorporate not solely cooperatives but in addition different farmer organizations or entities, reminiscent of irrigation communities, associations for the upkeep of dams and levees, or forest upkeep.
– Improve assist for infrastructure in rural areas, reminiscent of highway networks, schooling, and agricultural water administration. (12/12/2024)
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