Committees

Post-Brexit relationship with the European Investment Bank examined by Committee

19 July 2018

The EU Financial Affairs Sub-Committee launches inquiry into the UK's post-Brexit relationship with the European Investment Bank (EIB).

Focus of the inquiry

The Committee seeks evidence on the following topics in particular:

  • How reliant are UK firms on EIB funding and investment?
  • How dependent are the UK venture capital and SME sectors on European Investment Fund (EIF) financing?
  • Has the future withdrawal of the UK affected the ease of securing affordable finance?
  • What options are there for future participation in the EIB's lending programmes? Could the UK remain a member of the EIB or should the Government focus on the Investment Fund to be incubated by the British Business Bank?
  • What difference has the additional £400 million available to the British Business Bank made to funding opportunities for the UK's venture capital industry?
  • How should the UK support those sectors who may lose EIB funding post-Brexit?
  • What lessons from the performance of the EIB might the UK learn if it were to try to step into any gap in EIB funding?
  • If the UK were to develop alternative sources of finance, how long might it take to do so?

Chairman's comments

Baroness Falkner of Margravine, Chair of the EU Financial Affairs Sub-Committee, said:

"The European Investment Bank is the largest multilateral lender in the world and the UK has benefited substantially from this relationship - in 2015 the UK received £5.6 billion from the EIB, which supported £16 billion of overall investment.

"The Committee will consider how we might continue to participate in the EIB, and UK alternatives to it. There is evidence that funding to the UK is already declining, so we will also explore what short-term actions might be required to support businesses negatively affected by this loss.

"We encourage, and welcome, submissions of written evidence from anyone with knowledge of and an interest in the European Investment Bank."

Timeline

The deadline for written submissions is 14 September 2018.

 Further information

Image: European Investment Bank