Agriculture: Commission and EIB approve €700 million of financing under the Investment Plan for Europe amid coronavirus pandemic

Yesterday, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced the launch of a new financing initiative that aims to unlock close to €1.6 billion of investment in the agriculture and bioeconomy sector. The financing aims to support private companies operating throughout the value chains of production and processing of food, bio-based materials and bioenergy. The programme will contribute to safeguard and create employment in rural areas and therefore promote rural development and territorial integration across the EU. The programme is a continuation of the first €400 million agriculture and bioeconomy programme loan that was launched in 2018 and is nearly fully committed. Commissioner Wojciechowski said: “The coronavirus pandemic affects every single one of us and every single sector. In this dramatic context, I warmly welcome this second step in EIB’s strategy under the Investment Plan to finance measures deploying a support plan for the agri-food sector. I am strongly convinced that this will be a very important and useful instrument in helping the sector remain robust and resilient to overcome the crisis.” More information is available online.