The European Investment Bank (EIB) has given the green light to a financing package worth 3 billion euros for Airbus, with the aim of supporting its research, development, and innovation initiatives until 2030 in Spain, France, and Germany. This is the largest corporate loan approved to date by the European Union's financial institution.
As the first tranche of this program, both parties signed an initial credit of 1 billion euros this Monday in Brussels. These funds will be allocated to investments in advanced technologies for commercial aviation and in security and defense systems, with the goal of strengthening Europe's technological and industrial capacity in the aerospace sector.
The EIB detailed in a statement that this operation is structured with financing conditions that include extended repayment periods and greater flexibility, in order to facilitate the development of large industrial programs that require long time horizons.
"The EIB Group is deploying its full potential to strengthen Europe's technological autonomy, industrial base, and economic competitiveness," stated the institution's president, Nadia Calviño, during the signing ceremony held in Brussels.
Furthermore, she emphasized that the validation of the operation in just six months since its request "demonstrates that Europe can act quickly and on a large scale to support its champions and consolidate its position in the new geopolitical landscape."