Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) EUROPEAN COMMISSION ESF COMMITTEE 23 September 2005 Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) Krzysztof J. NERS Vice-Governor

A multilateral development bank with a social vocation A European public financial institution set up in 1956 by 8 member countries of the Council of Europe 38 member States today Among them 16 Central and Eastern European countries since 1994

Key figures Outstanding loan portfolio: € 11.1 billion Total assets: € 16.4 billion Own funds: € 4.5 billion Loans disbursed in 2004: € 1.5 billion AAA Rating (Moody’s, S&P, Fitch) (figures at June 2005)

3 action lines  Social integration: Aid to refugees, migrants and displaced populations Social housing Job creation and preservation in SMEs and vocational training Urban and rural modernisation

3 action lines  Human capital:  Environment: Education Health Natural or ecological disasters: reconstruction and preventive action Protection of the environment Preservation of historic and cultural heritage

Operating principles The Bank finances projects in its member countries By way of medium/long-term loans Up to 50% * of total project cost Two key elements of added value of CEB’s intervention: low cost of “AAA” rating funding benefit passed on to clients (i.e. rates way below commercial banks/capital markets levels) technical assistance and project monitoring * Up to 90% of total project cost in specific regions/countries

Borrowers CEB may intervene either: directly:  Member states or indirectly:  Local or regional authorities  Financial institutions

Recent examples of projects with « high social content » Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro: Provision of housing to support the refugee return process Romania: Child protection programme Spain: Social housing for migrants Hungary: Social integration of Roma (housing, education, employment) Baltic states: Micro-credit schemes and SME support for women entrepreneurship.

Example in Poland Alleviation of social effects of the restructuring of the hard-coal mining and the steel and heavy chemical industries in Silesia and Maloposkie investments in SMEs to increase economic activities and to promote new employment opportunities Training and small business incubators (capacity building, improvement of the regional skill base) municipal infrastructure (physical local infrastructure and communication) This program fits within the EU, National and regional strategies

Value added of a broader cooperation with the EU and other IFIs Exchange of experiences throughout Europe (pilot projects, innovative approaches with high social content) Support to social policies, capacity building and good governance in order ensure sustainable development Co-financing with the EU structural funds, pre- accession EU funds and other IFIs financing

Increased institutional and financial cooperation with the EU Memorandum of Understanding (2000) Examples of concrete cooperation : ESF (Spain - training programme for the Roma population ) European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) (Spain, Portugal, Italy) ISPA (Hungary, Poland) SMEs and Municipal Facilities in new member states and candidate countries (with PHARE and KfW) CARDS (Western Balkans) and European Agency for Reconstruction (Serbia and Montenegro) EIB (Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, Spain, Turkey)

Increased involvement in the policy debate on social and economic development Support to the Social Cohesion Initiative for SEE (Stability Pact for South East Europe ) since 2000 Ministerial Conference on Social Housing in SEE (World Bank/CEB) 2003 Roma Education Fund (2005) Ministerial conference on Health and economic development in SEE (Skopje – 25- 26 November 2005) (WHO/COE/CEB)