1. 18 June 2015 René-Laurent BALLAGUY, Evaluation Expert & Team Leader
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Evaluation of the EIB Group’s support to the European knowledge-based economy Presentation to DG REGIO Evaluation network
18 June 2015
René-Laurent BALLAGUY, Evaluation Expert & Team Leader
European Investment Bank

2. European Investment Bank
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Outline
Context and Background
Scope and Methodology
Main conclusions and findings
Areas for improvement
Lessons learned
Next steps
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European Investment Bank

3. European Investment Bank Group
The EIB Group
Providing finance and expertise for sound and sustainable investment projects Supporting entrepreneurship and leadership in Europe
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European Investment Bank Group

4. European Investment Bank Group
The EU bank
Natural financing partner for the EU institutions since 1958
Around 90% of lending is within the EU
Shareholders: 28 EU Member States
Investing in Europe’s growth
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European Investment Bank Group

5. European Investment Bank Group
The EIB at a glance
Largest multilateral lender and borrower in the world (EUR 80bn each)
Raise our funds on the international capital markets
Pass on favourable borrowing conditions to clients
Some 440 projects each year in over 160 countries
Headquartered in Luxembourg and 30 local offices
Around staff:
Not only finance professionals, but also engineers, sector economists and socio-environmental experts
More than 50 years of experience in financing projects
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European Investment Bank Group

6. Lending priorities and signed amount in 2014
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European Investment Bank Group

7. Scope of the evaluation
Assess the EIB Group’s (EIB and EIF) support to the strengthening of the European KE over the period
Same geographical scope and timeframe as FP7 (i.e. all EU 28 countries, EU Candidate and potential candidate countries, as well as the Associated Countries to the FP7)
All lending, blending or advisory types of KE-related activities developed by the EIB Group
Analysis of KE-related operations, organisation and strategy at the same time
KBE defined as: “an economy relying more on intangible investments (and intellectual capabilities) than on physical inputs (or tangible investments) to trigger economic growth and job creation”.
3 areas of operations : ICT, RDI and Education
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8. Methodology of the Evaluation
Desk review, interviews and focus groups for organisational and strategic activities
3 portfolio reviews (EIB lending, EIF activities, JASPERS assignments)
58 individual lending operations evaluated
7 EV team members plus 14 external evaluators
173 interviews and meetings with EIB/EIF officers or clients
12 site visits
22 months of team work in total (October July 2015)

9. EIB KE lending portfolio by sector
Portfolio analysis
EUR m
No. of projects
Structure of KE-related lending operations by category (loan amount signed, )
Average weight of 1.9% of EU KE expenditure and a total volume of loans of EUR 89bn over the period
EIB KE lending portfolio by sector
(Total EIB signed loan amount in each sector / total EU+ sector-related expenditures
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10. Weight of the EIB KE lending support
Financial support particularly important for certain convergence countries (such as Hungary, Poland, Latvia or Portugal) and for some KE areas in those countries (e.g. education in Portugal).
Countries with an EIB contribution above the EU 35 average
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11. Sectoral findings Education: RDI ICT
Concentration on tangible investments
Operations usually relevant and effective
High externalities
But difficult to measure economic performance
RDI
Mainly large corporates
Intangible and tangible investments
Strategic importance during economic downturns
Too soon to assess effects in some cases
ICT
Usually effective, efficient and sustainable
Often under-budget at completion  enlarged scope
Distribution by sectors
( portfolio by number of projects)
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European Investment Bank

12. Overall conclusions
Ambitious KE-related goals were set and on the whole met, but the strategic architecture of the EIB Group can be improved
New types of activities and additional means dedicated to KE have been put in place to better address specific needs. However, these means remain insufficient with regard to ambition and coordination between entities involved could still be enhanced
Projects performed well (for 81% of the sample, performance was at least satisfactory) although initial objectives and reporting modalities were not sufficiently explicit at appraisal
Effects engendered (on the environment, on knowledge production and dissemination) are significant but not systematically measure and identified
On financial and non-financial aspects, the EIB contribution is positive and countercyclical
Building a strategy on the concept of KE remains valid and relevant
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13. Areas for improvement Make EIB Knowledge Economy strategy more robust
Establish and apply a hierarchy of priorities in order to promote areas where the EIB contribution has been identified as higher
Better demonstrate EIB additionality and EIB’s contribution to the KE
Promote a more active prospection for new clients to better address market needs and gaps
Start working earlier with promoters on the ex-ante definition of objectives and ex-post reporting modalities for the operations.
Better align resources and incentives with KE goals and ambitions
Reinforce the coordination within the Group’s organisation in the field of KE
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14. Lessons learned from an evaluation perspective
Adding strategic and organisational aspects provides helicopter view but requires better integration with individual evaluations of operations
When such a large topic is considered, segmentation into “sub-evaluations” should be given serious thought ex-ante (while trying to avoid spreading ourselves too thin)
Other services (and sectoral experts in particular) should be involved as early as possible to improve leverage of EIB expertise when scoping evaluations (while at the same time trying to avoid instrumentalisation)
Focus groups are a good structure to start creating ownership from operational services
Collaboration with consultants allows to undertake a larger scope but expectations and methodology to be applied should be clear from the on-set
Having an extra budget for additional support on specific topics or to resolve unexpected problems increased the probability to deliver on time
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15. Next steps Management response under preparation
Management to discuss and validate response
Presentation CA/BoD : July 2015
Publication of the report: August/September 2015
Action plan for FUR: Q3/Q4 2015
FUR (by EV, start): Q4 2015
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16. European Investment Bank
Q&A
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European Investment Bank

17. evaluation@eib.org / ballaguy@eib.org
For more information
Internet: /
Tel.: – 88698
Fax:
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