Latest news with #Luxembourg
Zawya
2 hours ago
- Business
- Zawya
EU to lift EIB lending limit to $115bln in defence push
LONDON/BRUSSELS - EU governments have agreed to lift the annual spending of the bloc's powerful European Investment Bank (EIB) lending arm to 100 billion euros ($115 billion) this year and treble its funding for the EU's defence industry. Sources briefed on the plans said the decision was approved at an EIB board meeting in Luxembourg ahead of a formal sign-off expected by EU finance ministers later on Friday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was not yet public. The new 100 billion euro annual spending ceiling is more than 10 billion euros above the amount the EIB lent last year and 5 billion higher than 95 billion euros the bank's President Nadia Calvino set as a target at the start of the year. It will also allow it to more than treble its funding for defence-related projects. The amount will go up 3.5 billion euros from 1 billion euros last year and be well above the 2 billion euros it had flagged would be spent back in January, the sources said. The EIB is prohibited from investing directly in weapons or ammunition but it can lend for so-called "dual use" purposes, such as GPS systems or buildings and infrastructure for army bases. It has signed off on funding for one such base in Lithuania near the border with Belarus where German troops are due to be permanently deployed on foreign soil for the first time since the Nazi military in World War II. European nations are scrambling to ramp up their defence spending amid pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump who has signalled plans to reduce the decades-long U.S. security backstop for the continent. It also comes just days before a NATO summit in The Hague where the alliance's members are under pressure to raise their defence commitments. The increased EIB lending is set to funnel money into other areas as well, the sources said, including technology innovation and renewable energy. It follows a mid-year review of its operational plan and comes after it got approval last year to raise its so-called gearing ratio, which sets out a nominal maximum for the amount of loans on its balance sheet as a percentage of its subscribed capital. EU officials said the bank, already the biggest multilateral lender in the world, is also likely to announce plans to pump 70 billion euros into the development of European technology firms over the next three years. The programme, called Tech EU, aims to help Europe better compete with China and the United States in the race for cutting-edge tech like supercomputing, robotics and artificial intelligence as well as renewable energy. The 70 billion euros funding is to be split into 20 billion euros for equity and quasi-equity, 40 billion euros for loans and 10 billion for guarantees in 2025-2027, the officials said. They hope the money to mobilise a further 250 billion euros of private investor funding and complement broader European Commission efforts to support startups and higher risk ventures. ($1 = 0.8727 euros)
Reuters
4 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
EU to lift EIB lending limit to 100 billion euros in defence push, sources say
LONDON/BRUSSELS, June 20 (Reuters) - EU governments have agreed to lift the annual spending of the bloc's powerful European Investment Bank (EIB) lending arm to 100 billion euros ($115 billion) this year and treble its funding for the EU's defence industry, said sources briefed on the plans. The sources said the decision was approved at an EIB board meeting in Luxembourg ahead of a formal sign off expected by EU finance ministers later on Friday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was not yet public. The new 100 billion euro annual spending ceiling is more than 10 billion euros above the amount the EIB lent last year and 5 billion higher than 95 billion euros the bank's President Nadia Calvino set as a target at the start of the year. It will also allow it to more than treble its funding for defence-related projects. The amount will go up 3.5 billion euros from 1 billion euros last year and be well above the 2 billion euros it had flagged would be spent back in January, the sources said. The EIB is prohibited from investing directly in weapons or ammunition but it can lend for so-called "dual use" purposes, such as GPS systems or buildings and infrastructure for army bases. It has signed off on funding for one such base in Lithuania near the border with Belarus where German troops are due to be permanently deployed on foreign soil for the first time since the Nazi military in World War II. European nations are scrambling to ramp up their defence spending amid ongoing pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump who has signalled plans to reduce the decades-long U.S. security backstop for the continent. It also comes just days before a NATO summit in The Hague where the alliance's members are under pressure to raise their defence commitments. The increased EIB lending is set to funnel money into other areas as well, the sources said, including technology innovation and renewable energy. It follows a mid-year review of its operational plan and comes after it got approval last year to raise its so-called gearing ratio, which sets out a nominal maximum for the amount of loans on its balance sheet as a percentage of its subscribed capital. ($1 = 0.8727 euros)
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
EU's Dombrovskis Says ‘Making Progress' in Trade Talks With US
(Bloomberg) -- The European Union is continuing intensive trade talks with the US ahead of a July 9 tariff deadline set by President Donald Trump and is 'making progress,' according to EU Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis. Security Concerns Hit Some of the World's 'Most Livable Cities' JFK AirTrain Cuts Fares 50% This Summer to Lure Riders Off Roads Taser-Maker Axon Triggers a NIMBY Backlash in its Hometown How E-Scooters Conquered (Most of) Europe NYC Congestion Toll Cuts Manhattan Gridlock by 25%, RPA Reports 'Our preference is to find a mutually acceptable solution and in a sense to park those trade tensions,' he told a news conference after a meeting of euro-area finance ministers in Luxembourg on Thursday. Still, he warned that the EU is 'ready to take measures to protect our economic interests and our businesses should we not be able to find this solution.' Asked whether the EU is resigned to Trump maintaining a 10% baseline tariff, he said 'so-called reciprocal tariffs' were 'speculative assumptions which are not reflecting the current state of negotiations.' The EU faces the threat of 50% levies on nearly all its exports to the US when a deadline set by Trump expires on July 9. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said a trade deal with the EU is likely to be among the last the US completes. The EU has approved tariffs on €21 billion ($24.1 billion) of US goods in response to Trump's metals levies that can be quickly implemented. They target politically sensitive American states and include products such as soybeans from Louisiana, home to House Speaker Mike Johnson, as well as agricultural products, poultry and motorcycles. The bloc is also preparing an additional list of tariffs on €95 billion of American products in response to Trump's so-called reciprocal levies and automotive duties. They would target industrial goods including Boeing Co. aircraft, US-made cars and bourbon. Ken Griffin on Trump, Harvard and Why Novice Investors Won't Beat the Pros Is Mark Cuban the Loudmouth Billionaire that Democrats Need for 2028? The US Has More Copper Than China But No Way to Refine All of It How a Tiny Middleman Could Access Two-Factor Login Codes From Tech Giants Can 'MAMUWT' Be to Musk What 'TACO' Is to Trump? ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
EU's Dombrovskis Says ‘Making Progress' in Trade Talks With US
(Bloomberg) -- The European Union is continuing intensive trade talks with the US ahead of a July 9 tariff deadline set by President Donald Trump and is 'making progress,' according to EU Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis. Security Concerns Hit Some of the World's 'Most Livable Cities' JFK AirTrain Cuts Fares 50% This Summer to Lure Riders Off Roads Taser-Maker Axon Triggers a NIMBY Backlash in its Hometown How E-Scooters Conquered (Most of) Europe NYC Congestion Toll Cuts Manhattan Gridlock by 25%, RPA Reports 'Our preference is to find a mutually acceptable solution and in a sense to park those trade tensions,' he told a news conference after a meeting of euro-area finance ministers in Luxembourg on Thursday. Still, he warned that the EU is 'ready to take measures to protect our economic interests and our businesses should we not be able to find this solution.' Asked whether the EU is resigned to Trump maintaining a 10% baseline tariff, he said 'so-called reciprocal tariffs' were 'speculative assumptions which are not reflecting the current state of negotiations.' The EU faces the threat of 50% levies on nearly all its exports to the US when a deadline set by Trump expires on July 9. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said a trade deal with the EU is likely to be among the last the US completes. The EU has approved tariffs on €21 billion ($24.1 billion) of US goods in response to Trump's metals levies that can be quickly implemented. They target politically sensitive American states and include products such as soybeans from Louisiana, home to House Speaker Mike Johnson, as well as agricultural products, poultry and motorcycles. The bloc is also preparing an additional list of tariffs on €95 billion of American products in response to Trump's so-called reciprocal levies and automotive duties. They would target industrial goods including Boeing Co. aircraft, US-made cars and bourbon. Ken Griffin on Trump, Harvard and Why Novice Investors Won't Beat the Pros Is Mark Cuban the Loudmouth Billionaire that Democrats Need for 2028? The US Has More Copper Than China But No Way to Refine All of It How a Tiny Middleman Could Access Two-Factor Login Codes From Tech Giants Can 'MAMUWT' Be to Musk What 'TACO' Is to Trump? ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Bloomberg
15 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
EU's Dombrovskis Says ‘Making Progress' in Trade Talks With US
The European Union is continuing intensive trade talks with the US ahead of a July 9 tariff deadline set by President Donald Trump and is 'making progress,' according to EU Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis. 'Our preference is to find a mutually acceptable solution and in a sense to park those trade tensions,' he told a news conference after a meeting of euro-area finance ministers in Luxembourg on Thursday.
