Press release - March 12, 2009
Brussels, Belgium — The European Investment Bank (EIB) has extended €3 billion in cheap loans to eight European carmakers for the development and production of cleaner vehicles.[1] Greenpeace and CEE Bankwatch Network call on the EIB to ensure that money goes to initiatives with a true impact on cutting carbon emissions from cars and not just to small-scale ‘greenwash’ projects.
EU carmakers are already bound by EU legislation to reduce the climate impact of cars.[2] The EIB has underlined that its role is not to bail out the struggling car industry.[3]
"We need to make sure that these loans go to projects which reduce carbon emissions and not to window dressing for the car industry. Carmakers should be held accountable and deliver on their promises to green their fleets. If they do not, EIB loans should be recalled," said Franziska Achterberg, Greenpeace EU transport policy campaigner.
Pippa Gallop, Research coordinator at Bankwatch, said: "It is hard to see which car companies are not in need of restructuring, with over-capacity estimated at about 20 percent. With the rapid approval of new car loans the EIB needs to make sure that the appraisal of the viability of the projects is not compromised."
Other contacts:
Pippa Gallop – CEE Bankwatch Network, Research Co-ordinator: +385 1 4813 096, 
Franziska Achterberg – Greenpeace EU transport campaigner: +32 (0)498 36 24 03 (mob.), +32 (0)2 274 19 18, 
Notes:
[1] The car and lorry companies include Daimler, BMW, Fiat, Renault, Peugeot-Citroen, Volvo Cars, Volvo Trucks and Scania. Germany’s third independent producer, Volkswagen, already received a €400m loan on 17 February for the “development and market launch of greener and more fuel efficient drive train components for passenger cars and utility vehicles.“ The loans come under the EIB’s ‘Clean Transport Facility’ and are restricted to activities aimed at cutting emissions. They are limited to €400 million per company per year.
[2] During last year's negotiations on the EU’s first ever CO2 emission standard for cars, all eight car companies insisted that they could not achieve the required emission cuts by 2012. Bowing to pressure from the car industry, the EU delayed full implementation of the standard to 2015.
[3] In an interview in the Financial Times on February 17, 2009, EIB President Philippe Maystadt commented that: “The EIB is not there to substitute for structural reforms that might be needed by some companies. I want to make clear our role is to support viable projects".