Third EIB-Italy Partnership Strengthens National Defence with Helicopter Procurement

Third EIB-Italy Partnership Strengthens National Defence with Helicopter Procurement

(IN BRIEF) The EIB has signed its third joint agreement with Italy’s Economy and Finance Ministry and the Defence Ministry, providing a 20-year loan to finance new helicopters for the Italian Army. The funds will flow from the EIB to the Economy Ministry, then to Defence, delivering substantial interest savings thanks to the Bank’s favorable market rates. This deal follows earlier EIB support: €240 million in 2022 for 16 Carabinieri helicopters and air-traffic control upgrades, and €220 million in 2020 for hydro-oceanographic vessels. The transaction highlights the EIB’s strengthened mandate to back military projects that advance EU security and strategic autonomy.

(PRESS RELEASE) LUXEMBOURG, 27-Jun-2025 — /EuropaWire/ — The European Investment Bank (EIB) has entered into a new strategic financing agreement with Italy’s Ministry of Economy and Finance and Ministry of Defence to bolster the Italian Army’s helicopter fleet. Under this third trilateral arrangement, the EIB will extend a long-term loan to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, which will on-lend the funds to the Ministry of Defence for aircraft procurement. Thanks to the EIB’s competitive borrowing rates, the Italian government stands to realize significant interest savings over the 20-year maturity.

This transaction underscores the EIB’s expanding role in supporting European security and defence priorities. Following recent revisions to its eligibility rules, the Bank is now able to back military acquisitions that strengthen member-state autonomy and resilience.

Italy and the EIB have collaborated twice before: in 2022, a €240 million facility financed 16 light helicopters for the Carabinieri and upgrades to national air-traffic control; and in 2020, a €220 million loan funded the construction of three hydro-oceanographic vessels.

EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti commented, “This agreement reflects our deepening commitment to European security and defence. Through ongoing dialogue with the Italian government, we are enabling strategic investments that enhance Italy’s competitiveness and safeguard the EU’s strategic autonomy.”

The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. Built around eight key priorities, we finance investments that contribute to EU policy objectives by bolstering climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, cohesion, agriculture and bioeconomy, social infrastructure, the capital markets union, and a stronger Europe in a more peaceful and prosperous world. The EIB Group, which also includes the European Investment Fund (EIF), signed over 900 projects worth nearly €89 billion in 2024, boosting Europe’s competitiveness and security. The EIB Group signed 99 operations totalling €10.98 billion in Italy in 2024, helping to unlock almost €37 billion of investment in the real economy. All projects financed by the EIB Group are in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, as pledged in our Climate Bank Roadmap. Almost 60% of the EIB Group’s annual financing supports projects directly contributing to climate change mitigation, adaptation, and a healthier environment. Fostering market integration and mobilising investment, the funds made available by the Group unlocked over €100 billion in new investment for Europe’s energy security in 2024 and mobilised a further €110 billion for startups and scale-ups. Around half of the EIB’s financing within the European Union is directed towards cohesion regions, where per capita income is lower than the EU average.

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SOURCE: European Investment Bank