Our flagship report shows how the European Investment Bank stepped up to the challenges of 2022. From our ongoing work rebuilding Ukraine's damaged towns and cities and our support for refugees, to our unwavering commitment to the global threat of climate change. The report illustrates how our backing for energy efficiency and renewable power is part of the solution to the European Union's energy security needs and its climate goals. It also shows how our support for innovation and breakthrough technologies brings tangible benefits to Europe's economic competitiveness, to its climate goals, and its strategic autonomy. The report also showcases the contribution of EIB Global, our new international development branch, to greater wellbeing around the world.

The Europe Union's massive efforts to rebuild after the coronavirus pandemic present a unique opportunity to transform its economy, making it more green and digital – and ultimately more competitive. The Investment Report 2020-2021 looks at the toll the pandemic took on European firms' investment and future plans, as well as their efforts to meet the demands of climate change and the digital revolution. The report's analysis is based on a unique set of databases and data from a survey of 12 500 firms conducted in the summer of 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. While providing a snapshot of the heavy toll the pandemic took on some forms of investment, the report also offers hope by pointing out the economic areas in which Europe remains strong, such as technologies that combine green and digital innovation.

Our flagship report illustrates how the European Investment Bank Group confronted two great threats in 2021, the climate crisis and the coronavirus pandemic, even as the challenges posed by development grew more urgent. The EU bank tackled these hazards by thinking hard and moving fast — in new directions. The Activity Report report highlights our emergency response to COVID-19 through the unique European Guarantee Fund, as well as our support for healthcare companies working on cures and therapies for the disease. It illustrates the dimensions of our backing for companies that are forging new frontiers of climate action — sometimes right into outer space. It demonstrates our commitment to a better future for all Europeans in our cohesion investment and for all global citizens through our development work. Built around 25 articles about the work of the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund in COVID-19 response, climate action, cohesion and development, the Activity Report highlights our contribution to a healthy, green and inclusive world. Figures are expected outcomes of financed new operations signed in 2020 for the first time based on available data at this stage. All figures are unaudited and provisional.

The Investment Report, issued annually by the European Investment Bank, provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of investment and the financing of investment in the European Union. It combines the exploration of investment trends with in-depth analysis, focusing especially on the drivers and barriers to investment activity. The report leverages on a unique set of databases and survey data, including EIBIS, an annual survey of 13 500 firms in Europe, which focuses on their assessment of investment and investment finance conditions, and which allows analysis with firm balance sheet information. The report provides critical inputs to policy debates on the need for public action on investment, and on the types of intervention that can have the greatest impact.

A blueprint presents drawings, dimensions and notes. This report draws vivid pictures of the beneficiaries of European Investment Bank projects in 2023. It includes data on the dimensions of our massive overall investment and the importance of our loans to each of our beneficiaries during the year. It notes the EU policies and expertise that lead us to make each of our investments.

This report analyses the EIB Group's activity in cohesion regions in 2022. This year's edition focuses on the Group's contribution towards innovation for an inclusive, green and digital transition in line with the Innovation, Digital & Human Capital (IDHC) Orientation 2021-2027. The report starts with a review of recent economic trends in cohesion regions and their investments in innovation, followed by a presentation of the EIB Group's activities in these regions in 2022. The Group's support for economic, social and territorial cohesion is presented in relation to policy objectives, activity sectors, countries, contribution to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and sector-specific project results. A number of case studies are used to illustrate the Group's activities and impact. The wider macroeconomic impact of the Group in cohesion regions is then discussed through the lens of a recent academic study. Finally, the role of digitalisation and innovation in cohesion regions is presented along with the range of tools deployed by the Group to support these policy objectives in cohesion regions.

Our flagship report shows how the European Investment Bank stepped up to the challenges of 2022. From our ongoing work rebuilding Ukraine's damaged towns and cities and our support for refugees, to our unwavering commitment to the global threat of climate change. The report illustrates how our backing for energy efficiency and renewable power is part of the solution to the European Union's energy security needs and its climate goals. It also shows how our support for innovation and breakthrough technologies brings tangible benefits to Europe's economic competitiveness, to its climate goals, and its strategic autonomy. The report also showcases the contribution of EIB Global, our new international development branch, to greater wellbeing around the world.

In 2011 the World Bank—with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—launched the Global Findex database, the world's most comprehensive data set on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Drawing on survey data collected in collaboration with Gallup, Inc., the Global Findex database covers more than 140 economies around the world. The initial survey round was followed by a second one in 2014 and by a third in 2017. Compiled using nationally representative surveys of more than 150,000 adults age 15 and above in over 140 economies, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution includes updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services. It has additional data on the use of financial technology (or fintech), including the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions. The data reveal opportunities to expand access to financial services among people who do not have an account—the unbanked—as well as to promote greater use of digital financial services among those who do have an account. The Global Findex database has become a mainstay of global efforts to promote financial inclusion. In addition to being widely cited by scholars and development practitioners, Global Findex data are used to track progress toward the World Bank goal of Universal Financial Access by 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The database, the full text of the report, and the underlying country-level data for all figures—along with the questionnaire, the survey methodology, and other relevant materials—are available at www.worldbank.org/globalfindex.

The EIB Circular Economy Guide aims to promote a common understanding of circular economy, and raise awareness about and promote circular solutions. The Guide provides information about EIB's lending and advisory activities in this field, and communicates our vision of how the EIB can further support the transition to a circular economy. The Guide is a living document that will be updated in response to our evolving understanding of circular economy needs, opportunities and risks, and growing experience with the appraisal and financing of circular economy projects.