EIB Triples Defence SME Financing to €3 Billion with First Deutsche Bank Partnership

EIB Triples Defence SME Financing to €3 Billion with First Deutsche Bank Partnership

(IN BRIEF) The EIB is tripling its intermediated lending for European defence-industry suppliers from €1 billion to €3 billion. It has signed an inaugural €500 million loan agreement with Deutsche Bank, which will provide €1 billion in credit lines to SMEs and mid-caps for defence research and infrastructure projects, including military training centres. Unveiled by EIB President Nadia Calviño at the European Defence and Security Summit, this initiative enhances SME access to long-term finance for innovation, supply-chain resilience, and strategic autonomy. It follows last week’s pact between the EIB and five national promotional banks to coordinate pan-EU defence investments.

(PRESS RELEASE) LUXEMBOURG, 12-Jun-2025 — /EuropaWire/ — The European Investment Bank (EIB) is tripling the funding envelope for defence-industry suppliers to €3 billion—up from €1 billion—by expanding intermediated loans and guarantees for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that underpin Europe’s security supply chain. This enhanced facility is being launched through a landmark partnership with Deutsche Bank, which will receive a €500 million EIB loan to on-lend a total of €1 billion in financing and working-capital lines for defence research, military and police infrastructure, and equipment suppliers across the EU.

Unveiled today at the European Defence and Security Summit in Brussels by EIB Group President Nadia Calviño, the programme aims to strengthen Europe’s strategic autonomy by easing SME access to long-term liquidity for innovation, resilient supply chains, and critical infrastructure such as training centres for armed forces.

“Bolstering Europe’s security and defence capabilities is at the heart of our mission,” said President Calviño. “By scaling up our intermediated lending and teaming up with banks across the EU, we are ensuring that SMEs in the defence sector can secure the financing they need to thrive.”

Fabrizio Campelli, Deutsche Bank’s Head of Corporate and Investment Banking, commented, “This framework loan enables us to channel capital to clients throughout the defence supply chain where it is most essential. We’re proud to be the first European bank to collaborate with the EIB under the Pan-EU Security & Defence Lending scheme—demonstrating our commitment to reinforcing Europe’s security and defence resilience.”

This is the first commercial-bank partnership under the EIB’s expanded “Pan-European Security and Defence Lending Envelope,” which saw exceptionally strong demand from lenders eager to deploy EIB resources for sectoral investment. Further banking agreements are expected soon.

Last week, the EIB also joined forces with France’s Caisse des Dépôts, Germany’s KfW, Italy’s CDP, Poland’s BGK, and Spain’s ICO to coordinate a pan-European approach to R&D, industrial capacity, and defence infrastructure financing.

With over 2,500 SMEs supplying components and services to major manufacturers like Airbus, Thales, Rheinmetall, and Leonardo—and facing more significant funding hurdles than their larger counterparts—this €3 billion boost will help both SMEs and mid-caps overcome financing barriers, preserve jobs, and accelerate innovation in Europe’s defence industry.

Background information

About the EIB   

The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. The EIB finances investments in eight core priorities that support EU policy objectives: climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, cohesion, agriculture and the 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 nearly €89 billion in new financing for over 900 high-impact projects in 2024, boosting Europe’s competitiveness and security.    The EIB Group stepped up its support to Europe’s security and defence industry in 2024 by enlarging the scope of projects eligible for financing and setting up a one-stop shop to streamline processes, doubling investment to €1 billion. The EIB Group expects to multiply this amount in 2025 to new record.

The Board of Directors in March approved a series of additional measures to further contribute to European peace and included peace and security as a cross-cutting Public Policy Goal to finance large-scale strategic projects in areas such as land-border protection, military mobility, critical infrastructure, military transport, space, cybersecurity, anti-jamming technologies, radar systems, military equipment and facilities, drones, bio-hazard and seabed infrastructure protection, critical raw materials and research.

In addition to financing, the EIB offers advisory services that help public and private partners develop and implement high-quality, investment-ready projects. In 2024 alone, EIB advisory teams helped mobilise over €200 billion of investment across Europe and beyond.

High-quality, up-to-date photos of the organisation’s headquarters for media use are available here.

About Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank provides retail and private banking, corporate and transaction banking, lending, asset and wealth management products and services as well as focused investment banking to private individuals, small and medium-sized companies, corporations, governments and institutional investors. Deutsche Bank is the leading bank in Germany with strong European roots and a global network.

Media Contact:

Richard Willis
r.willis@eib.org
+352 4379 – 82155

Press Office

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SOURCE: European Investment Bank