Answer: The European Investment Bank
The European Investment Bank is the European Union's long-term lending institution established in 1958 under the Treaty of Rome. A policy-driven bank, the EIB supports the EU’s priority objectives, especially European integration and the development of economically weak regions. Recently, the Bank has also been actively supporting European R&D projects as part of EU's objective of building the world's leading knowledge-based economy.
The EIB is an international financial institution, a publicly owned bank. Its owners are the Member States of the European Union, who subscribe to the Bank's capital - EUR 164 billion. As shareholders the Member States are represented on the Bank's main independent decision-making bodies - the Board of Governors and the Board of Directors. Since the year 2000 the Bank itself became a member of the EIB Group (including its venture capital arm - the European Investment Fund).
