EU guarantee
Article 1
1. The European Union shall grant the European Investment Bank (EIB) an EU budgetary guarantee for financing operations carried out outside the Union (‘EU guarantee’). The EU guarantee shall be granted as a global guarantee in respect of payments not received by the EIB, but due to it, in connection with loans and loan guarantees for EIB investment projects that are eligible in accordance with paragraph 2. EIB financing activities shall comply with the general guiding principles, and contribute to the achievement of the objectives and policies, of Union external action. An objective for EIB financing in developing countries, as defined in the list of official development assistance (ODA) recipients established by the OECD, shall be to contribute indirectly to development objectives such as reducing poverty through inclusive growth and sustainable economic and social development. 2. The EIB loans and loan guarantees that are eligible for the EU guarantee shall be those granted for investment projects carried out in the countries listed in Annex III, granted in accordance with the EIB’s own rules and procedures, including the EIB’s statement on social and environmental standards, and in support of the relevant Union external policy objectives, where EIB financing has been granted in accordance with a signed agreement which has neither expired nor been cancelled (‘EIB financing operations’). 3. The EU guarantee shall be restricted to 65 % of the aggregate amount of credits disbursed and guarantees provided under EIB financing operations, less amounts reimbursed, plus all related amounts. 4. The EU guarantee shall cover EIB financing operations signed during the period from 1 February 2007 to 31 December 2013. EIB financing operations signed under Council Decisions 2006/1016/EC and 2008/847/EC ( 5 ) and under Decision No 633/2009/EC shall continue to benefit from the EU guarantee under this Decision. 5. If, on expiry of the period referred to in paragraph 4, the European Parliament and the Council have not adopted a decision granting a new EU guarantee to the EIB for its financing operations outside the Union in accordance with Article 16, that period shall be automatically extended by six months.