The European Investment Bank and the First Enlargement of the European Economic Communities in 1973

The European Investment Bank (EIB) was created by the Treaty of Rome which established the European Economic Communities in 1957.

As a non-profit institution, the EIB’s main mission is to contribute to the development, economic and social cohesion and integration of EU Member States by supporting sound investments which further EU policy objectives. The EIB bears a resemblance to a large regional development bank with the peculiarity of being active within the European Union but also beyond (enlargement area of South-East Europe and Iceland, EU Eastern Neighbours, ACP Group of States, the Mediterranean Neighbourhood, Asia and Latin America and South Africa).

After the foundation of the EEC in 1957, the Hague Declaration in December 1960 paved the way for the expansion of the Communities. Four States applied to be members, initiating or resuming negotiations for accession: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Denmark, Ireland and Norway. The following enlargement of the EEC gave rise to important changes in the EIB’s role and objectives.

Two series of records have recently been transferred by the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg to the Historical Archives of the European Union in Florence (Italy), documenting this key period of the first enlargement of the EEC. These archival documents are now open to the public and for research purposes.

The first series of the new EIB Sub-Fonds, "Relations with the Member States”, comprises 68 files concerning the “First Enlargement of the European Communities: adhesion to the statutes of the EIB”. These files reflect the intense debates and discussions between 1958 and 1982 among representatives of the candidate countries and those of the EIB for the construction of an expanded banking and financial community. The accession process to the European Communities obliged the four candidate countries to accept the statutes of the EIB. Long and difficult negotiations began regarding fixing the financial contributions of the candidate countries, the increase of the subscribed capital, the necessary changes to be made to the agricultural and regional policies, the number of member countries’ nationals in the governing bodies and the adaption of the work procedures. The gradual conversion to the principles of community banking of the UK, Ireland and Denmark at the price of adjustments and compromises led to the Treaty of Accession that only Norway did not ratify, remaining refractory to the EIB’s system.

Another new Sub-Fonds on "Relations with the international banking community and financial bodies" has also enriched the EIB holdings at the Historical Archives of the EU in Florence with a first series on “Relations between the EIB and the World Bank”. This series consists of 24 files concerning relations between the EIB and the World Bank between 1958 and 1980. Although very different institutions in terms of their functions, tasks and even the history of their respective origins, the two financial and banking institutions met frequently in the documented period. Their relationship is characterised by exchange and emulation in the context of a constant reflection on work procedures, operations, missions or the principles of allocation of loans to the EU Members and to other partner countries.

Inventories and digital records of both new archival series are now available online on the website of the Historical Archives of the EU.