Set up by the Treaty of Rome, the European Investment Bank is the long-term financing institution of the European Union. Its task is to contribute to economic, social and territorial cohesion through the balanced development of the EU territory. The EIB's shareholders are the 27 Member States of the European Union. The EIB is active throughout the EU as well as in some 140 countries worldwide which have cooperation agreements with the EU. The EIB also supports the pre-accession strategies of the candidate countries and of the Western Balkans. The bank collaborates closely with the EU institutions to help achieve key EU objectives. The EIB lends money to the public and private sector in the fields of Cohesion and Convergence, support for small and medium-sized enterprises, environmental schemes, research, development and innovation, as well as transport and energy. The bank does not provide grants.

In the countries of the Western Balkans, the financing operations of the EIB contribute to facilitating the integration process with the European Union.