The Evaluation Division of the European Investment Bank Group is evaluating the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and added value of EIB support to municipalities across the European Union. For this evaluation, municipalities include local authorities, consortia of municipalities and municipal companies. Regional authorities are excluded.

Municipalities play a central role in delivering essential public services. Their capacity to plan and finance public investment depends on institutional arrangements, fiscal autonomy, administrative capacity and access to appropriate financing instruments, all of which vary considerably across Member States. The evaluation therefore examines municipalities’ needs, expectations and constraints in accessing finance, and how effectively EIB lending and advisory support responds to them.
The evaluation questions address the adequacy of the EIB’s offer, its efficiency and effectiveness in servicing municipalities, its contribution to their access to finance and capacity, and its added value compared with the market.

Within this evaluation, the service covers:

1. Five country case studies: Bulgaria, Finland, France, Poland and Spain.

2. Analysis of the municipal landscape and of the factors that shape local public investment in each country.

3. Interviews with municipalities, municipal associations and financial intermediaries.

The work follows an evidence-based approach. It combines documentary review and data analysis with stakeholder interviews, and findings are triangulated across sources. The evidence from the five countries will inform how EIB support can be adapted to municipal needs.

The service is carried out by T33 in cooperation with Prognos, within the framework contract led by Visionary Analytics. It is supported by a team of country experts from Analistas Financieros Internacionales (Spain), Planète Publique (France), MDI Public – FCG (Finland), EPSEC (Poland) and Strategma (Bulgaria).

The service is coordinated for T33 by Giovanni Familiari.