Last year the European Investment Bank invested 18 billion euros in SMEs, start-ups and scale-ups, mostly indirectly through commercial banks, private equity funds and venture capital funds.

Omissions

• The exact €18 billion EU-wide figure for SME/start-up/scale-up financing in 2025 was not directly located in the sources found; the claim is supported only indirectly by the overall 2025 EIB Group results (record €100 billion in new financing, EIB lending €86 billion) and country-level SME data.
• The EIB Group's total 2025 financing was a historic record of €100 billion, of which the EIB Bank itself signed €86 billion — the €18 billion figure would be a subset of this total.
• Country-level data confirms substantial indirect SME support: Spain received €4.2 billion for SMEs and mid-caps in 2025 (+55% vs 2024), largely via the EIF; the Netherlands received €4.1 billion in total EIB Group financing for 2025.
• Sources are EIB's own publications/press releases published in 2026 (after the 2025 reference year but before the 2026-07-06 session date, so the MEP could have known them); the precise composition of the €18 billion (share via commercial banks vs private equity/venture capital funds) was not verified.

Sources

• PrimaryEIB — Financial report 2025In 2025, the Bank's lending signatures amounted to €86 billion.
• PrimaryEIB — Powering Europe: EIB Group Activity Report 2025The year 2025 marked a milestone for the European Investment Bank Group, which reached a historic €100 billion in new financing.
• PrimaryEIB press release — Record EIB Group investments in Spain in 2025Support for SMEs and mid-cap companies rose by 55% from the previous year, reaching €4.2 billion – due in large part to the EIF's rapid roll-out.
• PrimaryEIB press release — EIB Group 2025 results for the NetherlandsThe European Investment Bank Group made more than €4.1 billion available for projects in the Netherlands in the 2025 financial year.