The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) approved eight new loans totaling €902 million to tackle challenges ranging from Roma financial exclusion to crumbling infrastructure across Europe, a CEB announcement said. The funding will support projects in health, social housing, small business financing, regional development, and environmental protection. Loans span countries from Finland to Serbia, targeting vulnerable communities hit hardest by economic shifts, demographic changes, and climate pressures.
A €5 million loan will help Roma entrepreneurs in Albania, Kosovo, Moldova, and Romania access affordable credit through REDI Economic Development, a Luxembourg-based lender. The program expects to sustain or create around 2,000 jobs, with at least 30 percent of funding earmarked for women-owned businesses. Microlending will come with financial literacy training and business support to tackle widespread unemployment and financial exclusion in Roma communities.
In Finland, an additional €150 million goes to modernizing psychiatric and somatic care facilities serving 1.7 million Helsinki metro residents, with explicit focus on vulnerable groups like women with anxiety and depression. Germany’s Gewobag housing company gets another €100 million to continue building and renovating social housing in Berlin, adding 304 new units and refurbishing 1,575 more for low-income families, refugees, and other at-risk groups—building on an initial loan that already housed 4,500 people, 60 percent from vulnerable populations.
Poland receives €250 million through Crédit Agricole to support micro and small businesses via leasing company EFL, with 30 percent reserved for women-led firms and 5 percent for green assets. Expected to reach 12,500 Polish enterprises, the loan prioritizes economically lagging regions. Romania’s Baia Mare gets €40 million to upgrade roads, renovate housing, and build education and health facilities as the city transitions from mining to manufacturing, with investments focusing on the Roma community and other disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Serbia secures €200 million to renovate local roads connecting remote communities to markets and urban centers, targeting the country’s least developed municipalities and improving conditions for 1.5 million people, including half a million in the 29 poorest areas. France’s Lille metropolitan area receives €107 million to modernize wastewater treatment in a region still recovering from industrial decline, cutting emissions while ensuring fair water services. Türkiye gets an additional €50 million to complete the Marmaray commuter rail linking İstanbul’s Asian and European sides—a system that has moved 1.3 billion passengers since 2013 and now handles 660,000 daily commutes, with the new funds finishing Haydarpaşa Railway Station and preserving key archaeological finds.
