On the final day of the European Committee of the Region's autumn plenary session, ECR First Vice-President Rob Jonkman, an Alderman of the Opsterland municipality in the Netherlands, delivered an intervention on the subject of the European Investment Bank's recovery funding in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The President and Vice-President of the European Investment Bank Werner Hoyer & Lilyana Pavlova were also present at the debate and gave their preliminary remarks.

Mr Jonkman began his intervention by praising the actions of the European Investment Bank (EIB). This was specifically in relation to how the EIB acted in taking some of the weight off the shoulders of local and regional authorities by offering tangible investments to local communities in order to help avoid more negative fallout as a result of the recession.

ECR First Vice-President Mr Jonkman praised the 8 billion to support small to medium sized enterprises and the EIB's investment in ground-breaking medical research relating to finding treatment for the COVID-19 virus. Speaking on this, he said that "the lives of our citizens as well as their livelihoods must be safeguarded as a matter of priority."

Alderman Jonkman then discussed the EIB's role in funding sustainable and green projects. While he was content to discuss the green transition projects that simultaneously contribute to the economic recovery (such as EIB investments in carbon neutral transport in Rotterdam), he underlined the following:

"The EIB should prioritise those investments which accelerate economic recovery and bring tangible benefits for our citizens. With that I mean increasing energy efficiency of the building stock, circular economy projects and developing smart cities and smart villages."