Brussels, Belgium - A decision from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to annul the External Lending Mandate (ELM) of the European Investment Bank (EIB) has been warmly welcomed by Counter Balance, the Europe-wide campaign coalition advocating systemic reform of the EIB.

The ECJ decision of November 6, which applies to the EIB's lending activities in EU accession and neighborhood countries as well as Asia and Latin America, gives the EIB and the defendants in the ruling – the European Commission and the European Council – 12 months to redesign a new ELM in co-decision with the European Parliament, which brought the case. If the parties fail to reach an accord in that time the EIB will lose its Community guarantee, worth EUR 27.8 billion for the 2007-2013 period.
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