The European Commission has struck a deal with 12 international financial institutions, to borrow up to Euro 2 billion, in order to issue Euro-bonds, funding loans to boost nuclear safety in Eastern Europe.
The facilities, said Yves-Thibault de Silguy, European Commissioner for Finance, would “provide a flexible and rapid system for the Commission subsequently to issue euro-denominated bonds on behalf of the European Union or Euratom.”
These would finance:
• Loans from Euratom to eastern European and other former USSR countries, “to help them improve the safety of their nuclear power stations.”
• Loans from the EU to non-member countries in “serious financial difficulty.”
The finance houses lending to the Commission are Goldman Sachs, ABN AMRO, Banca Commerciale Italiana, Barclays, Bayerische Hypo Vereinsbank, CCF, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Paribas, Salomon Smith Barney, Warburg Dillon Read (UBS).
