As the pilot phase of the Project Bond Initiative descends into acrimony amid the
closure of its flagship pilot project, the recent downgrading of the Castor bonds to
junk status and the Spanish government’s announcement that it expects to compensate
investors for the project, it is hard to imagine that this is what the EIB had in mind
when it launched its much-vaunted Project Bond Initiative.
After the fallout from the Castor project, more systemic weaknesses begin to emerge
in the initiative. As more projects are earmarked, a worrying bias towards fossil fuel
infrastructure can be noticed, which is at odds with the EU’s long terms goals
towards a decarbonised economy. It is time the EIB put aside its usual intransigence
and recognised that the Project Bond Initiative is not fit for purpose.