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The EU has handed Airbus, Europe's largest aerospace company, a record €3 billion ($3.4 billion) financing package through the European Investment Bank (EIB), with the two sides signing the first €1 billion tranche in Brussels on Monday to launch the broader funding program.
The EIB said the long-term financing package is designed to strengthen Europe's industrial base as the bloc faces intensifying competition from the U.S. and China, while giving Airbus greater flexibility to carry out long-term aerospace programs.
The financing, the largest corporate loan ever approved by the EIB, will support Airbus' investments through 2030 across commercial aviation, defense, security and advanced technologies.
It will also fund research, development and innovation projects in France, Germany and Spain under the bank's TechEU initiative, which aims to accelerate investment in critical technologies across the bloc.
The Airbus financing comes as Brussels steps up efforts to build a globally competitive European space industry, with the EU increasingly directing funding toward strategic sectors including aerospace, defense, critical raw materials and clean technology.
It also follows a memorandum of understanding signed last November by Airbus, France's Thales, Europe's largest defense electronics company, and Italy's Leonardo, one of Europe's biggest defense and aerospace groups, to explore combining parts of their space operations into a new pan-European company with combined annual revenue of about €6.5 billion.
Under the agreement, the companies plan to combine businesses spanning satellite manufacturing, space systems and services, with the new venture expected to begin operations in 2027, subject to regulatory approval.
The proposed company aims to strengthen Europe's strategic autonomy and create a homegrown competitor to SpaceX's Starlink and other major global space players.
EIB President Nadia Calviño said the loan demonstrates Europe's ability to move quickly and at scale to support industries it considers strategically important.
"This landmark project was approved in about six months, showing that Europe can move with speed and at scale to support its champions and reinforce its position in the new geopolitical environment," she remarked in a statement.
Airbus Chief Financial Officer Thomas Toepfer said the financing strengthens the company's partnership with the EIB while helping sustain long-term investment in aerospace innovation.
"The highly competitive terms and extended flexibility grant us the maximum optionality to manage our balance sheet, minimize the cost of carry and sustain our long-term investments in aerospace innovation," he said.
The push comes as member states negotiate the EU's €2 trillion budget for 2028-2034, with divisions persisting over how to balance higher spending on defense, competitiveness and support for Ukraine against traditional funding for agriculture and regional development.
Governments also remain at odds over new EU-wide revenue sources aimed at reducing reliance on national contributions.
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