According to the Commission’s 2016 annual report on guarantees covered by the general budget, the EIB has also made a call on the guarantee under the ELM for a defaulted loan to Tunisia’s Enfidha Airport (TAV Tunisie S.A.). The Commission gave its approval for four calls; consequently, the amount of €33.4 million was paid to the EIB between September 2016 and December 2017. The amount of €0.14 million, recovered from the Tunisian government, was recorded in January 2018.
Another circumstance that has had an impact on the Guarantee Fund is the accession of several countries to the EU. Once Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU in 2007, the risk associated with them started to be covered by the EU budget rather than the Guarantee Fund. Accordingly, €260.9 million was repaid from the Fund to the EU budget in 2007. In a similar fashion, Croatia’s EU accession in 2013 led to a repayment from the Fund to the EU budget of €30 million, corresponding to an exposure on Croatia of about €337 million (outstanding amounts plus accrued interest).
Despite the above-mentioned transactions to the EIB on defaulted payments, the position of the Fund has enjoyed sound financial health over the years. As shown in Figure 3 below, the Fund’s current assets are greater than its current liabilities, indicating that it would be able to cover potential losses under loans and respond to EIB calls at any point in time.
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