As the EU Bank, the EIB promotes EU policies, delivering support where it is most needed. The EIB seeks to make a difference by offering financing conditions that cannot be provided by the market alone, and by supporting project preparation and implementation. This difference between the EIB contribution and market alternatives is defined as additionality. We support projects which have an impact on citizens and businesses in the European Union, its neighbourhood and beyond.

The EIB ensures that this is the case through its Additionality and Impact Measurement (AIM) framework, which was adopted in 2020. It replaces the 3-Pillar assessment (3PA) for projects inside the EU and the Results Management framework (ReM) for projects outside the EU. Through AIM, the EIB has implemented a unified approach to all products and project locations.

The framework rests on three Pillars:

• Why – the EIB should ensure alignment with EU policies and address less than optimal investment situations that result from market failures;
• What – the EIB should lessen these sub-optimal investment situations and constructively shape investments in terms of scale, scope, structure, quality and/or time;
• How – the EIB should contribute financial and non-financial support to the project that complements support from other organisations and sources.

The three Pillars are accompanied by project results indicators.

The AIM assessment applies to every project financed by the EIB. It seeks to show how the EIB delivers additionality and impact.

Every EIB project has its own public “Additionality and Impact Statement,” published when the project is signed. These statements are based on information available when the project is approved. They summarise the rationale of the EIB’s intervention and its main elements in relation to the three Pillars. 

AIM bolsters the Bank’s accountability and strengthens awareness of its additionality and impact among all relevant stakeholders.