The European Investment Bank (EIB) on May 12 approved €750 million in loans to European-based automotive companies worth  to develop cleaner vehicles. DAF trucks in the Netherlands will receive  €150 million for a research and development project and Ford will receive loans worth €400 million for the construction aplant in Craiova inRomania, the technical rehabilitation of the existing plant, as well as an additional €200 million for the entire research and development related activities for the plant carried out in Germany. The EIB has approved €5.2 billion in loans since last December for European car manfacturers. A total of  €3.billion of these loans are provided under the EIB’s European Clean Transport Facility (ECTF). The ECTF is part of the EIB’s contribution to the European Economic Recovery Package and targets significant reductions in the CO2 emissions of vehicles through research, development and innovation. Further loans for the automotive sector planned for submission to the EIB in June and July would also reach component suppliers. With submissions planned for the June Board meeting, this total would exceed EUR 7 bn by mid-year.  Up to now BMW, Daimler, Fiat, PSA Peugeot-Citroën, Renault, Volvo Cars, Scania and Volvo Trucks have benefitted from the loans. The EHA has invited EIB officilas to its Annual General Meeting on June 17, 2009 in Brussels to discuss othe financing programmes that could benefit the devleopment of the use of hydrogen in Europe.