22.7.2009 Official Journal of the European Union L 190/1 (Acts adopted under the EC Treaty/Euratom Treaty whose publication is obligatory) DECISIONS ADOPTED JOINTLY BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL DECISION No 633/2009/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 13 July 2009 granting a Community guarantee to the European Investment Bank against losses under loans and loan guarantees for projects outside the Community THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 179 and 181a thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (1), Whereas: (1)  Since 1963, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has undertaken operations outside the Community in support of the Community’s external policies. (2)  Most of those operations have been carried out upon the request of the Council and have benefited from a Community budgetary guarantee administered by the Commission. Most recently, the Community guarantee was established for the period 2000-2007 by Council Decision 2008/580/EC of 23 June 2008 granting a Community guarantee against losses under loans for projects outside the Community (South-eastern neigh- bours, Mediterranean countries, Latin America and Asia and the Republic of South Africa) (%) and by Council Decisions 2001/777/EC of 6 November 2001 granting a Community guarantee to the European Investment Bank against losses under a special lending action for (') Opinion of the European Parliament of 25 March 2009 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 7 July 2009. () OJ L 186, 15.7.2008, p. 30. selected environmental projects in the Baltic Sea basin of Russia under the Northern Dimension (}) and 2005/48/EC of 22 December 2004 granting a Community guarantee to the European Investment Bank against losses under loans for certain types of projects in Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus (¥ for regionally specific lending actions. (3)  With a view to supporting the Community’s external action without affecting the EIB’s credit standing, the EIB should be offered a Community budgetary guarantee for operations carried out outside the Community. The EIB should be encouraged to increase its operations outside the Community without recourse to the Community guarantee, particularly in the pre- accession countries and Mediterranean countries as well as in investment grade countries in other regions, while the nature of the coverage of the Community guarantee should be clarified as covering risks of a political or sovereign nature. (4)  The Community guarantee should cover losses under loans and loan guarantees for EIB-eligible investment projects carried out in countries covered by the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (°) (IPA), the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (°) (ENPI) and the Development Cooperation Instrument (7) (DCI), where the loan financing or guarantee has been granted according to a signed agreement which has neither expired nor been cancelled (EIB financing oper- ations). () OJ L 292, 9.11.2001, p. 41. () OJ L 21, 25.1.2005, p. 11. (°) Council Regulation (EC) No 1085/2006 (O] L 210, 31.7.2006, p. 82). (%) Regulation (EC) No 1638/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (O] L 310, 9.11.2006, p. 1). (7) Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (O] L 378, 27.12.2006, p. 41).