Set up in 1956, the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) is the oldest international financial institution in Europe and the only one with an exclusively social vocation. The CEB is the financial instrument of the policy of solidarity developed by the Council of Europe.

The CEB is a multilateral development bank placed under the supreme authority of the Council of Europe. It nevertheless has its own full legal status and financial autonomy. By granting loans, the Bank participates in the financing of social projects, responds to emergency situations and thus contributes to improving living conditions and social cohesion in the less advantaged regions of Europe. The CEB grants loans in Europe, in the member states.

The Bank's fields of action, as defined in its Articles of Agreement and Policy for loan and project financing (2006) of the Administrative Council, are structured as follows:
	Strengthening social integration:
	Aid to refugees, migrants and displaced populations
	Housing for low-income persons
	Creation and preservation of viable jobs
	Improvement of living conditions in urban and rural areas
	Infrastructure of administrative and judicial public services
	Managing the environment:
	Natural of ecological disasters and preventive action
	Protection of the environment
	Protection and rehabilitation of historic and cultural heritage
	Developing human capital:
	Education and vocational training
	Health
Since it was created, the Council of Europe Development Bank's prime objective has been to respond to emergency situations and to bring financial help to the victims of such situations. The breakdown of the actions undertaken over the past five years shows three major sectorial lines of action structuring all the institution's actions, in compliance with its social vocation:
To contribute to strengthening social integration, in particular by providing aid to refugees and migrants, increasing the amount of available social housing, improving living conditions in urban and rural areas and fostering job creation and preservation:
To participate in responsible management of the environment, through preventive action and aid to regions hit by natural or ecological disasters; the construction or rehabilitation of infrastructures for water supply and the treatment of liquid and solid waste; the production of clean and renewable energies; protection and rehabilitation of historic heritage
To provide support for developing human capital through projects in the education and health sectors