What has the European Union ever done for us, is one of those questions which most Liberal Democrats have no hesitation in answering – from cleaner beaches to reduced roaming charges for mobile phone users

However, one example that sadly receives little attention is the record of the European Investment Bank (EIB).

Now banking might seem rather dry, indeed rather boring for many people. However, when it comes to the EIB its benefits do need to be heard.

I was first alerted to how significant its lending was when I read the papers going to the Transport for London (TfL) Board last September. I discovered TfL had entered into a new £1 billion corporate loan with the EIB to support investment in a number of projects, including station upgrades, track renewals and cycle superhighways.

The more I looked into the issue the more I realised how significant EIB lending was.

In London alone it has funded over the years numerous projects including £1.5 billion for Crossrail tunnels and trains, not to mention funding for the East London Line, London Overground, Thameslink and new Eurostar trains.

Its lending is not just limited to transport projects, for example last year the EIB provided £102 million to improve 38 schools across Croydon, helping to provide thousands of extra spaces. Last month it announced £700 million in lending for the Tideway Tunnel to help clean up the Thames.

And in April this year University College London agreed a £280 million loan with EIB to develop its Bloomsbury and UCL East campuses.

And while I am most aware of the EIB’s work involving London it must be stressed that its work benefits every corner of the UK. For example it recently agreed to provide £525 million for construction of the Beatrice windfarm to be built 14 km off the Caithness coast. And just yesterday it announced £60 million of lending to enhance both Swansea University’s historic Singleton Park Campus and to expand research facilities at the new Bay Campus. Just two weeks ago it announced £280 million lending for North Ireland social housing. Back in April it provided £56 million to build seven new secondary schools in Bradford, Harrogate, Keighley, Bradford and Huddersfield. And in February it lent £100 million to Newcastle University for vital investment in new facilities.

If this wasn’t enough just yesterday the EIB also announced a ground breaking £100 million investment for UK small businesses.

Once you start looking at the long list of projects benefiting from EIB lending it is no surprise to discover that 2015 was a record year for the EIB’s engagement across the UK, providing £5.6 billion in total in lending. Last year the UK was the fourth largest recipient of lending from the EIB, with only Spain, Italy and France borrowing more.

But does the EIB really matter? Surely there are always organisations willing to lend?

Well it does matter and for two powerful reasons.

Firstly the lending from the EIB will largely dry up if we leave the EU.

And secondly the lending is cheap, providing often the lowest cost of borrowing available in the world.

Although the EIB is the world’s largest public lending organisation and does indeed lend outside the EU, it is a fact that 90% of its lending stays within the bloc. Indeed this is not surprising as the bank’s shareholders are the 28 members of the EU.

The fact that future lending will be hit if we leave the EU is not some Remain scaremongering. Indeed when specifically asked what would be the implications of Brexit, Boris Johnson, the then Mayor of London has said: “such an event would be likely to preclude further access to this source of finance and may reduce any non-contractual flexibility to negotiate restructuring of the existing loans.”

When questioned Boris Johnson has also admitted that the EIB provides a cheap form of lending, admitting for example that TfL’s recent loan of £1billion had borrowing costs £31 million lower than an equivalent loan from the Public Loans Board (which has historically been the cheapest form of lending for any public sector organisation).

On the rare occasions that the EIB is debated in public I have noticed that Brexiters immediately talk about how its funding could be returned to the UK. Sadly such a comment shows a huge misunderstanding by them as to how the EIB actually operates. The reality is that the EIB funds its operations by borrowing on the capital markets rather than drawing on the EU budget.

Of course no one is suggesting that schools can’t be built, new social housing provided, universities expanded and transport systems improved without funding from the EIB, but it is crystal clear that the EIB’s lending provides an invaluable role. And by providing often the cheapest form of finance available in the world it can ensure the difference between a project being viable or not.

The EIB might lack profile, but its significance certainly can’t be overlooked. It has helped change and improve the infrastructure in every part of the UK.

* Caroline Pidgeon is a Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member and Deputy Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee