Interim Management Statement

The European Investment Trust plc

Interim Management Statement

for the quarter ended 31 December 2011

The Board of The European Investment Trust plc ("the Company") announces its
Interim Management Statement for the period from 1 October 2011 to 31 December
2011. This statement is required by the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and
Transparency Rules and should not be relied upon for any other purpose.

Objective

The objective of the Company is to achieve long-term capital growth through a
diversified portfolio of Continental European securities.

Financial Summary               31 December2011     30 September   % Change
                                                            2011           
                                                                           
Net assets                              £247.69m        £237.35m       +4.4
                                                                           
Net asset value ("NAV") per              584.17p         559.78p       +4.4
share                                                                      
                                                                           
Share price                              485.00p         462.50p       +4.9
                                                                           
Share price discount to net                17.0%           17.4%           
asset value                                                                

Manager's review

Performance

The NAV per share of the Company increased by 4.4% during the quarter ended 31
December 2011 to 584.17p, which compares with an increase of 3.3% in the FTSE
All-World Europe ex UK Index in sterling. The Company's share price increased
by 4.9% from 462.5p to 485.0p and as a consequence the share price discount to
net asset value reduced from 17.4% to 17.0%.

Review of markets

The slow pace of political and hence economic action to deal with the
peripheral areas of the Eurozone left serious concerns over potential systemic
risk in the financial system which adversely impacted equity markets prior to
the current period, particularly in the quarter to 30 September 2011. Overall
there was a slight improvement in market sentiment in the quarter as Eurozone
countries announced an agreement, which included new budgetary rules to tackle
the crisis in December 2011. This improvement in sentiment resulted in a slight
recovery in European share prices although investors continue to remain nervous
and markets volatile.

Portfolio strategy

During the quarter there were relatively few changes made to either the
Company's geographic or sector exposure. The principal portfolio changes were
the acquisition of Mediaset Espana, the Spanish based media company and Orkla,
the Norwegian based consumer goods company. These acquisitions were offset by a
number of disposals, including the complete sale of Reed Elsevier and UBS.

There are two very different outcomes to the Eurozone crisis. At one extreme a
currency break up would likely be followed by deflation and a depression
whereas a successful resolution to the crisis accompanied by structural reforms
would be very bullish for markets. The portfolio continues to have a balanced
structure, not investing heavily at either of these extremes.

While the Company has remained almost fully invested it has yet to draw down
the three year Euro 30m facility put in place in September 2011. This will be
drawn down when investment opportunities arise.

Outlook

Despite the recent small recovery in share prices the economic outlook in
Europe continues to remain uncertain. We believe that the European Central Bank
will ultimately provide support to the Italian sovereign debt market which
should provide reassurance to investors and allow asset prices to recover.

From a portfolio perspective we will be looking to become more positive on out
of favour areas, such as peripheral Europe exposed companies. Valuations here
look to have fallen more in line with the challenging outlook.

Ten largest investmentsat 31 December2011                                
                                                                         
Ranking  Company         Sector             Country                  % of
                                                                         
                                                               Net Assets
                                                                         
1        Sanofi          Health Care        France                    3.3
                                                                         
2        Vivendi         Consumer Services  France                    3.2
                                                                         
3        Royal Dutch     Oil & Gas          Netherlands               3.0
         Shell                                                           
                                                                         
4        Ahold           Consumer Services  Netherlands               3.0
                                                                         
5        Swedbank        Financials         Sweden                    3.0
                                                                         
6        Belgacom        Telecommunications Belgium                   2.9
                                                                         
7        GEA Group       Industrials        Germany                   2.8
                                                                         
8        Unilever        Consumer Goods     Netherlands               2.8
                                                                         
9        Ryanair         Consumer Services  Ireland                   2.8
                                                                         
10       ENI             Oil & Gas          Italy                     2.8
                                                                         
                                                                     29.6

Sector distribution

                           31 December 
                                  2011 
                                       
                              % of Net 
                                Assets 
                                       
Industrials                       21.5 
                                       
Consumer Services                 16.7 
                                       
Consumer Goods                    14.3 
                                       
Financials                        12.3 
                                       
Oil & Gas                         11.1 
                                       
Health Care                       10.2 
                                       
Telecommunications                 5.5 
                                       
Technology                         4.2 
                                       
Basic Materials                    1.9 
                                       
Utilities                          1.9 
                                       
Cash and other net assets          0.4 
                                       
                                 100.0 
                                       

Geographical distribution

                          31 December   
                                 2011   
                                        
                             % of Net   
                               Assets   
                                        
Switzerland                      18.0   
                                        
Netherlands                      13.9   
                                        
France                           13.7   
                                        
Germany                          13.6   
                                        
Italy                             9.9   
                                        
Spain                             8.3   
                                        
Ireland                           5.4   
                                        
Belgium                           4.9   
                                        
Finland                           3.8   
                                        
Sweden                            3.0   
                                        
Russia                            2.7   
                                        
Norway                            2.4   
                                        
Cash and other net                0.4   
assets                                  
                                        
                                100.0   
                                        

Further Information

Further information, including monthly factsheets and daily net asset values
published since the end of the quarter, can be found on the Company's website:
www.theeuropeaninvestmenttrust.com and the Edinburgh Partners' website:
www.edinburghpartners.com.

Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

Other than as detailed above, the Board is not aware of any significant events
or transactions that have occurred between 31 December 2011 and the date of
publication of this statement which would have a material impact on the
financial position of the Company.  

17 January 2012

Enquiries:

Dale Robertson
Kenneth Greig

Edinburgh Partners Limited, 
12 Charlotte Square,
Edinburgh EH2 4DJ
Tel: [phone]

Registered Office of the Company:

Beaufort House, 
51 New North Road, 
Exeter EX4 4EP

Neither the contents of The European Investment Trustplc'swebsite nor the
contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the website (or any other
website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.