Calviño takes the step and presents himself to preside over the European Investment Bank

2023-08-11 20:34:15

The Government will propose the First Vice President and Minister of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño, to preside over the European Investment Bank (EIB). Executive sources confirmed that her candidacy has been formally presented, which they described as “strong” due to her experience in the European Commission and in the Spanish Government. The government’s financial officer will be one of the candidates in contention to lead this European institution, which must have a new person at the helm of its presidency in January 2024. This government election coincides with the Spanish presidency of the Council of the EU, under which a very important economic event will take place on Spanish soil to choose the presidency of the EIB.

The Ministers of Economy and Finance of the European Union will meet in September in Santiago de Compostela to vote for the president of this institution. At this summit they will also meet their counterparts from the different CELAC member countries and, in parallel, the debate on fiscal rules within the community bloc will reopen.

In Brussels, one of Calviño’s main rivals is the vice-president of the European Commission in charge of Competition, Margrethe Vestager, who has been stomping on to replace the until now president of the EIB, Werner Hoyer. In the same way, it is known to date (there is a deadline until August 17 to formalize the candidacies) that the Spanish minister will have three other competitors. These are the former Italian Finance Minister under Mario Draghi, Daniele Franco, Teresa Czerwinska and Thomas Östros. These last two names, from Poland and Sweden, respectively, currently hold the vice-presidency of the EIB.

Nadia Calviño has previously held various positions within the European Commission and also at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where she continues to be President of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC). She was appointed to the latter position in December 2021.

Likewise, since she is part of the Government of Spain, she was proposed in her category of Minister of Economy to preside over the Eurogroup last summer of 2020. On that occasion, however, she was left without obtaining the necessary votes to occupy a position that fell in the hands of the Irishman Paschal Donohoe.