2023-12-08 12:55:40
EU finance ministers announced on Friday December 8 that they had chosen Spaniard Nadia Calviño to serve as president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), an institution that has become strategic in the context of the war in Ukraine.
Given for several weeks as the big favorite to lead the EU’s long-term financing body, the Minister of the Economy, number two in the Spanish left-wing government of which she embodies the liberal wing, will succeed the German Werner Hoyer, 72, who will complete his second six-year term on December 31.
First woman to head the EIB
“We have reached a conclusion and consensus around the candidacy of Nadia Calviño for the presidency of the EIB”, declared Belgian Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem, who holds the rotating presidency of the board of governors of this financial institution. He said to himself « certain » that she would be “a very good president”following a meeting in Brussels with his counterparts from the Twenty-Seven, including Nadia Calviño.
“I am grateful and honored to have the support of my colleagues”, she declared for her part. Aged 55, this polyglot economist – she speaks English, French and German fluently – will be the first woman to head the EIB. She won against the European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, who stepped down from her duties in September to campaign.
The former Danish Minister of the Economy was in the lead until the announcement of the Spanish candidacy in August. She immediately announced on X (formerly Twitter) that she was going to rejoin the European executive, after this failure.
Crucial role of the EIB
Usually little publicized, the race for the presidency of the EIB this time aroused increased interest, due to the notoriety of the candidates in the running and the increasingly crucial role played by this institution.
In addition to Nadia Calvino and Margrethe Vestager, three candidates considered outsiders were in the running: the Italian Daniele Franco, former Minister of Finance under Mario Draghi, the former Polish Minister of Finance Teresa Czerwinska, and the Swede Thomas Östros, current vice -president of the EIB.
The Bank, whose shareholders are the Member States of the European Union, provides credits and guarantees to Member States and to private and public companies to finance Europe’s priority policies. The EIB claims to have invested since its creation in 1958 more than 1,000 billion euros in favor of projects for the climate and environment, social and territorial cohesion, innovation and even support for SMEs.
With the prestigious AAA financial rating, a guarantee of solidity which allows it to borrow cheaply, the EIB plays a key role in financing the energy transition. In 2022, it signed financing worth 65 billion euros. It also plays a role in favor of international development: its branch dedicated to global partnerships, BEI Monde, active in 160 countries, granted 10.8 billion euros in loans last year.
Expanding the role of the institution
The succession of Werner Hoyer was the occasion for a debate on the mission of the institution based in Luxembourg. It could be expanded in the context of the war in Ukraine which has put European finances under pressure. It should in particular help with the reconstruction of the country ravaged by the Russian invasion.
France is campaigning for the institution to take more risks and broaden its scope of action to the defense industry as well as nuclear technologies. Under the current German president, energy transition projects financed by the EIB were limited to renewable energies.
Nadia Calvino, whose government defends anti-nuclear positions, is considered open on the issue, without having made any public commitments. French intentions, however, come up against reluctance from Berlin. “We appreciate the EIB’s efforts in favor of the climate and it must continue, but we must not overload its missions”warned German Finance Minister Christian Lindner in September.
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