The European Investment Bank has become increasingly important as a financier of climate protection and the reconstruction of Ukraine. Now there is a change in leadership – and she could get a female boss.
Nadia Calviño has a home game and she wants to take advantage of it: the Spanish finance minister is hosting the meeting with her EU colleagues in the pilgrimage site of Santiago de Compostela. This is an excellent opportunity to further promote yourself. Because the round of ministers decides on the management of the European Investment Bank (EIB) – and Calviño wants to become its president.
According to her, the EIB is a very strong institution that needs to be made even stronger. Calviño sees a “moment with great challenges, but also a very inspiring task.” As a former top official at the Commission, Calviño knows EU politics very well and is considered to have excellent connections.
Nadia Calviño takes advantage of the home advantage – the Spanish finance minister wants to become head of the European Investment Bank.
More courageous lending in the future?
Her closest rival for the EIB head job is Margrete Vestager, former Danish economics minister, now deputy Commission head in charge of competition, who is currently on leave pending her application. Vestager has made a name for itself by imposing billions in fines against powerful IT companies such as Google and Apple.
Recently, however, she hasn’t had a good run: antitrust cases failed in court, and France put the brakes on her attempt to appoint an American as chief economist at her general directorate. If she becomes head of the EIB, Vestager wants to make the Luxembourg-based bank faster and more risk-averse when it comes to lending.
From competition commissioner to head of the European Investment Bank? Margrete Vestager is Calviño’s fiercest competitor.
Funding is intended to mobilize private capital
But her rival Calviño’s chances have increased after a Spanish candidate failed in the race for another post. It was about the management of European banking supervision – Bundesbank Vice President Claudia Buch takes over. The EU governments are careful to ensure that no member state gets too much when it comes to filling Europe’s top jobs.
The EIB claims to be the world’s largest multilateral lender and its mission continues to grow. They are enormous: Europe’s sustainable restructuring and the reconstruction of Ukraine cost hundreds of billions of euros. The EIB should use its funding to mobilize a multiple of private capital.
Outgoing President Werner Hoyer converted the EIB into a climate bank: last year it granted more than half of its loans for climate protection and energy projects. Since Russia’s invasion last year, the EIB has provided around 2.3 billion euros to Ukraine, particularly to rebuild key infrastructure.
The pressure for reform is increasing
The ministerial group discusses personnel issues in Santiago de Compostela. And she continues to argue about reforming the EU debt rules, which are suspended because of the corona pandemic and the war against Ukraine. Many consider the current guidelines for budget deficits and total debt to be complicated and impractical.
Host Calviño is therefore confident: When it comes to priorities and common goals of the reform, the 27 are not that far apart. The federal government continues to demand clear guidelines for all EU states when it comes to debt reduction. Berlin does not want to leave it to the EU Commission to negotiate with governments individually about their budget plans.
France, on the other hand, categorically rejects automatic and generally applicable requirements. Nevertheless, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire says he is convinced that France and Germany can reach an agreement by the end of the year. The pressure increases. Because if the 27 EU states fail to do this, the old rules automatically apply again. And nobody actually wants that.