La Moncloa. 08/12/2023. Nadia Calviño wins the backing of EU finance ministers for the presidency of the European Investment Bank [Government/News]

The First Vice-President and Minister for Economy, Trade and Companies, Nadia Calviño, has secured the backing of the European Union’s Ministers of Economy and Finance, and the governors of the European Investment Bank (EIB), to chair the world’s largest multilateral financial institution, as announced by Belgian Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem, who was in charge of the election process as rotating president of the EIB’s Board of Governors.

With the appointment of Nadia Calviño, which will have to be formally ratified by the EIB’s Board of Governors in the near future, Spain strengthens its presence and influence in multilateral international organisations.

When this happens, Calviño will chair one of the leading funders of public and private investment in Europe, developing new technologies and accelerating the dual green and digital transition. She will also play a key role in financing the reconstruction of Ukraine.

Nadia Calviño will become the first female president of the EIB. Since its foundation in 1958, the bank has had seven presidents, all men and none of them Spanish. She will replace the German Werner Hoyer, who has been the bank’s president since 2012.

The Vice-President stressed that the support of the EU finance ministers for Spain’s candidacy is “very good news”. “This is the first time that Spain will lead the European Investment Bank (EIB), a key institution for the European economy; it is the EU’s financial arm for financing European policies, which will also play an even more important role in the future in financing the green transition, the reconstruction of Ukraine and strengthening Europe’s role in the world”, she stressed.

She also stressed that the appointment “confirms the appreciation, respect and leadership of Spain in the European and international arena achieved through the hard and intense work of recent years”.

A strategic institution

The EIB is the financial arm of the EU and one of the largest financial institutions in the world. It is a strategic institution for the EU and for Spain.

In addition to its key role in financing investments in the EU, financial support to Ukraine and investments in the rest of the world, the EIB will play a major role in managing part of the NextGenerationEU loans.

Candidacy of Vice-President Nadia Calviño

The First Vice-President of the Government of Spain enjoys great prestige in the international arena. For the past two years she has chaired the International Monetary and Financial Committee, the main advisory body of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and has been instrumental in securing and deploying European NextGenerationEU funds.

In the last five and a half years she has coordinated the Government of Spain’s economic policy, with very positive results, as reflected in all the economic indicators.

Thanks to the national and European response to the economic impact of the pandemic, the productive fabric, employment and household incomes were protected during 2020. On this basis, with the impetus of the Recovery Plan financed with NextGenerationEU funds, the Spanish economy has had a very strong and rapid recovery since 2021 and an unprecedented modernisation programme is underway, with major structural reforms and investments to drive the dual green and digital transition, increase productivity, competitiveness and future growth of our country.

As a result of this economic policy, Spain leads growth among the major European economies, with record employment and activity, a strong pace of productive investment, a balance of payments surplus, falling inflation and improved social inclusion, showing remarkable resilience and stability in a very complex and highly uncertain international context.

As head of the Digital Transformation portfolio, under her leadership Spain has positioned itself as a benchmark country in digital transformation in Europe, thanks to the design and promotion of the Digital Spain 2026 agenda; a roadmap to promote the modernisation of the country, acting on the triple aspect of infrastructure, economy and people, with programmes that reach all companies throughout the country and unique strategic projects at the technological forefront, in areas such as microchips, neurotechnologies or quantum computing.

Prior to joining the Government of Spain in 2018, she spent 12 years in senior management positions in the European Commission, as Director General for Budget (May 2014 – June 2018), Deputy Director General for Financial Services (November 2010 – April 2014) and Deputy Director General for Mergers and Antitrust in the Directorate General for Competition (September 2006 – October 2010).

Before joining the European Commission in September 2006, here career was as a Trade Technician and State Economist in the Spanish Administration, holding various positions within the Ministry of Economy in areas of foreign trade, macroeconomic analysis and forecasting, economic policy and antitrust. In the latter field, she held the positions of Deputy Director General for Legal Affairs, Deputy Director General for Mergers and Director General for Antitrust.

Nadia Calviño holds a degree in Economics and Business Studies (1991) from the Complutense University of Madrid, a degree in Law (2001) from the National University of Distance Education and is a civil servant in the State Administration as a member of the corps of Trade Technicians and State Economists.

Non official translation