The Spanish government has nominated the country’s deputy prime minister Nadia Calviño to run the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The news comes six weeks after Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s digital and competition chief, entered the race to succeed Werner Hoyer, who is due to step down at the end of the year after serving two terms in the role. The mooted move, as Politico noted, would make Vestager the first female head of the EIB. Now, it seems Calviño could also pick up that laurel.
Just this week, Calviño spoke about how integral the EIB is in the current global economy. Posting a video of her being interviewed on Spanish TV to Twitter, she observed: “The EIB is one of the world’s leading public banks and the EU’s financial arm for large public or private projects and SME financing. Its role is even more important in a context of rising interest rates and the need for green and digital investment.”
Acknowledging the nomination, she said: “Thank you, prime minister Pedro Sanchez, for your support and trust. It is an honour and a pride that Spain presents my candidacy for the presidency of the EIB, the EU’s financial arm, with a strategic role for our future.”
According to the EC, Calviño has been first deputy prime minister of Spain and minister for economy and digitalisation since July 2021. Prior to that, she was second vice-president and minister for economy and digitalisation between March and July 2021, third vice-president and minister for economy and digitalisation between 2020 and 2021, and minister for economy and business from 2018 to 2020.
Other candidates for the position include Daniele Franco of Italy, Teresa Czerwińska of Poland, and Thomas Östros of Sweden. Both Czerwińska and Östros are current vice presidents of the EIB.
