The position is disputed with the until now vice president of the Commission Margrethe Vestager
BRUSELAS, 6 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The first vice president and acting minister of Economic Affairs and Digital Transition, Nadia Calviño, recognized this Wednesday in Brussels her “strong motivation” to preside over the European Investment Bank (EIB), a position to which the until now executive vice president also aspires. of the European Commission responsible for Competition, the Danish liberal Margrethe Vestager, who this Tuesday announced that she was stepping away from the position to defend her candidacy.
On the contrary, Calviño has assured that, for the moment, he is “focused” on the vice presidency of the Government since “at least until December” that will be his job and it is “absorbing”, as he pointed out during his speech in the debate forum organized by the Bruegel Center for Economic Studies, in which the Third Vice President and Minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, will also participate.
Italy, Sweden and Poland have also presented candidates for the position that Vestager and Calviño are seeking to take over from Werner Hoyer when his term as head of the EIB expires at the end of the year.
Regarding her motivation to preside over the bank, the minister highlighted that it is one of the most relevant institutions in the European Union, although she has opted to “strengthen it even further” at a “complex” moment, which is why she considers that presiding the EIB is an “inspiring task”.
“President Sánchez thought that we should present a strong candidacy,” explained Calviño, who stressed that the EIB is “the largest public development bank in the world” with “a key role to play in the future.” “We are all aware of the need to mobilize financial resources and that the strong institutions of the EU must be further strengthened,” he added.
Spain, which this semester holds the rotating presidency of the EU, plans to include in the agenda of the informal meeting of Ministers of Economy and Finance (Ecofin) on September 16 and 17 in Santiago de Compostela the discussion and vote on the candidacies, although the final decision corresponds to the Board of Governors of the EIB, which is made up of the same ministers, foreseeably in October.
