Calviño: “Europe is an anchor of trust and stability”

Brussels – The President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Nadia Calviño, emphasized this Wednesday that Europe “is an anchor of trust and stability” for the rest of the world at a time of “change” characterized by a “movement of the tectonic plates of the world order”.

She expressed this during a public conversation with the president of EFE, Miguel Ángel Oliver, in which she acknowledged that these changes generate “unease” and “concerns”, but she has “confidence” that the European Union will maintain “unity” and can “successfully overcome” its challenges.

“We are seeing, at this moment when everything seems to be changing and uncertainty and volatility are the new normal, that there is an asset that is increasing in value, and that is trust. Europe is an anchor of trust and stability for the rest of the world; it is the moment of Europe,” she defended.

In this context, Calviño assured that “the EIB is where it needs to be,” supporting the “great European strategic priorities” such as strengthening the security and defense industry at a time of “expansion” of “non-democratic regimes in the world that are being reinforced from the perspective of war preparedness”.

3 billion for defense SMEs

“It is very important that democracies defend themselves,” she stated, before announcing that the entity has tripled, to 3 billion euros, the funding of its financing program for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the defense sector.

The group, she added, signed a first agreement this Wednesday with the German bank Deutsche Bank to finance a credit and liquidity line for SMEs with 500 million euros and expects to sign a second agreement with Banque Populaire of France in the framework of that initiative “in the coming days”.

Nevertheless, Calviño emphasized that strengthening European defense “is not just a matter of investment in the industry”.

“Every euro financed by the EIB is contributing to the security of Europe because energy security, strategic autonomy, technological development, innovation, and technological leadership are key factors for the security of Europe,” she argued.

Climate Bank

In this line, she recalled that “the number one priority” of the EIB is “to consolidate its role as a climate bank, a strategy about which there can be “no doubt” because not continuing to depend on fossil fuel imports “is also a matter of security”.

Calviño highlighted that the bank is financing 40% of energy infrastructure projects across Europe and pointed out that she will announce “in the coming days” an agreement to finance an electrical interconnection between France and Spain so that “the Iberian Peninsula stops being an energy island”.

“The green transition and climate remain the number one priority, and we need to see how we can increase our impact,” she stated, before assuring that the entity’s high credit rating and its business model make it possible for the bank to increase its balance sheet to address all EU priorities.

Another area addressed in the conversation was the housing crisis, and Calviño defended that EU institutions must help national, regional, and municipal authorities tackle one of the problems affecting “almost all” member states.

Capital Markets

On the other hand, she noted that the EIB is present in the deepening of capital markets, a front that, along with a complete banking union, “can represent a real boost and a structural change from the perspective of Europe’s competitiveness,” she said.

“It is clear that we need to complete that banking union; the missing elements are very clear, and we especially need to advance in the union of capital markets. I see that there is ‘momentum’, a clear awareness on the part of the representatives of the member states that it is necessary to take decisive steps in this direction,” she explained.

At this point, she defended that Europe has “top-level” universities and research centers and talent, and a number of “startups” that are “absolutely comparable” to those in the United States and China.

But “the difference arises when these companies need to mobilize large volumes of financing” and “have to look for other capital markets” because the European one does not have “sufficient breadth and depth”.

“There is enough capital in Europe; what needs to be done is to put it to work, and for that, the integration of capital markets, the mobilization of private investment is key, and the EIB is in itself an instrument of capital market union because we channel savings into productive investments under a European flag,” she recalled.

Bringing Institutions Closer to Citizens

On the other hand, Calviño assured that the strength of the EU is “its diversity”, including the languages used by its citizens, and pointed out that it is essential to bring institutions closer to all Europeans who “do not speak the same language”.

“Diversity, including languages, is an asset of the EU, part of what makes us strong,” she stated.

When asked about the Spanish Government’s initiative to make Catalan, Basque, and Galician official in the EU, the president of the EIB emphasized that the diversity that allows her to “be Galician, Spanish, and European in a perfectly harmonious way” is what makes the EU “stronger”.

“It is essential to bring institutions closer to citizens, and it is evident that citizens do not all speak the same language; Europe has 24 official languages and, in reality, many more on the ground,” Calviño added.

In this sense, she noted that traditional media and also new platforms, such as TikTok, play a very important role in bringing citizens milestones such as the 40th anniversary of the signing of Spain’s accession treaty to the European Union, which is celebrated this Thursday (June 11).