The First Vice President of the Government and Minister of Economic Affairs, Nadia Calviño, this morning gave some details about the moment and the way in which the decision to present her candidacy for president of the European Investment Bank (EIB) was made. As she has said, it was a decision of hers and that of the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, in “informal contacts after the elections” on July 23.
Calviño has become the first person in charge of the Government to speak in public after the announcement of his candidacy for the EIB, which if successful would force him to leave his current functions in the Government as of January 2024, in the case of for Sánchez to be elected in an eventual investiture.
In a statement from Cádiz, he described his candidacy for an institution as “honour” which he described as “totally strategic for Spain and Europe” and which will play “a fundamental role” in the “financing” of future green infrastructures and in the “re-industrialization” of the EU.
“Given the caliber of the competitors, President Sánchez and I saw clearly in our informal contacts after the elections that only a candidacy with my name had the best chance of prospering, that any other candidate would be giving up the battle for lost,” he stated. . It is about presenting an option that “has the best chance of success.”
The competitors he is talking about to succeed the German Werner Hoyer at the head of the EIB are the current Competition Commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, and Daniele Franco, Italian Minister of Economy in the Mario Draghi era. Also running for office are Polish Vice President Teresa Czerwinska and Swedish Vice President Thomas Östros.
In any case, Calviño has insisted that what begins now, with the presentation of the candidacy, is “the beginning of a process” that will not conclude until autumn and that “does not interfere at all” with his current functions in the Government . He would leave them in January of next year, so that if a socialist government were formed, his replacement would not join at first.
“The president has clearly expressed his confidence and I my commitment to him to continue leading and directing the Government’s economic policy in the coming months and in the next legislature,” he stated. The position of President of the EIB is not compatible with that of Minister.
