The decision of the European Economy Ministers on the presidency of the European Investment Bank, a position to which Nadia Calviño aspires, may not be taken next week at the informal Ecofin in Santiago de Compostela as planned. According to diplomatic sources, the rotating presidency of the EIB, currently held by Belgium, has suggested that the governments give themselves a little more time to make the decision, expand the debates and postpone the vote until next month. The new date being handled is the monthly meeting of the EU Economy Ministers that will take place on October 16 and 17 in Luxembourg, a more neutral framework than the informal Ecofin convened in the Galician city.
Calviño’s late candidacy, announced at the end of July, after the general elections, represents tough competition for the Danish Margrethe Vestager, who could benefit from a longer process than the one agreed in May. Then, the European Economy Ministers agreed on the process and decided to leave the summer for consultations with a view to reaching an “informal agreement” at their meeting on September 15 and 16, a pact of a political nature, which then had to be validated by the council of governors between October 9 and 27. “That calendar is not engraved in marble,” say European sources.
After months of informal contacts, the EIB’s appointments committee will today issue its validation of the candidacies presented, a procedure that will officially kick off this complicated and highly political personnel selection process. There are, in total, five candidates (the Polish Teresa Czerwi?ska, the Italian Daniele Franco, the Swede Thomas Östros, in addition to Calviño and Vestager), a number that can make it very difficult to reach a consensus, hence the interest is being explored. for limiting the talks that take place in Santiago, on the margins of Ecofin or as a point on the agenda, to a discussion about the different profiles without aspiring to reach a political decision.
Another possibility that is being considered is to find a way acceptable to all to reach the day of the final vote with fewer candidates on the table. At the moment, no country has withdrawn its applicants, perhaps with the hope that if there is no agreement between the big countries on Calviño or Vestager, theirs will end up being chosen. Talks between capitals continue. While there is no doubt about holding some kind of informal debate on the different candidates for office, European sources suggest “managing expectations” about the possibility of a decision being made in Santiago.
