Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister and economy minister Nadia Calviño has beaten European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager for the top job at the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The 27 finance ministers who make up the bank’s Board of Governors reached an agreement on December 8 to name Calviño as EIB President.
She will be the first woman to take on the role and it is also the first time Spain will effectively lead the Luxembourg-based institution.
Calviño will replace current EIB President Werner Hoyer on January 1. She will head the institution for six years.
The Spanish economist said her appointment “confirms the appreciation, the respect, and the European leadership Spain has achieved over the last years”.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez echoed her comments, adding Calviño’s election “reinforces the presence and influence of Spain in international organisations”.
The backing of the governments of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was crucial to secure Calviño the spot, according to observers. France and Germany are the two largest shareholders of the EIB.
In September, Vestager made her intentions for an EIB presidency run public. She went on leave to “focus on [her] candidacy until the appointment is made”.
Italy, the third-largest EIB shareholder, favoured Vestager’s bid after its own candidate failed to gather the backing of at least 18 Member States and a qualified majority of 68 per cent of the bank’s votes.
Vestagar, the EC’s anti-trust champion, withdrew her candidacy for the EIB presidency early on December 8, “in accordance with the Danish Government”, after failing to rally enough support.
The Danish Commissioner added that she will resume her duties at the EC.
The chairman of the EIB governors Vincent van Peteghem said Calviño’s appointment resulted from the “consensus” of the banks’ members.
Van Peteghem added that the Spanish Deputy Prime Minister will be “a strong President for the biggest investment bank in the world”.
Throughout the past six months, Calviño had lobbied heavily for her candidacy during the ministerial meetings she chaired under Spain’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
That gave Calviño an upper hand during her campaign, observers say.
At the national level, Calviño’s appointment is set to impact Sánchez’s newly formed Government.
Not everything has always gone her way. Spain nominated Calviño in 2020 to lead the Eurogroup of countries that use the Euro, although that attempt failed against current Eurogroup President, Ireland’s Paschal Donohoe.
She also failed in her bid for the top job at the International Monetary Fund in 2019.
