Santiago de Compostela Nadia Calviño is everywhere. As a host, the Spanish Minister of Economic Affairs can be found on every stage at the EU Finance Ministers’ Meeting in Santiago de Compostela. In the morning she gives the first statements to the cameras, and at the end of the day she has the last word in the final press conference.
The native Galician consistently exploits her home advantage. She beams when another colleague thanks “dear Nadia” for the perfect organization of the two-day meeting on Friday and Saturday. In addition to the 27 EU finance ministers, all colleagues from Latin America and the Caribbean will also be present on the first day. An applicant for a top international position could not wish for a better stage.
Calvino wants to become President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in Luxembourg at the end of the year. She would succeed the German Werner Hoyer, who is leaving after 12 years in office. She has to prevail against four other candidates, including the long-standing EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager. The decision will be made by the 27 EU finance ministers.
Calvino shows what she could achieve as head of the EIB
Calviño did not comment on her EIB candidacy in Santiago. Because of her role as host, this is “not appropriate,” she says. It’s not even necessary, because her entire appearance is just one application speech.
Calviño invokes the strategic partnership with Latin America, announces billions in investments as part of the European “Global Gateway” initiative, talks about renewable energies and new business opportunities for companies from both regions. She is already demonstrating what she could achieve as EIB President.
Her main opponent Margrethe Vestager also arrived. She secured a place in the Danish delegation so that Calviño would not leave the field in Santiago alone. The EU Commissioner, who has taken a leave of absence for her election campaign, is holding individual discussions with the finance ministers and is also holding a small press conference. But she only plays a small role next to the omnipresent Spaniard.
This also corresponds to the current ranking in the EIB race. Calviño is considered the favorite – especially since the German Claudia Buch was nominated as the new EU banking supervisor this week and the Spanish candidate Margarita Delgado came away empty-handed.
Finance ministers keep their preferences secret
The finance ministers discussed Hoyer’s successor for the first time in Santiago. They are still keeping quiet about their preferences. Belgian Finance Minister Vincent van Peteghem, who is leading the selection process, has not yet set a procedure. There will initially be informal discussions, he said. There is still no talk of test votes to thin out the field of five candidates.
The finance ministers want to avoid another blockage like the one that occurred with the new appointment at the top of the ESM euro rescue package. Here Germany, France and Italy had neutralized each other for months. In the end it was Germany’s favorite, Luxembourg’s Pierre Gramegna.
Germany, France and Italy also play a decisive role in the succession to the EIB. They each have a share of 18.8 percent of the EIB capital and therefore have particular weight in the vote. The winning candidate must bring together at least 18 countries that represent at least 68 percent of the development bank’s capital.
Traffic lights have different preferences
Paris and Berlin have not yet taken a position. The traffic light government does not agree on which candidate it wants to support. Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) are said to be leaning towards the Liberal Vestager, while Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is leaning towards Calviño, who sits as a non-party in Spain’s socialist government.
Lindner emphasized that it is important for Germany that the EIB leadership maintains the bank’s AAA rating. The bank should not “overextend itself,” he said.
This can be interpreted as meaning that the new person should not show too much ambition. At the same time, Lindner said the bank needed to become more agile. His party colleague Hoyer has already achieved a lot, but the approval process needs to be accelerated.
During her five years as Spanish economy minister, Calviño made a name for herself as a pragmatic reformer. In the coalition of socialists and the left-wing populists of Unidas Podemos, she was the guarantee that there would be no economic policy experiments and that the country would adhere to the rules from Brussels. Affable in tone, she has more than once captured the political advances of the communist Labor Minister Yolanda Díaz.
Calviño touts Spain’s strong economy
In terms of content, the 54-year-old worked significantly on the plan for reconstruction after the pandemic. Spain was the first country to receive billions in aid from Brussels. However, the plan also received criticism: the opposition and Brussels called for more transparency about the allocation of funds. In addition, EU funds are only reaching the real economy slowly.
The qualified lawyer and economist confidently defended her EIB application. “My candidacy is strong because of the results of the economic policies we have pursued over the past five years,” she said. Spain’s growth forecast is above the EU average for this year and next.
>> Read here: Claudie Buch becomes the new EU banking supervisor.
Before her time as Minister of Economic Affairs, Calviño worked in Brussels for a long time and is therefore well connected there. Among other things, she headed the General Directorate for Budget under the then Commissioner Günther Oettinger. Her employees feared her as a very demanding boss.
Calviño has long sought a top international job. In 2019, she applied to succeed Christine Lagarde as head of the International Monetary Fund, but withdrew after the first round of voting. In 2020 she wanted to become president of the Eurogroup and had broad support, including from then-Chancellor Angela Merkel. But she was narrowly defeated by the Irishman Paschal Donohoe, who still holds the office today.
More: Vestager wants to make EIB more risk-taking and agile.