The Belgian Government supports Nadia Calviño to be the next president of the European Investment Bank and believes that she is the only one who can get the necessary votes right now. This was communicated this Thursday to his colleagues at Ecofin in a letter that was first reported by Politico and whose content EL MUNDO was able to confirm. The support of Minister Vincent van Peteghem is relevant not because of his country’s 5% voting rights, but because Belgium currently holds the rotating presidency of the institution’s Board of Governors, and is therefore in charge of the procedure for the succession of the German Werner Hoyer. That is, the one who has made the informal consultations, the only one and the one who best knows which foot each capital is limping on and the one who decides when it is put to a vote. And he has spoken out.
“The communication from the president of the Council of Governors of the European Investment Bank (EIB) that has been reported in the media constitutes good news, a step forward in the process of electing the next president of this international body. This step is “infers that, based on the consultations carried out by the president of the Council of Governors, Nadia Calviño is the only candidate who gathers sufficient support to achieve a consensus,” Spanish government sources explain with more than satisfaction.
Officially there are still five official candidates. Calviño, the Danish Margrethe Vestager, vice president on leave of the European Commission; the Italian Daniele Franco, who was Mario Draghi’s minister. And the Polish Teresa Czerwinska and the Swede Thomas Östros, both current vice presidents of the EIB. None has retired and none, at least for now, has sufficient support. The requirements say that it must have the vote of 18 countries and the support of 68% of the Bank’s capital, which is not distributed equally among the 27, but based on their contributions. So. France and Germany have, together with Italy, 18% of the total each, while Spain has just over 11%.
Berlin officially supports Spain, as does Portugal. Vestager includes Denmark, Greece and a number of small or Nordic countries. And I would even count on Italy if Daniele Franco were ruled out. The only major that has not yet spoken is France, which has been negotiating with Spain the price of its support for many weeks.
Belgium has tired of passivity. A few weeks ago, Minister Van Peteghem publicly reproached Berlin and Paris for their silence. And with the decision to give its support to Spain today, it sends a clear message, because it would be frankly strange if the country that knows who has the most votes and support chose another in this long and complicated race. Diplomatic sources say that in the letter they have stated that the Spanish woman is the one who has the most options, and therefore asks them to make a statement next Friday, December 8.
The objective is for the ministers to vote for the first time next week, just after the Ecofin celebration that will bring everyone together in Brussels to discuss the fiscal rules. “In the Government we have always indicated that the candidacy of the first vice president is strong and we believe that she is the ideal person to occupy such a relevant position in a European institution of such weight as the EIB. In any case, we continue to be cautious,” they say the same government sources. The decision must be made in any case before January 1, when the German Hoyer retires after more than a decade at the head of the Bank.
The first vice president has been cautious since New York, but President Pedro Sánchez has taken his victory and his departure for granted, regretting the loss it will mean for him, but highlighting the strategic importance of the position for Spain.