_BIOGRAPHY Born in A Coruña, Spain, in 1968, she has held numerous high-profile roles in the Spanish government and international organizations. Since June 2018, they have served as Spain's First Vice-President and Minister of Economy, Trade, and Enterprise, with prior roles including Minister for Economy and Digitalisation, and various Vice-President positions. 

THE EIB IS THE EU'S LONG-TERM LENDING INSTITUTION, FUNDING SUSTAINABLE PROJECTS THAT SUPPORT EU POLICY OBJECTIVES, INCLUDING INFRASTRUCTURE, INNOVATION, AND ECONOMIC COHESION, AIMING TO REDUCE REGIONAL DISPARITIES AND PROMOTE EUROPEAN INTEGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT.

CHALLENGES

We have lived through a number of intense and interesting situations in these twists and turns of European politics. And throughout these last intense years, I think that we have all learnt a clear lesson: We are stronger together. And working together, as Europeans, we are able to successfully face today’s challenges and whatever may come our way in the future. It is especially important to have this in mind as we are approaching the run up to the European elections, so that we focus on what really matters and explain what the EU means for the security, the welfare and prosperity of citizens and businesses in all Member States. I am a very progressive person. I am also a feminist. But I am first and foremost here today a pro-European. And it is a pleasure to be able to share on this very timely occasion some thoughts on current issues from the point of view of my new position as President of the European Investment Bank Group. Taking first the global perspective, and then moving to Europe and finishing with the top strategic priorities of the EIB Group going forward.

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EIB IN THE WORLD

Let's start with the state of the world. Last month was the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank with a very striking headline: The economic situation is better than expected. The geopolitical situation is worse than expected. Central banks, finance ministers and the global safety net seem to have managed to walk a narrow path and bring inflation down, supporting economic growth around the world. But rising trade tensions are having a terrible effect on the state of the world. And it simply reflects that the tectonic plates that underpinned the post-World War II global order, which has served us all very well and obviously catalyzed progress in Europe - those tectonic plates are shifting. A new global order is taking shape, and our decisions today will shape that new global order. As a proud member of the network of multilateral development institutions, the European Investment Bank can certainly contribute to addressing Europe's priorities. And also contribute to a better world.

This has been one of my priorities in the four months since I took over: deepening cooperation with the European Commission and with multilateral institutions to use our actions to expand our impact on the ground. That means working very closely with the United Nations Development Program to implement projects on the ground. It means working with the World Bank to develop indicators for risk assessment by public and private investors, working with the World Health Organization and private foundations to end polio in the world for good or to make it possible to build vaccine production facilities in Africa. These are absolutely momentous projects that must be based on deep cooperation with other multilateral institutions.

I wanted to mention these examples, because in today’s world when everyone is talking about security and defence and, you know, the dialogue is shifting so clearly, we should not forget that Europe has been a force for good in the world. And we need to cherish this role. We need to support North-South dialogue. We need to continue to be a beacon of peace, prosperity, human rights, protection of minorities. Because this is exactly contributing to the objectives of security, welfare, prosperity inside the European Union. And we need to put our money where our mouth is. So the European Investment Bank will certainly continue to contribute to Europe being perceived as a force for good in the world.

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EIB IN EUROPE

This brings me to the second part of my remarks: Europe. Looking back to what we have been through with the pandemic, the war, inflation. I really believe there is a lot of reason to be proud. Europe responded in an efficient and effective manner to those challenges, following three key principles: unity, determination, solidarity. One key example that offers us clear lessons is the response to the pandemic: the actions of the European Central Bank providing liquidity, the Commission supporting national short-term work schemes so that we could protect jobs and corporates throughout the pandemic, the EIB complementing national guarantees to support SMEs throughout the EU…. And then the Recovery and Resilience Facility launched a massive investment and reform programme that would allow us to avoid the lost decade of investment that so many countries suffered after the 2008 financial crisis.

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Adapted from remarks delivered at the Forum Europa in May 2024.