Financial instruments to forge EU unity in diversity

I visited all Member State capitals to meet with finance ministers and government leaders on Europe's key priorities. During these meetings, I was able to see at first hand the work being done on the ground by my colleagues in the European Investment Bank Group who are committed to turning innovative ideas into concrete projects. A commitment that aims to significantly strengthen the productivity and resilience of our economies and communities.

I went to the Campidoglio, where the Treaty of Rome that created the EIB was signed in 1957, and discussed with Mayor Gualtieri plans to advance sustainable mobility and boost energy efficiency in the capital. The Athens fire brigade told me how the EIB group had financed the acquisition of surveillance drones to fight fires. I met with residents of social housing units in Valencia and Dublin, as they witnessed the fundamental importance of housing availability in a person's life, and with representatives from the University of Nicosia who told me about the transformative power of education. I visited the site of a water infrastructure project in Barcelona, as well as the workshops of innovative European companies in Amsterdam, Warsaw and Copenhagen. These companies, supported by the EIB's venture debt instruments, are accelerating cutting-edge research in health technologies.

What I have seen and heard has strengthened my confidence in the future of Europe and in our ability to face challenges with determination and togetherness. More than ever, I am convinced of the importance of ensuring a fair distribution of opportunities for success within the continent, because our talents are also distributed throughout it.

A new European Commission will take office this month, starting its work on the basis of recent reports by respected figures such as Mario Draghi and Enrico Letta. The EIB Group will work closely with the Commission and focus investments on eight key priorities approved by its shareholders, the 27 EU Member States.

During my visits to EU capitals, the various leaders expressed their expectations of the EIB Group. They asked us to continue doing what we do best, which is to contribute directly to investment and to catalyse private financing, but to increase our engagement even further. They asked us to stay the course towards the 'climate bank' objective, to invest more in innovation and technologies that are indispensable for our competitiveness, in cohesion, subsidised housing, agriculture and water, and to support the European security and defence industry. We have already started to achieve all this, and we will continue in 2025 with three priority objectives.

First, we must overcome fragmentation. We must aim for full market integration and introduce incentives, instruments and a clear framework to direct European capital into productive investments. We must support EU-born companies, ideas and technologies so that they grow and stay in Europe.

Second, we need to simplify the functioning of the EU, reducing administrative burdens that hinder investment in projects that improve people's lives and strengthen communities.

Third, we need to increase funding to support collective security and resilience, thereby accelerating Europe's productivity and growth.

These three points, supported by the governments of the Member States, are fully aligned with the priorities of the new Commission. They will be the compass that will guide the work of the EIB Group, because collaboration between budgetary and regulatory authorities, coordinated with our financial instruments, can help Europe forge unity from its very diversity.

Europe is at a crossroads, and its role on the new global stage will depend on our choices. The premises bode well. Democracies thrive when societies believe in their strengths. Extremisms, on the other hand, find fertile ground in despair and division.

Whatever the headwinds, one thing is certain: the European Union is determined to build a more secure, prosperous and sustainable future for its citizens. The EIB Group will play a strategic role in this collective effort, striving to create a better world that offers future generations more opportunities.

Nadia Calviño - President of the Bei Group