Mr Philippe de FONTAINE VIVE CURTAZ has been appointed Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) with effect from 24 February 2003. On the EIB's Management Committee, his responsibilities include borrowing and treasury policies, the Bank's capital market activities, and financing operations in France and under the Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership (FEMIP).

Before arriving at the EIB, Mr de Fontaine Vive pursued his career at the French Treasury, most recently as Director of the State and Economy Financing Department. He previously held the positions of Sub-Director in charge of State Holdings (2000), "Debt, Development and Emerging Markets" Sub-Director (1996), Head of the Transport and Urban Planning Office (1995), International Affairs Adviser to the Economy and Finance Minister (1994) and Head of the Non-Life Insurance Office.

In addition, he served as Vice-Chairman of the Paris Club from 1996 to 2000 and Secretary-General of the Management Board of the Economic and Social Development Fund (FDES) between 1995 and 1996. Mr de Fontaine Vive was also an Alternate Director of the World Bank in Washington between 1990 and 1992 and a Member of the Supervisory Board of Agence Française de Développement (AFD) from 1996 to 2000.

At the French Treasury, which he joined in 1986, Mr de Fontaine Vive's earlier posts included Deputy Head of the Banking Affairs Office (1986) and Deputy Head of the Capital Goods Office.

Mr de Fontaine Vive has an Economics Degree (Université de Paris 2) and is a graduate of the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris and former student of the École Nationale d'Administration (ENA). He was born in Marseilles in 1959 and has four children.

The Management Committee is the Bank's full-time executive body. Under the authority of the President, Mr Philippe Maystadt, it collectively oversees the day-to-day running of the EIB as well as preparing and ensuring the implementation of the Board of Directors' decisions, notably regarding borrowing and lending operations. The members of the Management Committee (composed of the EIB's President and seven Vice-Presidents) are responsible solely to the Bank. They are appointed by the Board of Governors - consisting of Ministers (generally Finance Ministers) from each EU Member State - for a renewable period of six years, on a proposal from the Board of Directors, from among candidates put forward by the Member State concerned. As one of the Bank's principal shareholders (alongside Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom) France has a permanent place on the Management Committee. The EIB's Management Committee is based in Luxembourg.

Mr de Fontaine Vive succeeds Mr Francis Mayer on the Management Committee. Mr Mayer was a member of the Committee with the same responsibilities from October 1999 to December 2002 before being appointed Director-General of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations Group (CDC). During his term of office, he focused in particular on industrial competitiveness and SMEs, lending to promote a knowledge-based and innovation-driven economy (i2i), developing less favoured regions and creating major trans-European infrastructure (notably TGV Est-Europe). Outside the Union, Francis Mayer was in charge of introducing the new instrument for financial partnership with the Mediterranean countries, FEMIP, launched on 18 October 2002 in response to the conclusions of the Barcelona European Council of March 2002. Mr Mayer is a qualified German teacher and former student of the École Nationale d'Administration (ENA). He spent a large part of his career at the French Treasury where, among other responsibilities, he was Chairman of the Paris Club.