Speech by Nadia Calviño at the Forum Europa breakfast

Good morning.

I am really delighted to be back in Madrid, and to see so many familiar faces. I’m not going to be able to greet everyone here this morning individually. But of course I should mention and give my special thanks to the deputy prime minister, the government delegate, the secretary of state, the president of the CNMC, of Patrimonio Nacional, of ICO, of CESCE, of the Economic and Social Committee, of the Economic and Social Council, of UGT, of Red Eléctrica... There are so many... Padre Ángel is here, I saw him in passing.

Well, many thanks. I should also thank my colleagues from the European Investment Bank’s Madrid office, who are doing a great job.

I will start by congratulating New Economy Forum for the last 25 years, and for their good judgment in granting their awards. I was actually at the ceremony presenting the Forum Europa award to Josep Borrell, who was reaching the end of his mandate as high representative and vice-president of the European Commission. And congratulations, of course, on choosing António Costa. He is a key figure playing a very, very important and positive role in Europe and across the world. And many thanks Josep, Pepe, for your kind words. He is also a strong character, in case you didn’t know. Let’s be clear. We have always worked so well together. I have always admired your brilliance, your ability to rise above the everyday, to see clearly and above all to fight hard for what you believe is right. I think all of us across Spain and Europe owe you a lot for the extraordinary work you have done.

It is a pleasure to be back here at this forum, and to share some reflections on these historic times. I don't think it is an exaggeration to say we have reached a key juncture in our history. A new global order is emerging, and Europe cannot allow itself to be left behind. We must speak up to defend our shared values and all the good things that the European Union has brought to our lives, things that often get lost in the day-to-day noise.

“Spoiler alert,” as people say nowadays, but the key message I would like to share with you this morning is that the challenges may be significant, but the European Union has already overcome many complex situations. If we remain united and act decisively, I am certain that we will meet these challenges and continue moving forward, just as we always have done over the last eight decades. But as Josep Borrell always says, to succeed, we need leadership, we need determination, and above all, more than words, we need action. A few months ago at the United Nations conference on financing for development in Seville, I was struck by how, although some may be backing away from the multilateral institutions that have governed the global order since the end of the Second World War, our partners around the world sent a clear message of commitment to multilateralism and also called on Europe to stand firm in defending democracy, a rules and respect-based global order, and win-win partnerships. I think this is key to defining this new global order.

I felt genuinely proud that Spain hosted that UN conference. It was undoubtedly an important first chapter in this ongoing debate. In recent days we’ve seen the second chapter of the debate on the new global order play out at the United Nations in New York. We are also seeing Europe’s key role as standard-bearer for resisting anti-democratic tendencies based on abuse, conflict and unilateral action that, unfortunately, are spreading around the world.

Over the almost two years that I have been at the helm of a European institution, I have been able to listen to and speak with European and international leaders, and I can see very clearly that Europe is more important than ever to the world. In a world of walls, we must build bridges. And the European Investment Bank is uniquely positioned to support these priorities. First, because of our strong financial position. The European Investment Bank is the largest player in the multilateral bank family, with its AAA credit rating enabling it to provide good financing conditions, as the many clients of ours here today know very well. And although nine of every ten euros we invest goes to Europe, we are also playing in the league of multilateral banks with a major role beyond our borders.

Our shareholders are all of the 27 EU Member States. I do not have to explain what it means to be the investment arm of the European Union right now, and how important it is to have these shareholders in the current global environment. While other multilateral banks are subject to US policy shifts, our shareholding structure means we can continue using words that seem revolutionary in the current climate: women, gender equality and development aid.

Against this backdrop, our biggest priority beyond our borders is Ukraine. I want to speak about Ukraine here in Spain, because it doesn’t get talked about much. Elsewhere in Europe, it is always at the top of the agenda, in every meeting, across the media, and in the headlines. That’s why I want to start by talking about Ukraine, as right now we are inaugurating a European Investment Bank-financed project there about once every two weeks. A few weeks ago, we had the European gauge rail connection. We are finalising the signature of a loan to finance gas reserves so they can last through the winter. We have launched a European guarantee programme so that companies exporting to Ukraine can do so safely. And we were just speaking about how CESCE is joining this guarantee programme to support all Spanish small and medium businesses wishing to export to Ukraine. In addition to Ukraine, our second focus is on eastward enlargement, on the Western Balkans, on stabilising neighbouring countries, on the Caucasus and the Mediterranean, and our partnership with Africa. But I also want to touch on two other priority areas: Latin America and the Middle East. Here in Spain, it goes without saying that links with our overseas partner countries are incredibly important. They played a very important role in the conference on financing for development in Seville, too. Their role is more strategic than ever in the current geopolitical environment. Looking ahead to the EU-Latin America summit in Santa Marta, Colombia in November, we are working on major financing projects in areas like electrification, public health, water treatment, digital infrastructure and natural disaster support, with the goal of backing integration and cohesion in the Latin America region. I am certain that Spain will play a key role at the EU-CELAC summit in November. Regarding the terrible conflict in the Middle East, I can share another piece of news from this week. During the United Nations General Assembly, the European Investment Bank signed a €400 million loan to support the private sector in the West Bank, contributing to the economic and financial stability of Palestine and making the two-state solution we all want to see viable.

Coming back to priorities within Europe, I hope that in the next few days our board will approve the second phase of our green financing strategy, consolidating our position as the climate bank. Over 50% of the EIB’s total annual financing goes to green lending. To strengthen European competitiveness with lower energy prices, to contribute to strategic autonomy by reducing dependence on fossil fuels, and to consolidate European tech leadership in this domain in the future.

The goal is clear. We have come a long way in recent years and it is now important to move forward with three clear priorities: Focusing investment on projects that make a bigger contribution to European competitiveness and security, cutting energy costs for businesses and families. Strengthening investment in adaptation and mitigation. We aim to double investment in climate change adaptation for 2026-2030, reaching €30 billion. And radically simplifying procedures to cut red tape for companies.

Let me focus for a second on this topic of adaptation and mitigation. Because every euro we invest saves between five and seven euros in repairs and damage, not to mention irrecoverable damage – the loss of human life. We know this well in Spain, following the terrible wildfires over the summer and as we approach a year since the catastrophic floods in Valencia.

It is precisely in this type of situation that the European Investment Bank has acted very quickly. I am especially grateful to the Bank’s teams for this. They immediately jumped into action to figure out what we could do, where we had resources to make financing available to the regional governments with responsibility in these areas.

For the wildfires, for example, we have mobilised €1.7 billion and technical assistance programmes to assist Spanish regions with prevention and monitoring investments for the future. And for Valencia, we immediately mobilised €1.5 billion, €500 million of which has been used so far. In addition to adaptation, the European Investment Bank has a key role in developing power grids and interconnectors. We are financing 40% of projects in this field in Europe. This year we unveiled the hugely important investment that I had the pleasure of announcing with Beatriz Corredor: €1.6 billion for the interconnector between Spain and France. It goes without saying how vital this interconnector is for the Iberian Peninsula if it is to break out of its isolation as an energy island. In addition to infrastructure, we are supporting small and medium businesses that clearly recognise the need to invest in the environmental transition. Our annual survey revealed that 60% of European companies are investing in climate action and the green transition. And Spain has the highest proportion of people in Europe who believe that climate action is a global political priority. It is clear that institutions need to step in to help businesses with these investments. That’s why just a couple of weeks ago, together with the European Commission, we mobilised €17.5 billion to make small and medium businesses more energy efficient. I think it’s important to mention this here, because small and medium businesses are the backbone of the Spanish economy. We are committed to supporting them in their green investments by providing a one-stop shop to access this financing.

Alongside this, we are stepping up our efforts in innovation, because in this era of dizzying technological change, Europe cannot afford to be left behind. That's why we launched TechEU, a new platform set to mobilise €250 billion in investment by 2027. It will cover the entire entrepreneurship and innovation cycle, ultimately aiming to stop Europe from merely being the world's incubator, which is where it stands at the moment. We have an entire ecosystem of startups and innovative companies – and I can see some of the people here who have worked so hard to support that ecosystem in Spain. But when those companies need funding to grow, they have to go elsewhere – usually across the pond – to get it. And so we lose talent, opportunities and technological leadership. Our goal is for ideas, technologies and companies born in Europe to be able to grow and prosper on this side of the Atlantic.

We are also launching the second phase of our leadership programme to boost the capital of tech companies – the European Tech Champions Initiative. This successful programme actually counts Spain among its founding countries. Through this programme, we have already championed the creation of 12 mega funds, including one based in our own country, significantly bolstering the European tech ecosystem. We look forward to soon announcing the name of a second mega fund, currently in the final stages of negotiation. Before finishing and taking your questions, I want to briefly touch on two other strategic priorities. Probably the most important one right now is strengthening Europe’s security and defence capabilities, a topic that European leaders will address at next week’s European Council meetings. Thanks to intense efforts over the past year, we have a robust portfolio at the EIB of more than 30 projects in security and defence. We are very well positioned to support major infrastructure and military installations, research and development programmes, and innovative industrial projects. These include drone manufacturing, providing liquidity for small and medium businesses throughout the European defence industry value chain, and capital injections into investment funds specialised in this area. A couple of months ago, we signed a very important project with Indra – a €385 million loan for its new technology centre. And just yesterday, the board of the European Investment Fund, our subsidiary specialising in capital injections into investment funds, approved a co-investment with CDTI to launch the first Spanish investment fund specialising in defence. The NAZCA fund will help meet the financing and investment needs of small and medium businesses in the sector at a critical strategic moment. The last area I want to mention is precisely that progressive dimension to which Josep referred earlier: the strengthening of our social infrastructure, which is the foundation of our welfare state and the European economic model. The European Investment Bank invests in vital infrastructure such as housing – for example, here, in Andalusia, in Valencia, in Barcelona – and I have actually had the chance to visit some of the projects we are financing. Then there are hospitals, including the major investment in the University Hospital of A Coruña. And universities, for example in Vigo, Santiago de Compostela and also here, in Madrid.

I’ll end here by highlighting the important role of the European Investment Bank in Spain, which is one of our main countries of operation. We haven’t reached the end of 2025 yet, but it is shaping up to be a very good year. Projects are progressing at a particularly rapid pace in Spain, for two main reasons. First, the growth of the Spanish economy. This needs no explanation if you look at the second-quarter GDP figures, which reveal that growth is well above the European average. Second, the deployment of NextGenerationEU loans and the projects that the Spanish regions are developing with those loans, with a total of €3.4 billion having already been channelled through the European Investment Bank. The deputy prime minister, the secretary of state for trade, ICO and the former secretary of state for economy will remember how we tried to set up a system to make the most of these loans. And that first tranche of €3.4 billion has practically been exhausted already. We expect to sign a further €700 million soon. All these projects will enable us to keep up the strong pace of investment we set in motion after the pandemic thanks to NextGenerationEU. So the main idea I want to leave you with is this: wherever there is a major strategic investment project – from the Y vasca high-speed rail network in the Basque Country to the Chira hydroelectric plant in the Canary Islands; from the renewal of urban rail transport fleets to cutting-edge research in the fight against cancer and neurological diseases; from the rollout of renewables to the launch of new green fuels, EU-backed – and EIB-financed – projects are everywhere. These investments are proving vital to national modernisation and competitiveness, and to making leadership in the green and digital transition the real key to Spain and Europe’s success.

As I conclude, I would like to go back to where I started, because the news and the day-to-day noise sometimes stop us from seeing the real big picture, and what has a long-term impact. And right now it is vital to keep a clear head, with clear ideas in mind. We’re fighting. We’re fighting for human rights, for democratic values, for peace. Those are big words, but it’s true. And in this, we are stronger together. We must focus on what is important, leave our differences to one side and work together with the determination, confidence and ambition that has enabled all of us in Spain and Europe to make the last few decades the most exceptional time in our history. Thank you. I am happy to take your questions.