President Calviño: Bigger, Faster, Simpler

It’s thrilling to be back home and to see so many friends, so many experts, so many people that are passionate about the European budget and the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). And I'm not surprised that this conference is year after year gathering so much interest, particularly at this point in time, obviously, because the European budget is the backbone of the European Union.

Being ex-Director General for DG Budget, but also an ex-minister and Vice President of a national government and now President of the European Investment Bank Group, you will not be surprised to hear me say that the European budget is actually a very powerful instrument, which is financing our common policies for the last 70 years. The European budget has been changing our economies, changing our landscapes, changing our Europe, changing our lives, and in my view, making Europe the best place to live. 

Many times, we hear comments that try to underplay the impact of the EU budget by focusing on the fact that it is only 1% of Europe's GDP. Size matters, of course, and there will be a lot of negotiations about size, but it is not everything. And in the case of the European budget, this percentage does not at all capture the transformative power of pan-European projects:

• The impact of programmes like the Common Agricultural Policy, which is ensuring food security and protecting our rural communities,
• The impact of structural funds, which are bringing opportunities where talent is in every corner of our Union.
• Programmes like Erasmus, nurturing generations of real Europeans,
• Or Horizon Europe, nurturing a research ecosystem that is second to none,
• And of course the different liquidity instruments and the massive NextGenerationEU investment and reform programme that saved the European economy during the pandemic and is the best example of the power of the European budget, the formidable power of our unity. 

As Robert Schuman, one of the founding fathers of our European Union said, "Europe will not be made in one go or through a master plan. It will be built through concrete achievements that create a de facto solidarity." Well, I think the EU budget is certainly one of those concrete achievements underpinning the European building process, adjusting to the evolving needs and responding to constant crisis. As many have already said during these two days [of this conference], "we are at a defining moment."

Every seven years, Europe has a date with itself. Every seven years, we have to design what we, as Europeans, want to achieve together, and also to shape a European response to today's complex world. Ultimately, the aim is to fulfil the promise of a better future for all. 

Europe has the tools, the talent, and the vision to do so, to seize the unique chance, the unique opportunity we have today to lead the transition into tomorrow's economy and to be successful in the new global order, which is in the making as we speak.

That requires a focus on competitiveness and security, also two words that have been used extensively [at this conference], with a holistic approach, including market integration, simplification and large-scale investments. This is also the executive summary of the many expert reports that have been produced in the last years.

In that sense, the Savings and Investments Union and the Multiannual Financial Framework are two sides of the same coin. They need to make progress in parallel, to scale up investment and deliver maximum impact. We need to step-up public-sector support, but also to mobilise massively private resources. It is therefore really urgent and important that we make progress in building a true capital markets union. 

The European Investment Bank Group, in close partnership with the European Commission and other implementing partners is ideally positioned to contribute to the process, because we are bridge-builders, we crowd in private investment, we channel savings into productive investments. We pool resources, ensuring maximum leverage, and maximising the positive impact of the European budget on the ground.

As an integral part of, and also a proud member of the global network of multilateral development institutions, the EIB Group is obviously the closest ally of the European Commission and the other European institutions, in supporting Europe's priorities, and we have excellent examples that we can all be proud of:

Last week, I attended the InvestEU conference in this same venue, where we all highlighted that is a true success story of the European Union. By using a broad range of financing tools, from venture debt to portfolio guarantees, private equity funds, we have channelled substantial financing into sectors that are critical for Europe's present and future. At the EIB Group, we have already deployed 94% of the allocated guarantee of InvestEU to mobilise close to 300 billion euros in investment across ALL European countries, and these are impressive results.

Through the InvestEU and its guarantees, we are leveraging the EU budget, supporting Europe's strategic autonomy in the areas of energy, health, biotech, green tech, financing Europe's security and defence capabilities, supporting key infrastructures, fast-growing innovative companies, and high-risk strategic projects. We are investing in housing. The list is endless. I could go on for a long time just talking about what we are doing with InvestEU.

Another example of how the EIB Group budget: the European Investment Bank is a key supporter of international partnerships contributing to a strong European voice in a safer, more stable, more prosperous world.

So, from Ukraine to accession countries, neighbouring countries, Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, we at the end of the day put money where our mouth is. The EIB decides about these investments together with the European Commission, to ensure that Europe is investing where our political priorities are.

We have mobilised 80 billion euros for the Global Gateway Initiative. We are on track to reach the bank's commitment to leverage 100 billion euros of investment by 2027. And that means we are financing projects ranging from vaccine production capacities in Africa, clean cooking, to climate adaptation all around the globe, women's empowerment, railways and digital connectivity in Asia, in Latin America, water infrastructures around the world, Central Asia, Africa again, and we expect that we will have used the 2 billion euros Ukraine Facility guarantee by the end of the year, because we are really reaching a cruising speed when it comes to implementing and deploying those mandates on the ground. 

Now, dear friends, we all have in mind the next Multiannual Financial Framework, but the world doesn't wait for us, and we must try to make the most of available resources here and now under the current MFF.

The current geopolitical context is actually creating good opportunities for Europe to attract capital, to attract investment and talent, so we need to do our utmost to make sure that that happens. We need to make sure that investors, companies, excellent professionals, they choose Europe. So, we need to make the most of available resources through a number of tools, which are technical but have a big impact.

First, with simplification as a key driving force, still under the current multiannual financial framework. 

Actually, I want to pay tribute to the European Commission because the investment simplification ''Omnibus'' (and I can already tell you we will try to use all omnibuses that are coming up to try to make progress in terms of simplification), well, it is really going in the right direction, because it will not only allow the European Investment Bank to be more efficient, it will allow us to reduce red tape and costs for beneficiaries, but it will also actually liberate guarantees, which have been locked until now, so that we can mobilise 6.7 billion in additional guarantees and thus mobilise total investment around 70 billion euros.

These numbers show that simplification actually pays off.

And this is not going to require any additional contributions from member states, no additional contributions from the current EU budget. It's just a better use of existing resources under the EU budget. And I want to thank the European Commission here on stage for their excellent collaboration and their efforts in this regard. 

Now we have to expand this successful initiative in the area of investment inside the EU, from the InvestEU programme to technical advice, so advisory services, and to investments outside the EU. I think the latter point will be extremely important because the competitiveness of European companies and Europe's security does not only depend on what we invest, what we do inside our borders, but what we also do around the world.

Second, we are in parallel also looking at the maximisation of blending of financial instruments and grants, be it with structural funds, be it with the Recovery and Resilience Facility, again, so that we can do as much as possible with the existing resources.

Furthermore, at the European Investment Bank Group, we are seeing how to increase our risk-taking with our own capital and extend our palette of financial instruments with the launch of a dedicated TechEU programme to support Europe's innovators, to scale up successful startups, foster an environment where Europe's ideas, technologies and companies can actually thrive and remain in Europe. 

By raising our commitments to a record high, crowding in private capital and optimising the use of EU budget guarantees, we aim to mobilise 250 billion euros in investment in breakthrough new technologies by 2027.

The goal is to create a financing programme which is bigger, faster, and simpler than anything we have known until now. Because in our exchanges with the private sector, with Europe's investors and innovators, they have told us, "size matters, but speed is of the essence too. So is efficiency, cutting down red tape, being simpler is also going to be an important booster for Europe's competitiveness."

The idea at the end of the day is, together with the European Commission to have a complete palette of instruments, like President von der Leyen said here yesterday, that cover and support Europe's champions from idea to market. 

So our aim is working together with the Commission to provide equity, quasi-equity loans and guarantees, so a complete palette of instruments to support investments and innovation in areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, health tech, clean tech defence, access to critical raw materials, so that we ensure that Europe's innovators stay rooted in Europe and that we can also attract talent, capital, and investment from other parts of the world.

Because let's be clear, Europe is an innovation powerhouse. Our startups, researchers, entrepreneurs, they are world-class. They are second to none. We just need to provide them with the right financing, at the right time, and also an integrated market where they can gain the necessary scale to be competitive at world level.

That is why I was talking a moment ago about a holistic approach, market integration, simplification, large-scale investment. 

Looking ahead, the design of the next multiannual financial framework is a great opportunity to further improve the use of EU resources in the post-2027 period and ensure maximum impact on the ground, and this requires a clear view of Europe's priorities, and I can anticipate very lively debates and negotiations on how to deal with the challenge of preserving our precious, really precious and successful instruments, supporting agriculture, cohesion or research while at the same time stepping up support for Europe's competitiveness, security and defence, including through strong partnerships around the world.

Last time around, I was at the helm of DG Budget, so I was the one, trying to see how to bridge these gaps, how to articulate a political approach that would reflect Europe's priorities, Europe's aspirations. This time around, I will not go here in detail about how to engage in that political discussion, which is going to be kicked off in a couple of months. 

Let me just in closing, share three technical tips to success, simple ideas to guide the process that can guide us in the preparatory phase, which is now coming to the final stage inside the Commission, and obviously the very intense negotiations that will start in the Council and in the European Parliament and in each and every one of our member states from now on.

First tip, we need to be efficient. We don't need to reinvent the wheel. We can build on successful instruments. Instruments that work like InvestEU, which I already mentioned, which I hope will be a blueprint, the basis for the Competitiveness Fund. Just like the idea and the model of investments and reforms under the Recovery and Resilience Facility can be a very important blueprint because it does have a very important impact, a reforming, a transformative impact on the ground. 

Secondly, of course, as many have said, we need to ensure flexibility to be able to respond to a changing world, and we need to simplify the rules. One example only, throughout the years, mandate management has become increasingly complicated with different procedures, increased red tape and reporting requirements.

I can now see it from the other side of the table at the European Investment Bank. Just to give you our own example, the EIB Group manages 50 mandates on behalf of the European Commission. Of them, 38 are from previous programming periods, but still require significant monitoring. Additionally, the EIB Group manages 87 mandates deploying resources under shared management. So all in all, just to give you a sense of what this means, we have to produce every year, 440 reports on these mandates. There surely must be a better way, and I think, let me put an idea here. 

What we need is three mandates. To mobilise financing inside the EU on the basis of InvestEU or the new Competitiveness Fund, when it is created. Second mandate, EIB Advisory Services. Third, a mandate for financing outside the EU. The idea of a Global Fund is extremely attractive so that we can also adjust our activities outside the EU to a very intense and fast-changing world. Of course, simplification also means we need a single rule book for all programmes, ensuring interoperability and coherence, avoiding unnecessary duplications and costs for the institutions, for businesses, for citizens. And this would allow the European Investment Bank to maximise its impact. It would allow us to be faster and simpler, acting swiftly and at scale, at the necessary scale as main partner of the European Commission in implementing the EU budget. Getting things done. 

Last tip, but not least, we can also build on successful partnerships like the one between the European Commission and the European Investment Bank. Not only a partnership, but very close friendship, strong aligned agenda, strong deep cooperation at all levels, because when we work together, two plus two is more than four.

Actually, there are many good ideas in the European Parliament's own initiative report on the next MFF, and there is one that I particularly value, which is their call for an investment partnership with the EIB Group. We very much welcome, obviously this is very powerful signal. Because the European Investment Bank Group is a success story of the European Union, just like the EU budget is. And right now we are in a unique position, thanks to our shareholders, the 27 member states, neither more nor less, and this is important. And of course, thanks to our unparalleled financial strength, which allows us to step up our finance, to scale up our balance sheet without calling for additional capital from our shareholders. This is a quite unique situation in today's world of the European Investment Bank as a European institution and a multilateral development institution. 

So going forward, you can count on us to continue to contribute and to build a strong partnership with the Commission, with the member states, with other European institutions, with national and international public and private financial players, with Europe's companies, investors, and with European citizens.

Because when we align ambition with the right instruments, Europe delivers. Let me close on this idea, because our unity is our strength, because when we work together, we are unstoppable, and I am really proud to be at the helm of an institution that embodies this image, turning the European ideal into reality every single day.

Thank you.