President Calviño opens EIB Global Days: Another way, Europe’s way

Well, what a wonderful video showing us that everything is interconnected and that we are in one world. One people, one world. It's a beautiful image to start this EIB Global part of our annual forum.  

Commissioners, ministers, their colleagues and friends, my sisters Ngozi from the World Trade Organization, Sanya from the Gavi, my dear Ethiopis. So long ago we have been working together in many other positions. Colleagues from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the United Nations, national development agencies, your Eminence from the private sector, from civil society, partners and allies from Ukraine to Africa, from Latin America to Southeastern Asia. Welcome to the second edition of the Global Days, this section of the EIB Group's Forum dedicated to international cooperation and to global win-win partnerships, an expression that I think you will hear a lot in the coming panels.  

With the dramatic events that we are living and the intensified conflict in the Middle East in recent days, but also the conflicts that are arising in past weeks and months, and the new realities that are gripping our world, I think if there was ever a moment where such engagement was urgent, necessary and essential, it is now. The world needs to see a different path and the work that we do together, with all of you, the projects that we bring to life show that there is indeed another way. For example, the 1-billion-euro pledge to the Mission 300 initiative to provide clean and affordable energy to 300 million persons across Africa by 2030. We're joining our partners at the African Development Bank - the President is also with you, with us today, I think I cannot see him, but he must be somewhere around - and at the World Bank Group, represented by the Vice IFC President, we're joining forces with these multilateral institutions to make sure that we can improve the lives, the livelihoods and the prospects for 300 million persons.  

And the first message I wanted to share with you today, is that in a world filled with challenges, Europe has something very concrete to offer. A model, a track record, a proof of concept, lessons learned. I sometimes think about this when people ask me why is Europe so attached to the idea of cooperation, of global partnerships? Why do we insist on rules, on international law, on institutions, on win-win outcomes? And the answer is very simple because we know the alternative. We have lived it. War has been a constant in the history of Europe. And our European Union is actually a proof that there is a way out of these realities. The European Union and the European Investment Bank emerged from the ashes of the Second World War.  

I was myself born in a dictatorship in my country in Spain. I was a child of 12 when armed men entered our Parliament and tried to impose military rule again. Just a few days ago, and that's why I mention it, we marched the 45th anniversary of that night. Military rule is also a memory in Portugal and in Greece. Many of my colleagues at the European Investment Bank were born behind the Iron Curtain under the USSR regime. And war is a living memory for our Member States and candidate countries in the Balkans. The war in Ukraine has now entered its fifth year.  

So, Europe is not an ivory tower separate from the troubles of the world. Quite on the contrary, we are a community where prosperity and freedom and peace were not a given, but something that had to be fought for and won, with setbacks and tragedies along the way. And that's why Europe's commitment to cooperation and shared prosperity is a product of our history and experience, and it is strong.  

My second point is that what we do every day matters. The future is not written. There are no magic ones to build a better world. What we can do is to add building blocks, as we saw in the video, to play our part every day with our actions. As Robert Schumann said - for those that are not European, Robert Schumann is one of the founding fathers of the European Union - what he said about the unification of Europe, he said, Europe will not be made all at once or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity. I see these words every day as I walk here, because they are on the monument on the other side of the bridge.  

And that same logic can be applied to the world. And that's why the European Investment Bank Group plays a very important role inside the European Union and globally, because with every school we finance in Ukraine, every girl we help vaccinate in Angola, every new metro line in Vietnam and India, every project bringing clean power to Egypt or in countries across Central America, every agreement facilitating access to financing for farmers in Côte d'Ivoire or Sierra Leone, connecting remote regions in Cameroon and empowering women entrepreneurs in Mauritania. Each and every one of these projects helps woven the fabric of a society where people feel that the system works for them. They can feel confident about the future for them and their children. And that's a concrete contribution to peace, to economic growth, to global stability.  

In 2025, the EIB Group reached a historic 100 billion euros in total financing. Of that, more than 9 billion euros was deployed outside the EU through EIB Global. And let me concrete about what this means. Ukraine is our top priority. Last year, we deployed record financing with a new project signed or inaugurated every other week. Ukraine's security is Europe's security, and their cause is our cause. Since the start of the invasion, we have disbursed more than 4 billion euros to restore water systems, repair energy grids, rebuild schools and kindergartens and hospitals. And we will stand with Ukraine on the path to a fair and lasting peace, which I think we, all of us in this room, hope will come to us soon.  

In the Balkans, we mobilized 1.5 billion euros of new investment last year to support the countries of the region on their path to EU membership, including major financing packages for strategic rail upgrades in Albania and Montenegro, wind energy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and improved health care services in Serbia.  

The EIB Group invested more than 3 billion euros in Africa last year, including support for production of vaccines in Rwanda, a mass vaccination campaign against cervical cancer in Angola and critical water transmission upgrades in Morocco. This week, we are discussing a lot on a new project for a vaccine manufacturing capacity in South Africa. And that's why our partnership with the Gavi is so important. I was just talking to the CEO, Madame Nishtar, about that. How can we continue to build this very important partnership, making a difference for the world?  

Now, moving to water, actually, the European Investment Bank is amongst the world's largest financiers of water projects for drinking water in our taps to wastewater treatment and agricultural irrigation. We provided more than 5 billion euros in financing for water projects last year, improving sanitation and drinking water for 32 million people in the EU and beyond, including in the Middle East and across Asia.  

For example, the rehabilitation and construction of water treatment facilities in Karachi. The water supply projects that we signed last year alone in Dhaka, one of the projects that was illustrated in the video, is expected to benefit more than 10 million people in the capital of Bangladesh. And finally, the EIB Group provided almost 2 billion euros in new financing for projects in Latin America and the Caribbean, including for the construction of Costa Rica's first electric train system and for the improvement of sanitation systems across Ecuador.  

So, the message that I want to leave with you, my second message today, I want to be loud and clear: where some are pulling back, Europe is stepping up.  

And my final and third point is that the scope and ambition of the EIB Group's operations will expand, reflecting Europe's global footprint. What are our main priorities? Our shareholders, the 27 Member States of the European Union, have unanimously endorsed our new strategic orientation for our global operations in full alignment with the EU's objective of strengthening Europe's voice through win-win partnerships. The EIB Group walks the talk, having already mobilized 100 billion euros in investment aligned with the European Union's Global Gateway strategy - that's two full years ahead of target.  

And this work is set to continue. Our regional focus will remain on Ukraine, enlargement and neighbourhood countries, while taking a differentiated approach that tailors our offering to local needs of Africa or Latin America. The EIB Group is going for a true, true win... sorry, a true win-win approach. It's the third time I say this in my speech. I really wanted to make this the central element of the speech, because that's the core idea, and that's the European approach. It is signing agreements and having partnerships where all the parties win. A different path to those that think that for some to win, you need others to lose. Supporting global development and addressing shared priorities from global health to climate, while also offering new business opportunities to European companies and helping diversify European supply chains. The agreements we signed last month to support early-stage graphite and lithium projects in Tanzania and Namibia are examples of this approach. 

And the European Investment Bank Group is also engaging intensively with developed economies, including Australia and Canada in this area. I didn't know actually that our vice-president has just returned from Canada. I didn't know that you would join us already here, dear Nicola.  

Looking further ahead, next year we will chair the Group of Multilateral Development Banks, a role that shows that we take this very seriously in this house. The EIB Group's collaboration, synergies and complementarity with regional and multilateral partners, European promotional and development institutions, the private sector, the World Trade Organization, organizations and foundations like GAVI, and of course the European Commission, our sister institution, maximize impact and showcase the value of multilateralism and the rules-based global order. Like the partnership that we will be signing a bit later today with my dear friend, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, between the EIB and the World Trade Organization to support reforms and investment opportunities with Africa. That will boost open trade globally, strengthening supply chains, opening new markets and new opportunities for our partner countries and for European businesses alike.  

And together with the World Bank Group, we co-lead the Global Emerging Markets Risk Database, known by the acronym of GEMS, which is the world's largest pool of credit risk data on emerging economies, drawing from the vast data sets of multilateral development banks and 40 years of investment experience. Last October, we published new statistics that confirmed something very important to mobilize private investment: default rates on lending to private borrowers in emerging markets are comparable to those in advanced economies. And recovery rates actually exceed global benchmarks. Emerging markets face a potential financing shortfall of more than 10 trillion dollars by 2050, according to the OECD. And the data from GEMS is very relevant because it shows that this gap is not a matter of risk. It is a matter of perception and opportunity too. So, closing the perception gap is one of the most powerful things we can do to unlock private capital where it is most needed.  

To conclude, the European Union and the European Investment Bank Group will continue to build bridges in a world of walls to promote open trade, sustainable growth and inclusive, healthy societies. This is the right thing to do and also the smart thing to do because when we are investing in these areas, we're also diversifying European supply chains. We're also strengthening our own security. We are securing a more live, liveable planet for our own children. When we open markets for European exporters and back the private sector in Asia or Latin America, we create opportunities that flow both ways. When we invest in global vaccine production, we also protect our own health. And when we support the economic empowerment of women, whole communities, the world thrives.  

And all of this is a no-brainer, really, although it sounds quite revolutionary these days in some quarters. In this revolution of reason and common sense, the EIB Group stays the course. And I am extremely happy and extremely grateful to see that we are joined by so many allies here today. Thank you for being there. A deep thanks to the EIB Group's teams on the ground and to all of you for joining them to make a real difference.  

Thank you very much.