2023-09-15 11:54:54
European finance ministers are meeting this Friday in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, for an informal meeting. They must notably address the appointment of the next president of the European Investment Bank (EIB). Belgian minister Vincent Van Peteghem plays a special role.
Next January, Belgium will take over the presidency of the Council of the European Union, and Minister Van Peteghem will then chair each meeting with his European counterparts. The meeting in Santiago de Compostela is still chaired by the Spanish Minister of Finance Nadia Calvino, but Vincent Van Peteghem will already try to make some progress in the search for a successor to the German Werner Hoyer at the head of the EIB. Mr. Van Peteghem also currently holds the rotating presidency of the Board of Governors of the EIB.
“I think we should not force the process now. We are in a phase of informal consultations in order to examine a consensual solution. But we are not there yet,” declared Mr. Van Peteghem, upon his arrival in Santiago de Compostela. A decision does not necessarily have to be made straight away, as Mr Hoyer will only leave the EIB at the end of the year.
After a process of evaluating the different candidates, five personalities are still in the running. Two of them emerge as favorites: the former vice-president of the European Commission Margrethe Vestager and… Nadia Calvino.
The new president of the EIB will have to convince 18 of the 27 Member States and represent at least 68% of the Bank’s capital.
The appointment of the new EIB president marks the start of the redistribution of the highest positions in European politics, most of which are to be renewed following the European elections on June 9.
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