European Investment Bank (EIB) President Nadia Calvino indicated on Tuesday that there is scope to increase the bank’s lending capacity. The EIB, the world’s biggest multilateral lender, is an institution that borrows on financial markets with its AAA credit rating to then lend for various projects, primarily those linked to shifting the EU’s economy to green energy. Speaking at the Reuters NEXT Europe summit, Calvino noted this potential increase would help finance multiple European Union priorities, ranging from defence and energy security to boosting overall competitiveness across the bloc.
However, Calvino clarified that for now, the EIB’s owners – the EU governments – are less focused on merely expanding loan volumes. Instead, their emphasis is on maximising the impact of existing lending. “Our shareholders… last week… were very much insisting, not so much on doing more volumes, but rather to have more impact, more risk-taking, and more influence and impact in those areas that matter,” she stated. These critical areas include tech leadership, security, defence, and overall competitiveness.
The EIB’s shareholders are actively encouraging more strategic risk-taking within current lending operations to achieve greater influence in these key sectors. While acknowledging “a number of limits,” Calvino affirmed there is still “space to do it” when questioned about potentially raising the bank’s current lending ceiling of 100 billion euros. This strategic pivot highlights a desire to leverage the EIB’s substantial financial power more effectively to meet pressing EU objectives, aligning its financing with critical long-term goals beyond just environmental initiatives.
