On Tuesday 24 January, the President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Werner Hoyer, spoke out against the dangers of economic protectionism and questioning the need to tackle climate change, both themes that are espoused by the new American President, Donald Trump.
"In 2016, the EIB Group enhanced its global role to support Europe's global responsibilities at a time of uncertainty. This matters now more than ever, as multilateralism is dangerously called into question. I believe less multilateralism would weaken our societies and increase instability", Hoyer said, presenting the EU bank's results sheet for 2016.
In a thinly-veiled reference to the inauguration of Trump as American President, he said: "with the change in the world order last weekend, we Europeans must lead the free world against the climate sceptics". Welcoming the statements of the Chinese President, who called in Davos for the Paris Climate Agreement to be respected, he said that over the next five years, the EIB would invest €100 billion in projects to fight climate change.
Hoyer also welcomed the results obtained in putting the 'Juncker' investment plan into practice. The plan has achieved more than half of its target of drawing down €315 billion in additional funding between 2015 and 2018. He said that this plan, the firepower and duration of which are to be doubled (see EUROPE 11683), allows the Bank to take more risks, creating new financial instruments and supporting new clients, particularly SMEs. He praised the courage of the European legislator which, in a time of scant public resources, has moved away from the logic in which the EU budget grants subsidies towards a logic in which the budget provides a public guarantee. This makes it possible to do more with less, he said.
The British will miss the EIB
The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union is a medium-term challenge for the EIB. London holds 16% of the European institution's capital and the bank has commitments on the British territory of €50 billion, €7 billion of which was invested in 2016 alone. " We will be missed in the UK if we had to reduce our business there or disappear completely", Hoyer said. He pledged that the EIB's excellent relations with the United Kingdom would continue over the next two years, by no means ruling out a continuation of its actions once the UK is a third country, as per its relations with Norway and Switzerland. However, he predicted that it would be an arduous task to renegotiate the shareholdership as a result of Brexit.
When asked about relations between the EIB and the German car builder Volkswagen, which was involved in the fraudulent software scandal, Hoyer said that following an investigation, the Bank had found no indications that its loans had served fraudulent purposes. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)