She still hopes to convince people that she is cut out for the position. On Wednesday September 20, Margrethe Vestager was in Paris to attend France Digitale Day, an event bringing together start-ups and investors. On leave from her post as vice-presidency of the European Commission responsible for competition issues, she was due to meet in the afternoon with the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, to discuss her candidacy for the head of the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Since this summer, the former Danish Minister of the Economy has been traveling extensively (Germany, Greece, Estonia, Bulgaria, etc.) to promote his candidacy, while the current president of the bank, the German Werner Hoyer, will leave his position at the end of 2023. It must be said that she is hardly a favorite against the Spanish Minister of the Economy, Nadia Calviño.
The latter is favored by France, which has nevertheless not officially announced who it supports among the candidates − two current vice-presidents of the EIB, the Polish Teresa Czerwinska and the Swede Thomas Ostros, as well as the former Italian minister of finance, Daniele Franco, are also in the running.
Paris criticizes Margrethe Vestager for stopping the Altsom-Siemens merger in 2019, but also for being reluctant to state interventionism, preferring strict application of competition rules. “I am a social liberal, not a liberal, and the European Union [UE] is a social market economy, not a laissez-faire economy”, she defends herself. Attempting to erase his reputation as “ iron lady” and aware of being a “outsider”in her own words, she says: “The biggest crisis we face is climate, and the market cannot solve it alone. »
Investments for climate and digital
For the EIB, which is becoming increasingly important at a time when the EU has major investment needs, it sees three priorities. That of “take more risks”, firstly, in particular to support European start-ups too often bought by foreign funds. That of acting more quickly, then. “Acceleration is what we need in Europe”, she believes, referring in particular to investments for the climate and digital technology. But also those in long-term infrastructure, particularly between the north and south of Eastern Europe, “in order to best prepare for enlargement” In the region. Third priority, finally: the reconstruction of Ukraine.
You have 32.61% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.