![New EIB chief Nadia Calviño says 'accelerating procedures' is a priority](https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/107345669-17022859681702285963-32404711469-1080pnbcnews.jpg?v=1702285967&w=750&h=422&vtcrop=y)
The new head of one of the world’s largest development banks says it must become faster and more efficient to finance priorities such as the climate transition and Ukraine’s reconstruction.
Nadia Calviño, Spain’s finance minister and deputy prime minister, was appointed head of the European Investment Bank on Friday – in what is being touted as a boost to Spanish influence within the European Union. Known as the EU’s lender, it approved some 75.86 billion euros ($81.6 billion) in new projects in 2022.
“One of my priorities when I join the European Investment Bank will be to see how I can speed up the procedures, how I can make the institution not leaner, but more efficient in financing public and private investments,” Calviño said on CNBC’s Squawk Box. Europe” on Monday.
“We also have a European Union with 27 member states, and it is a complex construction. Yet she is leading the world’s green transition, she has a leading role in many of the current debates, and I think this leading role should be maintained for the future.”
The organization “has the capacity, the ability to mobilize large amounts of investments, public and private, in the field of the green transition, the reconstruction of Ukraine and all other European priorities. So I do think we have an EIB that is fit for purpose to support European policies in the future,” she said. She said she will also seek to increase cooperation and discussion among global multilateral development banks to create a “global safety net” fit to meet new challenges.
Calviño said Spain has launched a “major” investment program using funds from the NextGenerationEU Pandemic Recovery Instrument.
“What we see is that we have launched strategic projects in electric vehicles, or precision health, or agritech… or chips. And this actually attracts large private investments that see Spain as a great opportunity for them to base themselves and invest in R&D [research and development] and the development of new technologies. So I think there is an opportunity for us to attract private investment if we do things right,” she said.
‘Global standard’ in AI
Asked about the negative reaction from some tech leaders to the EU’s groundbreaking new regulations on artificial intelligence, Calviño was confident the bloc had struck the “right balance.”
The rules, initially agreed to by lawmakers on Friday, divide AI into categories, including “unacceptable” uses that should be banned, along with high, medium and low risk. High-risk technologies will have to meet several requirements, including an impact assessment, to gain access to the EU market.
“Some parts of the industry may not want any regulation at all. But you know, citizens also expect that the public sector will ensure that the development and innovation in this area will protect human rights and our values and will actually go towards improving the living conditions of humanity … from this point of view I think we have found the right balance.”
“There is proportionality in the rules for smaller players and for large platforms. We go step by step, starting with artificial intelligence that has to show that something, a photo, a video, has been created through artificial intelligence, for starters. .. It is a very important step forward, so that Europe also takes the lead in setting standards at a global level.”
On whether the rules threatened to hinder the ability of Europe’s tech companies to grow and compete on the global stage, Calviño said: “This debate took place when we passed the General Data Protection Regulation. And a lot of people said, well, companies will go to Europe.”
“Actually, that has become the global standard. And I think it will be something similar in the field of artificial intelligence. But I agree that we need a global standard. And that is why it is important that the United Nations addresses these issues also investigate.”