<h6><strong>The Diplomat</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Spanish Nadia Calviño, announced this Friday that the bank she leads will activate another €700 million for the Regional Resilience Fund "shortly," as the €3.4 billion mobilized in the first phase are "about to run out."</strong></h4> Calviño spoke at a news conference in Madrid organized by the New Economy Forum. Former Minister and former EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell spoke, and was attended by, among others, First Vice President and Minister of Finance María Jesús Montero, and the president of the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC), Cani Fernández. According to Calviño, the projects financed by the EIB in Spain through the aforementioned fund "are advancing at a particularly strong pace," and this "explains the good performance of the Spanish economy." For this reason, she explained, the bank has decided to reinforce it with an additional 700 million euros, which will be activated in the coming months and will be used to support SMEs and energy infrastructure. The Regional Resilience Fund is an instrument created in conjunction with the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Enterprise to channel financing for "Next Generation EU" loans in the autonomous communities. These funds must be allocated to affordable housing, sustainable transport, industrial and SME competitiveness, research, sustainable tourism, water management, and energy transition. "Wherever there is a major strategic investment project, the EU flag and EIB financing are present," she stated, because these are investments "key to the country's modernization, productivity, and competitiveness." Other investments mentioned in her speech include the Nazca fund for security and defense, through the European Investment Fund (EIF), a subsidiary of the EIB. In this case, it is a joint venture with the Center for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI) to launch Nazca, "the first Spanish fund specialized in defense." Calviño explained that the EIB has more than 30 projects in its portfolio to support major infrastructure, military installations, or R&D programs and recalled the €385 million loan recently granted to Indra. Separately, following the fires in Spain and the DANA, Calviño indicated that the EIB has made €1.7 billion available to the autonomous communities for fire prevention and surveillance, and has allocated €1.5 billion for the DANA, of which €500 million has been used. According to Calviño, the EIB is "the largest multilateral bank in the world," investing nine out of every ten euros within Europe and having all 27 EU Member States as shareholders, which allows for discussion of "climate, women, gender equality, and development." At the event's presentation, Josep Borrell stated that the EIB "can provide a definitive, decisive boost" to the challenges facing Spain and Europe. He also affirmed that Nadia Calviño, who is "a very good example of women's ability to reach the right place," knows "better than anyone that labyrinth that few know how to navigate" of the European budget, which has contributed to European cohesion.
