EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager temporarily withdraws from the EU Commission to run for president of the European Investment Bank (EIB). The Brussels authority announced yesterday that it had informed Commission President Ursula von der Leyen about her appointment by the Danish government and requested unpaid leave.
The EIB is the EU’s bank and claims to be the largest multilateral financial institution in the world. Since its founding in 1958, it has invested more than one billion euros. The focus right now is mainly on climate protection. Recently, the EIB also committed to supporting Ukraine.
According to media reports, the current president, 71-year-old German Werner Hoyer, wants to resign at the end of his second six-year term as president of the EIB at the end of the year and not run for another term. The election of the new president will take place at the meeting of the Eurogroup and the informal EU Economic and Financial Council, on September 15th and 16th, in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
The elected candidate will take office on January 1st. Among Vestager’s competitors is Spanish Economy Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Nadia Calvino. Vestager was, among other things, responsible for competition at the EU Commission. EU Commissioners Vera Jourova and Didier Reynders will now temporarily assume their portfolio.