Interview with Kai Johannsen and Detlef Fechtner (published in Börsen-Zeitung)
Europe is a very attractive safe asset for investors right now, said EIB President Nadia Calviño in an interview.
Ms Calviño, many banks and asset managers are withdrawing from net zero alliances at the moment. Is this the end for green and sustainable finance?
We get the impression that markets and investors are still putting huge sums into supporting the green transition.
What does this mean from the green finance market’s perspective?
We have recently had another very positive experience on the markets. We issued our first green bond in line with the European Green Bond Standard. The €3 billion bond issue was 13 times oversubscribed. This is a clear sign that market participants still see this as a good investment.
What does this mean for the EIB?
We will continue in our role as the EU climate bank. We will support the green transition in Europe by investing in net zero and in new technologies that will bolster the green energy transition.
You recently changed the EIB’s green and sustainable finance framework. Can you explain these changes?
In the area of green finance, we haven’t changed much in itself. The main thing is that we issued our first green bond in line with the European Green Bond Standard, which only came into force in December 2024 through the European Green Bond Regulation. In terms of sustainability bonds, we have expanded the scope of eligible projects.
Which new areas are covered by the EIB?
Financial support for women and gender equality for all, for example. These new priorities will enable us to invest the proceeds from the EIB’s Sustainability Awareness Bonds in female-led companies, for example.
What are your overall issue plans for this year? How much will Climate Awareness Bonds and Sustainable Awareness Bonds account for?
Just this week, we issued a 10-year Climate Awareness Bond worth €5 billion, with a record order book of €56 billion. This brings our total issue volume for 2025 to €47 billion, or 80% of our funding target. This is roughly what we had issued in previous years up to this point. Our estimated total issue volume for this year is €60 billion. We could theoretically get to €65 billion. Planned climate bond and sustainability bond issues for 2025 make up around 35% of our target funding volume.
Right now there is demand for safe assets, especially in Europe. With this in mind, what do you think about EU, EIB and ESM bonds? Do we still need another safe investment?
I don’t want to comment on any current issues that go beyond the European Investment Bank’s remit. But what I can say is this: Europe is seen as a safe investment right now. It is a very attractive safe asset, which means that for many now is the time to turn to Europe.
What makes you say that?
There is strong investor demand for these assets. This is especially true amid the recent uncertainties we have faced. There is keen investor appetite for these bonds. This is also the case for EIB bonds.
It is a very, very strong market.
And what do you think is behind this demand?
In times like these, when it feels like everything is changing all at once, Europe has a clear edge on the financial markets. It provides a beacon of clarity, stability and confidence. And the EIB will continue to offer global investors safe investments in the form of our bonds.
Has the trade conflict made investors more cautious?
We haven’t seen any impact on investor demand so far.
But at the same time, what we can say is that volatility is the new normal.
And what do the trade tensions in general mean for the EIB?
The EIB relies on international partnerships and will continue to support and step up EU trade relations with other regions of the world, such as Mercosur, India, Mexico and Chile, to name just a few. The European Union is a trade policy powerhouse, and the EIB is helping to expand and diversify its partnerships.
Are bond market investors shifting from the United States to Europe?
It’s too early to say. We have seen a few shifts, of course, with some investors diversifying their portfolios a bit more. But structural asset allocation adjustments take time.
And now what? Is this the hour of the euro?
The current environment is a good opportunity for the euro to consolidate and expand its position as an international reserve currency. We are working together with the European Central Bank and the European Commission to further strengthen the euro’s international role. But that will also take time.
Let’s talk about how funds are used. You recently announced ambitious investment projects to strengthen defence.
Yes, we have a full pipeline of more than 20 projects. We are making rapid progress on this, including with our venture capital financing in the area of security and defence.
What about innovation? What is the EIB doing to drive digital transformation and technical innovation?
We are working on the European Union’s largest technology investment programme. We want to mobilise a total of €250 billion by 2027. We want to offer a full range of financing instruments, so equity, debt, venture debt, scale-up debt and so on, so that we can support the lifecycle of a project or innovation at every stage. We will start with clean tech so that sustainable business models that are created in Europe can also reach market maturity in Europe.
How has your investment approach changed?
We have increased our risk appetite and diversified the portfolio of instruments where this applies. We follow market demand.
What does that mean?
When it comes to defence, for example, we noticed a need for liquidity and working capital in medium-sized companies in the industry so we developed a special financing instrument for this. We are tripling financing for banks to provide liquidity to such companies in the European defence industry supply chain.
And just this week we signed an agreement with Deutsche Bank in this area. On the equity side, we recently launched the European Tech Champions Initiative, which helps startups to scale up.
The European Union wants to alleviate pressure on bank balance sheets by reviving the securitisation market. What role will the EIB play in this?
We are already playing a very active role in the securitisation market – both in terms of standard transactions and in terms of market innovations. For example, we are working on creating new underlying portfolios on the market, such as solar panels.
Investors are turning to safe bonds from Europe. According to Nadia Calviño, President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Europe has the edge on the capital markets at the moment. She said that Europe provides a beacon of clarity, stability and confidence for investors, and speaks of a very strong market.