President Calviño's speech at the Peterson Institute for International Economics

Thank you to the Peterson Institute for this very interesting exchange at a very timely moment.

We are here during the Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, and we're going to be witnessing and being at the heart of the changes which are going on in the world. I suppose, dear Cecilia, you must be thinking a lot and remembering those times when you were negotiating free trade agreements across the Atlantic and trying to create the largest area in the world with no tariffs, with free commerce. So many things are changing these days. We are undergoing a massive shake-up as a new world order is emerging.

And in these times of intense volatility and uncertainty, it is very important to go back to basics and to look at those things that don't change. And what remains constant is Europe's commitment to a rules-based order, to open economies and open societies, and I would say this is not born from naive romanticism at all. Actually, free trade is part of the DNA of the European Union. 

As you know very well, at the beginning, there was a customs union. At the beginning, it was precisely the idea of bringing down barriers and creating a common tariff for the whole union. And at the beginning, it was also some common policies which seeked to put at the central level all those elements which are key for war. Starting with coal and steel, following with nuclear energy and agriculture. It's very important to think about the very origin of the European Union to understand how important the project was and what visionaries they were, those persons that were designing the European Union. So that, in the words of one of the founding fathers, Robert Schuman, "This fusion of markets would become the foundation of peace and prosperity in Europe, making conflict not merely unthinkable but materially impossible." 

Isn't it interesting to think about how economic cooperation can actually serve as a key driver for peace? How talking to each other and building on what unites us is the basis for peace going forward too? At the time, and this was part of the wisdom of the founding fathers, they also created the European Investment Bank, one of the success stories of the European Union. As you said, the EIB is owned by the 27 member states. We have been profitable since the creation of the EIB and our scope and the way we act both inside the EU financing investments in large energy grids, in very innovative startups, in key infrastructures, social infrastructures protecting the European way of life, and also outside the EU as a proud member of the Multilateral Development Bank family. Our approach and our mandate has been enlarging in scope since the creation of the EIB, but the logic underlying the bank continues to be the same. It's the idea that two plus two are more than four when we work together. 

Now, in the last 80 years as we have seen the dividends of peace benefiting the EU, and benefiting even more so the United States, what we have seen is hundreds of millions of citizens, of persons, emerging from poverty and becoming not just consumers of goods but also active investors in US assets, in European assets. Our economic links are not just based in trade, they're also based on investment, cross investment, which makes our economy so tightly interknit around the world.

In the meantime, Europe became a trade powerhouse by setting the global standards for manufacturing excellence and striking more free trade agreements than any other major economy around the world. This is also part of the DNA of Europe and this is, I would say, live and kicking these days as we see the EU closing deals with Mercosur, engaging with the Emirates or with parts of Asia in the strong belief that zero is not a zero-sum game, again, the two plus two can be more than four if we work together. 

Trade leads to win-win outcomes and this is an important element that we should be building on as we look forward, and that is why the European Union will work relentlessly in this spirit of cooperation to reinforce our relationship with the United States, that's our biggest partner. We have more than €5 billion invested in each other's markets, millions of jobs are depending on this cross relationship. There are billions exchanged between the EU and the US every day and that is a very strong basis for a strategic partnership. 

Let me close precisely with this idea because this is the top priority for the European Investment Bank as we kick off the Spring Meetings weeks here reinforcing our strategic partnerships for peace and prosperity around the world. And that is because commercial ties are a mirror of our common values which bind us together as allies. These values are laid out in a very solid system of multilateral institutions that we built together at the end of World War II and on which Europe and the United States together have the strongest voice, something that the Peterson Institute is very, very well aware of. And this includes the IMF and the World Bank and of course it includes the World Health Organisation, the World Trade Organisation. We need the commitment, the expertise, the independent advice and the wisdom of these institutions to help us bring us together and to have a rules-based system which benefits all around the world. 

Because the challenges we're facing cannot be just handled by one single jurisdiction. Starting with the pandemic, I think if we had any doubt before, we know now very well that pandemics cross oceans, that they don't stop at political borders. And it's the same when we're talking about climate change, pollution, of course, financial stability. Only today we have been announcing a very important investment into a private equity fund, LeapFrog Climate Fund with an aim of deploying $500 million in green technologies in Asia and Africa. And we have signed this commitment and this investment together with the World Bank's International Finance Cooperation, with the Temasek Fund, with the Swiss Development Finance Institution. This is cooperation between multilateral development institutions, this is public-private partnership at its best. And this is bringing value not only to the investment fund, not only to the beneficiary countries, it is bringing value to all of us and showing how cooperation leads to better outcomes for all. 

We are very actively participating and investing around the world. We will be announcing new investments in the course of the week together with the EBRD and with the World Bank. That is what we do. That is, again, within our DNA, to cooperate and to work together with other public and private institutions to try to build a better future. Because we are convinced that prosperity cannot be ring-fenced behind walls, that actually what we need to do is build bridges to flow across oceans and to make sure that we all build a better future on the basis of peace, stability and cooperation. 

Let me close my introductory remarks here. I think you have very clearly seen the leitmotif that goes through my speech and I will not give you any surprises in our exchange, I am sure it's going to be very lively. But my main message will be this one, let's work together, let's build on our strengths, let's try to coordinate our policies, provide certainty and clarity to investors, to businesses, to citizens. Because when things make sense, they go in the right direction.

This is Europe's moment, I'm persuaded that that is the case. And from Europe we will always try to build this stronger multilateral system to benefit us all.

Thank you and looking forward to the exchange.