- European Parliament Vice-President appointed to the EU Bank’s Management Committee
- Beer's appointment comes at the end of the term of EIB-President Werner Hoyer, who will be succeeded by Spain's Nadia Calviño.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is pleased to announce the appointment of Nicola Beer to its Management Committee. Following her nomination by Germany and a decision by the Bank’s shareholders, the EU Member States, Beer will be the EIB’s first woman Vice-President from Germany to join the Management Committee.
Beer’s career includes service as a Vice-President and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the liberal Renew faction. Her work as an MEP focused on the Committees for Economy and Currencies, Foreign Affairs and Industry and Sciences. She also served as rapporteur on the Critical Raw Materials Act adopted by the European Parliament on 12 December 2023. Beer was part of the Parliament’s delegation to the Conference on the Future of Europe in 2021/22.
A bank clerk and lawyer, she joined the German liberal party FDP in 1991 and started her political career in the German state of Hesse, where she served as State secretary for European affairs, and then as State Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs from 2012 to 2014. She became a member of the Bundestag in 2017. From 2013 to 2019 she was also General Secretary of the FDP.
There was no German national among the eight vice-presidents on the EIB Management Committee during EIB President Hoyer’s tenure, which ends on 31 December 2023. On 1 January 2024, Hoyer will be succeeded by the First Vice-President of the Government of Spain and Minister of Economy, Trade and Enterprise Nadia Calviño.
President Hoyer welcomed the new Vice-President, saying, “I have known Nicola Beer, an enthusiastic European, for many years, and am glad that she will join the EIB’s Management Committee to help the EU bank further its impact in serving the people and economy of Europe in the coming years.”
“I feel honoured to be appointed as Vice-President of the European Investment Bank — the EU bank, the world’s biggest multilateral financial institution, and one of the largest providers of climate finance,” Beer said. “EIB financing is a key tool for boosting the competitiveness of the European economy, promoting innovation and building partnerships around the world. It thus adds significantly to Europe’s strategic sovereignty. I am excited to be a member of its Management Committee and contribute to its success.”
Background information
The EIB Management Committee is the Bank’s permanent collegiate executive body. It has nine members: the President and eight Vice-Presidents. Under the authority of the President and the supervision of the Board of Directors, it oversees the day-to-day running of the EIB, prepares decisions for directors and ensures that these are implemented. Its members are appointed by the Board of Governors (EU finance ministers) on a proposal from the Board of Directors.
The EIB Group is the European Union’s long-term financing institution, owned by the Member States. It consists of the EIB and the EIF, the European Investment Fund. The EIB Group finances sound investment that contributes to EU policy goals, including social and territorial cohesion, competitiveness, innovation and the just transition to climate neutrality.
In response to the war in Ukraine, the EIB has raised financing volumes for clean energy to a record high, backing the critical investment needed to help Europe cast off the shackles of dependence on fossil fuel imports. The EU bank has also increased its financing for security projects to unprecedented levels.
The EIB was the first multilateral development bank to stop financing fossil fuels, and has committed to supporting €1 trillion in climate investment this decade. Over half of the EIB Group’s lending in 2022 was devoted to climate and environmental sustainability projects, while almost half of EIB financing inside the European Union was signed for projects in cohesion regions, where per-capita income is lower, highlighting the Bank’s commitment to equitable growth.
The EIB Group is Europe’s innovation champion. The EIF supports Europe’s SMEs by improving their access to finance through a wide range of selected financial intermediaries, such as banks, guarantee and leasing companies, microcredit providers and private equity funds. The EIF designs and offers equity and debt financing instruments fostering EU objectives, and leverages EU funding tools like the InvestEU programme to support entrepreneurship, growth, innovation, research and development, the digital transition and employment. Earlier this year, it launched the European Tech Champions Initiative, an ambitious fund of funds ensuring that tech pioneers made in Europe, stay in Europe.
EIB operations outside the European Union are carried out by EIB Global. As a key partner in the Global Gateway initiative, it aims to support at least €100 billion of investment by 2028, a third of the strategy’s target. With offices around the world, EIB Global is close to local people, firms and institutions, and fosters strong Team Europe partnerships with development finance institutions.
Read more about the EIB Group’s role and activities here.