President of the European Investment Bank Werner Hoyer announced at the Media Days in Luxembourg that an internal restructuring of the bank can be expected in the next 12 months, and that the coming year will be dedicated to innovation.
In 2016, 9.4 billion euros were invested in RDI.
– Although we set a goal of investing 3% of GDP in research, development, and innovation (RDI), we have not yet reached those figures. We are currently at around 2%. We have not made progress; on the contrary, Europe is seriously lagging behind in the race against other countries, even some that are still developing. We do not have much time to correct this. 2018 must be the year of innovation for Europe to maintain competitiveness, and for that, it is necessary to invest several tens of billions of euros, the EIB president passionately explained to journalists from across Europe, interpreting how the establishment of a single digital market would be a significant step forward, with its contribution to the European economy potentially being around 415 billion euros annually.
The strategy for a single digital market is based on three fundamental pillars:
- better access to digital goods and services for consumers and businesses across Europe,
- creating a suitable environment and equal conditions for all to foster the growth of digital networks and innovative services,
- tapping into the full potential for the growth of the digital economy.
The unification of 27 different digital markets into just one would contribute to the development of the data economy, Hoyer emphasized, highlighting the importance of such an outcome by pointing out that Europe can currently process only a small portion of its data, and for the vast majority of such processes, foreign service providers like Americans and Chinese are hired, making it difficult to compete with their numerous markets.
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Changes in the internal structure of the European Investment Bank in 2018 were only announced by the EIB president, but he did not wish to elaborate further. Regardless of who will be in important managerial positions, it is certain that they will have to face significant challenges posed to the European Investment Bank by Brexit.
– With Brexit, everyone loses: the EIB, citizens, the EU, the British, and I am extremely sorry for their exit from the Union. This will be a major challenge for the EIB considering that one of the four largest member countries in terms of the bank is leaving. Britain will withdraw 16% of capital with its exit, but the other members will compensate for that, they have committed to it. We cannot afford to lose our AAA rating, especially for member countries that need our support the most. I do not believe there will be refusals because it is unlikely that EU27 will ‘shoot themselves in the foot,’ says Hoyer, adding that support from other members will most likely be reduced to converting part of the reserves into capital as this is also the least painful for the members.
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The United Kingdom has expressed a desire to continue cooperation with the EIB even after leaving the EU. This largest lender in the world has invested 31.3 billion pounds in British infrastructure, entrepreneurship, and development over the past five years. The cessation of cooperation raises questions about the further development of numerous already initiated projects. Although the EIB cooperates with countries outside the EU, given the specific situation of the UK, continuing cooperation with that country would violate the EIB’s statute. However, considering the importance and scale of the projects, it is almost certain that negotiations on the forms of further cooperation between the UK and the EIB will continue.
