Europe in a changing world

If there is one word that sums up 2024, it is "change": change in politics, with over 2 billion people across the world going to the polls, and a profound shift in the global order that has shaped the world over the last 80 years and that is leading to trade tensions, conflicts and war.

The economy is also changing, with an energy revolution in full swing and an accelerating deployment of artificial intelligence, challenging the way we work and live. Climate change brings more frequent and costly extreme weather and the green transition is entering a new phase, with ever more economic profitability and breakthrough technologies.

Much of this change is disorienting and things that we took for granted are questioned.

As we prepare for 2025, we Europeans have to adapt to this changing landscape, reform and simplify what is no longer fit for purpose, cut down red tape, support and engage people and businesses, and work with partners to come up with solutions.

That is what I have been doing in 2024. I took up my role as head of the European Investment Bank Group, one of the largest and strongest multilateral financial institutions in the world, the financing arm of the European Union, with a clear objective for my first year on the job: to listen and engage.

I have visited every EU Member State capital to discuss with finance ministers and government leaders Europe's key priorities and to see how the European Investment Bank Group teams on the ground harvest the potential of ideas and turn home-grown innovation into concrete projects, boosting productivity and the resilience of our economies and communities.

Bucharest was one of the first stops in my visits to all European capitals. After the 2023 record in EIB Group financing for projects in Romania, in 2024 we continued to bring tangible benefits, such as financing the world's first zero-emissions tyre factory with a loan to Nokian Tyres. I have heard from firefighters in Athens about how EIB Group's financing of surveillance drones helps put out forest fires before they can get out of control. I spoke to residents of social housing units in Valencia and Dublin about how having a home changed their lives and to university leaders in Nicosia about the transformative power of education. I visited key water infrastructures in Barcelona and in Amsterdam, Warsaw and Copenhagen, and the laboratories of European innovators, supported by EIB venture debt tools to accelerate breakthrough research in health-tech.

What I have seen and heard has given me confidence in Europe's future, and in our ability to face challenges with determination and unity of purpose. I am also more convinced than ever that we need to make sure that the opportunities to thrive and prosper are as equally spread as the talent that exists across our continent.

A new European Commission begins its work this month, which will be informed by the recent reports of some of our continent's most respected thought leaders, like Mario Draghi and Enrico Letta. The EIB Group will work closely with the Commission and focus investments on eight core priorities, endorsed by our shareholders, the 27 EU Member States.

As I visited the European Union's capitals, leaders have voiced their expectations of the EIB Group. They have called on us to do more of what we do best: directly contributing to investment and catalysing private financing. They asked us to keep the course as the climate bank, to invest more in indispensable innovation and technology for our competitiveness, in cohesion, affordable housing, agriculture and water, as well to support Europe's security and defence industry. All of this is underway and there are three priorities for 2025.

First, we need to overcome fragmentation. It is time to fully integrate our markets, and introduce incentives, instruments and a clear framework that will channel Europe's capital into productive investments. We must help companies, ideas and technologies born in the European Union to grow and remain in Europe.

Second, we need to simplify the way the European Union works and reduce the administrative burdens that hold back investment into projects that improve people's lives and strengthen our communities.

Third, we need to step up financing to support our collective security and resilience and accelerate Europe's productivity and growth.

These three takeaways are also reflected in the priorities of the new Commission, and they have the support of EU governments. They will be the compass of the EIB Group's work, because when the fiscal and regulatory authorities work together in balance with our financial tools, Europe can forge unity out of its diversity.

Europe is at crossroads and the choices we make will determine our voice in the new global order. We have good reasons to be confident. Democracies are robust when societies keep faith in their strengths. Extremes, on the other hand, feed on despair and division.

No matter the headwinds, there is little reason to doubt the European Union's resolve to build a more secure, prosperous and sustainable future for its people. The EIB Group will play a strategic role in this collective endeavour as a steadfast supporter of a better world, helping build more and better opportunities for future generations.