Werner Hoyer – President of the European Investment Bank

We are very honoured to welcome the president of world’s largest international public lending institution. As president of The European Investment Bank, Werner Hoyer oversees a balance sheet with assets worth over 570.000 million euros.

The goal of the EIB is to finance projects that bring about European integration and social cohesion. How do projects get chosen and where in the European economy lay underutilized opportunities to reach this goal? Werner Hoyer believes for instance there is an overall investment gap in the European Union, stating that our infrastructure spending is at a 20-year low.

Why is it so important that we have a public institution that facilitates investment spending in the European Union? Its seems to make the argument that capital markets itself are not efficient enough to allocate money to potentially successful projects. But the Quantitative Easing policy by the European Central Bank intends to combat the same issue, since very low interest rates make opportunity costs of investments much lower. Earlier this month in Davos, Werner Hoyer said he tries to accommodating the transmission of this QE into the real economy. But what does this mean for the core function of the European Investment Bank itself?

And even though the Eurozone is on a solid recovery to high growth, it still faces great challenges to overcome future crises. The economic divergence between the North and South, and high private debt levels are examples that there is still a lot to be done. How does the EIB fit into this picture, and should it increase its mandate in order to face contemporary economic challenges?

Who: Werner Hoyer – President of the European Investment Bank
Interviewers: Miguel Krol & Santiago Diaz Jaramillo
When: Monday, 19th of February, 13:00 – 14:00
Where: Room for Discussion, E-Hal, Roeterseiland, Roetersstraat 11