The Battle for Elite Positions in Community Finances: Nadia Calviño’s Candidacy and Controversies

The battle for elite positions of community finances is still very much alive, no matter how much Nadia Calvino has been selling that his aspiration for the presidency of AT It is a done thing. The truth is that Germany does not have its position as clear as Spain claims and a certain sector of the German government has already leaked the Nadia Calviño’s husband plugs as an argument that is too negative for a person who can decide which entities to grant credit to or not.

It must be remembered that Nadia Calviño’s husband, Ignacio Manrique de Lara, had to resign from a high position in National Heritage for which he was appointed by the former Secretary of State for the Economy and colleague of Minister Calviño, Ana de la Cueva, in charge of National Heritage.

The resignation occurred after the scandal caused by the signing for a newly created position as coordinator of Commercial and Marketing Strategy at National Heritage and which entailed a salary as a “senior management” position of more than 80,000 euros. And all this was known after it was also known that the consulting firm of which Calviño’s husband was a senior manager had received nearly a million euros in aid from the ICO in the midst of covid and who, in addition, was dedicated to advising on the receipt of community funds that his wife and economic vice president of the Government had to deliver.

Well then, all this has sounded again In recent days in the decision-making circles of the UE from which the name of the future president of the EIB must emerge, exactly the position to which Nadia Calviño aspires.

In fact, in the same circles the existence of a division in the German Government regarding the convenience of supporting Calviño for the position of president of the EIB. Thus, the head of the German Government, Olaf Scholz, maintains its initially planned support for Minister Calviño’s candidacy to preside over the EIB. But it does not seem so clear position of the federal minister of economy and Energy, Robert Habeck, and that of finance Minister German, Christian Lindner, who have come forward to defend the candidacy of Calviño’s Danish rival, Margarita Vestager. It must be remembered that Calviño competes for that position not only with the Danish Vestager, but also with the former Minister of Finance of Italy, Daniele Franco, and the Polish candidate Teresa Czerwinska, current vice-presidency of the EIB.

Calviño needs the support of two of the three great powers within the EIB. The Spanish vice president has, in theory, the support of France, but the last word seems to be that of Germany.

And all this occurs after Calviño took the position for granted by having gotten rid of another competition – this last indirect one – such as that of Margarita Delgado for another position – that of the MUS in the ECB -. They were not competing for the same seat, but all community sources agreed that the two positions would not go to Spaniards due to the power sharing mechanism between countries that has always operated in the EU. Delgado has already fallen from the MUS and Calviño believed that with that everything was done for the EIB. It is now known that the path is still not so clear and that Spain could lose both positions.