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A record-breaking €3 billion loan to aerospace giant Airbus, announced by the European Investment Bank (EIB), is an “illustration of how Europe is ramping up its capacity and strategic autonomy” in a world where it is being “attacked on all sides”, European Investment Bank President Nadia Calviño has told Euronews.
The loan, announced by the EIB on Monday, is intended to boost Airbus’s commercial aerospace and defence projects. It will support investments through to 2030 in projects across France, Germany and Spain.
It is the largest commercial loan ever granted by the Luxembourg-based lending institution.
The move is widely seen as part of a broader European push to restore the continent’s waning competitiveness and sovereignty in the face of stiff competition coming from the US and China, with an initial €1 billion euro tranche signed at a ceremony in Brussels on Monday.
“Airbus is the great success story of Europe,” Calviño said in an interview for Euronews’ flagship morning show, Europe Today. “It’s a profitable company, a global leader in key areas, aerospace, security and defence. And so that’s why I think it is important to also flag those areas where we are moving in the right direction.”
The EIB recently enacted a historic policy shift by investing in defence infrastructure, and is on track to hit a record-high financing goal of €4.5 billion for security and defence in 2026.
Asked whether the loan signalled a new direction for the EIB, Calviño said the institution had “proven to be flexible in adapting to Europe’s changing priorities” and to a “new geopolitical context” in which Europe is being “attacked on all sides”.
“I always say we (Europe) are unstoppable when we join forces,” she added. “What I see is a strong determination on the part of our leaders to continue facing those challenges together.”
Calviño also said the Bank would maintain its focus on technology and climate investment despite renewed momentum behind the defence sector, adding that the EIB would continue to “consolidate” its role as “the climate bank”.
“I have the impression that the EIB is not only Europe’s climate bank, but the world’s climate bank because, in many other jurisdictions, they may have a different narrative,” Calviño said. “But the reality is that private companies are also getting on with it and investing in the clean transition because it’s not only the right thing to do, but also the smart thing to do.”
Watch the full interview with European Investment Bank President Nadia Calviño in the video player above.