What, no nuclear? Vestager promotes hydrogen in race to head EU’s bank

Top EU official Margrethe Vestager name-checked wind, solar and hydrogen as forms of renewable energy that should get funding from the European Investment Bank, which she hopes to lead after stepping down from her role as Europe’s top antitrust enforcer.

But the Danish politician made no mention of nuclear energy in an interview with the Center for Global Development, being published on Tuesday — and seen by POLITICO prior to publication — an omission that’s likely to be noted in Paris where officials are leaning toward backing a rival candidate for the EIB job.

Asked what kind of energy forms a future EIB chief should support, Vestager — who is on unpaid leave from the Commission while she campaigns for the EIB job — told the Washington-based non-profit: “We have all the known technologies of solar, wind and water. We have the emergent technologies of hydrogen, a new kind of battery, wave energy — and we need to figure out how to combine [these forms of energy] because we have very little time to fight climate change.”

French President Emmanuel Macron has made clear Paris will favor a candidate who supports investing in nuclear power as part of the EIB’s mandate to become a “climate bank” focused on renewable energy. POLITICO reported last week Paris was leaning toward backing Nadia Calviño, Spain’s deputy prime minister, over Vestager for the EIB top job, though officials clarified that a final choice had not been made.

Asked about her strategic vision for the role, Vestager insisted on the need for internal reforms, for increased risk-taking, and for an EIB that was “closer aligned to the other EU institutions, what is decided in the European Council because the European Investment Bank is the investment arm to help us achieve what we want for Europe.”

She also cited a “need for acceleration” in the bank’s affairs. “We need to invest more. We need to invest faster. So there is a need of reform of the bank in itself,” she added.

Finance ministers are due to decide on their pick for the EIB top job before the end of the year.