Head of European Investment Bank eyes Canada opportunities as Carney pushes EU ties | CBC News

Nadia Calviño says 'the time is ripe' as the bank explores financing Canadian projects

The president of the European Union's investment bank says "the time is ripe" to deepen its co-operation with Canada by exploring how to finance Canadian projects — comments that come as Prime Minister Mark Carney pushes for more EU ties.

But Calviño, who is visiting Canada to meet with various federal ministers, said her trip "clearly shows that in Europe, we put our money where our mouth is."

"I think the key idea is one that Prime Minister Carney is sharing, which is strategic alliance and strategic co-operation," Calviño told host Rosemary Barton. "We speak the same language, we share the same values."

Asked whether the EIB could invest in future oil and liquid natural gas pipelines, Calviño said the bank has "consolidated its role as the climate bank" and is "much more interested in new technologies" and green energy generation.

Plus, Carney is pushing Canada to deepen its ties to the European Union, though exact details of his vision are unclear.

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On Thursday, Carney addressed the European Parliament and outlined a goal to secure "seamless, digital" trade in non-agricultural goods and services, co-operation on computing capacity and AI safety protocols, and exploring an integrated market for financial services.

Calviño said she wouldn't waste any time on "the process, the procedures, the names [and] the headlines" and said the EIB is "a very practical organization."

"We do investments. We put money. We support projects. We make things happen. And I think that's the approach of Canada, which very much resonates with the way we look at things," Calviño said. "I would say the sky's the limit."

"It's a number of specific areas that the prime minister has described as strategic capabilities — those areas where countries really need to have access to certain things that enable them to actually make sovereign decisions," said Wilkinson, who will be sworn in to his new role in the coming weeks.

Rihards Kols, a Latvian member of the European Parliament, told Barton in a separate interview that Carney's EU push is a "geopolitical necessity in these times that we live in."