PhD candidate Kingston University London
Christian is a PhD student in economics at Kingston University London. He completed his BSc in economics at the Vienna University for Business and Economics and his MA in Political Economy at Kingston University London. He is interested in heterodox (neo-Kaleckian) macroeconomics and Marxist Political Economy. His research is both empirical and theoretical, although with an emphasis on the theoretical argument. Empirically, he specialises in simple time-series econometrics. Christian teaches economics and statistics at SOAS University and Goldsmiths University, respectively. In his previous FEPS YAN cycle he worked on the European Pillar of Social Rights. Christian is a member of the Labour Party, several trade unions, and some more grass roots organisations.
How to unlock the European Investment Bank’s potential: four reforms
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the EU’s multilateral development bank. In this FEPS YAN policy study, the authors suggest four reforms that would help progressive policymakers to utilize unlock the EIB’s potential to play a greater role in the EU economy and its transition to a more resilient, climate-neutral, and progressive economy.
First, the authors suggest the EIB adopts more comprehensive lending targets based on social and environmental criteria. Second, they highlight the need for a stronger focus on equity-like instruments rather than debt instruments, especially in the ongoing response to the Covid-19 crisis. Third, they propose to strengthen the EIB’s accountability towards the European Parliament to ensure a legitimate political direction and democratic control of its activities. Fourth, they propose to convert the EIB’s retained profits into paid-in capital, unlocking up to €110 billion of additional lending capacity. To simultaneously accomplish increased democratic accountability, the authors suggest converting the EIB’s retained profits into EU capital and thus making the EU an EIB shareholder.
Read the paper:
How to unlock the European Investment Bank’s potential: four reforms
Political Mentor: EP Vice President and S&D MEP Pedro Silva Pereira
Academic Mentor: Carlo d' Ippoliti, Associate professor of political economy at the Department of Statistical Sciences of Sapienza University of Rome.
PhD candidate Kingston University London
