EIB President Werner Hoyer opened the EIB Summer School 2023 welcoming 80 graduate students from 22 European universities coming to learn about the EU’s climate bank during two weeks of lectures and seminars taught by EIB Group staff members.

In a lively “tour d’horizon”” peppered with anecdotes, President Hoyer described the EU bank’s key role in a polycrisis world.

He discussed the war in Ukraine and the rebuilding of the country and how the EIB contributes to fighting climate change by financing innovative solutions and a just transition. He also pleaded for a Europe that” thinks global” and answers better the challenges of the global south.

“We need a “can do” approach” to answer these poly crisis”, President Hoyer said while answering questions from the students. “The needs are endless” and “the idea is not to produce maximum volume but maximum impact and additionality. We must make a difference.” He also underlined the need for strengthening innovation and the competitiveness of European companies.

Shiva Dustdar, Head of the EIB Institute, addressed the students about “making EIB Group future -proof by investing in the next generation of leaders”. “We want to hear the voice of our future stakeholders” she said. “It is thanks to the ideas and suggestions from previous cohorts that our programme has constantly evolved, mirroring changes outside the EIB Group by bringing more diverse voices into the conversation”.

The EIB Summer School offers young graduates from the finest Master’s programmes an intensive two week immersion into the EIB Group (EIB, EIF, EIB Global, EIB Institute). It is organised every year in June/July in Luxembourg by the Institute.  All courses and seminars are taught by more than 30 EIB Group staff members representing all directorates.

The Summer School also includes social activities and high level visits to other EU institutions (ESM, Court of Justice and Court of Auditors).

This year, the EIB Summer School welcomes students from four new universities: University of Crete, University of Economics in Bratislava, University of Szeged (Hungary) and University of Warsaw. They are joining students from the College of Europe – Bruges and Natolin, ESADE Barcelona, London School of Economics, Prague University of Economics and Business, Sciences Po, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Stockholm School of Economics, TU Dresden, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, University of Bucharest, University of Coimbra, University of Helsinki, University of Latvia, University of Ljubljana, University of Luxembourg, University of Vienna and VU Amsterdam.

Since its first edition in 2018, close to 300 students from 18 universities from all over Europe have joined the EIB Summer School.