The face of the World Bank in Brussels, Massimiliano Paolucci exudes a quiet confidence in his role as an “enabler” of bank relations with EU institutions in their own backyard.
Engaging the movers, shakers and policymakers at the European Commission, Parliament and Council, as well at NATO, to shape the dialogue with these actors on the bank’s main partnership priorities is a challenge requiring no small amount of tact and diplomacy. It is a challenge that the unassuming Italian clearly relishes.
On the sidelines of the presentation of the bank’s annual Global Monitoring Report titled “Ending Poverty and Sharing Prosperity,” Devex sat down with the World Bank’s special representative to the EU to talk about the obstacles he faces in his role, the solutions he has put in place, and the bank’s priorities in ongoing discussions with EU institutions.