21 Amendments of Rosa D'AMATO related to 2016/2064(INI)
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. AcknowledgNotes the initial results of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) to mobilise private investments; recalls that the EFSI must also contribute to economic, social and territorial cohesion and that efforts are needed to enhance synergies and complementarity between the EFSI and European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIFs); underlines the importance of ensuring additionality of the EFSI with respect to other EIB initiatives and EU- funded programs;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Expresses surprise at anticipated EFSI leverage in terms of private investment, given that the figures are based on estimates and not guaranteed results;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Laments the fact that EFSI has been unable to tackle the investment gap in Europe; stresses that the problems surrounding investment stem from a deep- seated crisis in aggregate demand and from the effects of austerity policies; believes it necessary to implement a productive public investment plan that can be used in particular to finance projects in the fields of research and development, innovation, education and training, renewable energy and public services;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. WelcomNotes the publication of the Commission’s new guidelines of 22 of February 2016 on combining ESIFs and the EFSI; takes note, however, that the number of existing synergies between EFSI and ESIFs funds is still extremely low and calls on the Commission, the EIB, the national promotional banks and institutions (NPBI) and the managing authorities to accelerate the design and implementation of further synergies;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Deplores the fact that EFSI increases the risk of a privatisation of profits and a socialisation of losses at the expense of society; stresses that the use of public-private partnerships (PPP) often entails an imbalanced distribution, for the public coffers, of the financial risks and costs associated with high-risk private investment, which is to the detriment of the taxpayer as public money is being used to co-finance private returns and cover any losses on investments; notes that PPP projects should not be viewed as additional simply because of the financial mechanism used;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Expresses concern at the limited role of Parliament in EFSI implementation and the lack of transparency regarding specific project selection criteria, as well as the amounts allocated in each case, many of which are ‘not disclosed’;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Deplores the lack of access afforded by the EIB to information on EFSI; laments the fact that EFSI is based on an opaque governance structure lacking in transparency and accountability; Notes that the Chairperson of the Steering Board has resigned and has been replaced; Deplores the fact that the European Parliament was not notified of this;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Deplores the fact that the initial EFSI results show there to be insufficient sectoral and geographical spread, owing to sub-optimal allocation of resources; notes that funding has been allocated for projects with high environmental impact and dubious additionality;
Amendment 61 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Regrets that the EFSI is being used to fund projects involving fossil fuel energy sources such as oil and gas, as well as road haulage, biomass and biogas power plants and heavy industry; calls for a major effort in the implementation of this instrument to promote domestic production and energy self-sufficiency;
Amendment 81 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Expresses concern also at the proliferation of high-risk financial instruments for SMEs that are supported by the EFSI through banks or investment funds;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls urgently on the Commission, in cooperation with the EIB, to draw up an inventory of all EU-backed EIB financing falling under the additionality criteria, and calls on the Commission and EIB to present that inventory before the European Parliament;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Deplores the almost total lack of information and disaggregated statistical data on the projects financed thus far, in particular with regard to the expected impact, benefits and additionality of each individual project; calls on the EIB to publish all available information about, and findings of, impact assessments for operations carried out within the framework of EFSI; calls on the EIB to provide a detailed explanation of the added value and additionality of each project financed and of how each one contributes to the achievement of EFSI objectives and the fundamental long-term strategies and objectives of the EU;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. Notes that the considerable EFSI support being provided for energy, energy efficiency and renewable energy projects has been made possible only by cutting ordinary EIB investment in those sectors by an equal amount, thus suggesting that the majority of EFSI loans have not complied with the principle of additionality; takes the view that EFSI- funded loans should be additional to ordinary EIB investment;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 c (new)
Paragraph 8 c (new)
8c. Recommends that the additionality parameter be incorporated into the project approval criteria in order to ensure the genuine added value of the operations financed and an efficient use of resources; recommends also that constant internal and external monitoring and communication be performed of additionality in the project portfolio in order to increase transparency;
Amendment 110 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Is of the opinion that further evaluation of the original EFSI regulation would have been desirable before the adoption of the proposed EFSI extension; hopes that the conclusions of this report and the recommendations of the Court of Auditors will be duly taken into consideration in the final elaboration of EFSI II Regulation.
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Notes the slowness of the decision- making procedure. Recommends that the Commission closely monitor and carefully review the procedures involved and look into new methods that will enable these to be simplified;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Believes it necessary to conduct a thorough independent impact assessment on the results achieved by EFSI to gauge the real economic, social and environmental impact and additionality of the projects financed, as well as the actual capacity of the Fund to achieve the stated objectives; also stresses that it would be worthwhile improving the calibration of the various assessment criteria for the Scoreboard and considers it important to set minimum thresholds for each of the four criteria on the basis of their importance; considers it vital to monitor more precisely, and using clearer and more transparent procedures, that use of the EU guarantee complies with EFSI’s admissibility criteria, the additionality requirement and its strategic long-term objectives;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Notes that in order to increase transparency, the results of the Scoreboard evaluation must be published as soon as an operation backed with an EU guarantee is approved by the EIB’s Investment Committee and Management Board;
Amendment 208 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Notes that 60% of EFSI projects are concentrated mainly in the transport and energy sectors to the detriment of other key sectors relating to research, development and innovation, human capital and the environment and energy efficiency, which in total account for under 20% of the projects approved; deplores the fact that the list of projects chosen to receive funding under EFSI includes infrastructure installations with high environmental impact, such as bio- refineries, steelworks, gas reclassification and storage facilities and motorways; calls on the EIB, with reference to the precautionary principle, to withdraw funding wherever there is any suspicion of environmental infringements and damage to society or to local communities;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Paragraph 17 b (new)
17b. Deplores the fact that EFSI provides significant support to new fossil- fuel-based infrastructure projects; laments the fact that up to 2016, EUR 1.8 billion in EFSI funding had been granted for gas reclassification and storage facilities, representing 26% of the overall loans granted to the energy sector; calls once again on the EIB to consider seriously the possibility of gradually withdrawing loans for projects involving the production of non-renewable energy; given the EU’s long-term climate-change objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 95% by 2050, EFSI should serve as a model financial instrument and exclude loans for fossil-fuel-based projects;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 c (new)
Paragraph 17 c (new)
17c. Deplores the fact that two thirds of the financial support granted by the EIB to the transport sector under EFSI has been concentrated in high CO2-emitting infrastructure projects, in particular motorways and airports; calls on the EIB not to finance infrastructure projects that are incompatible with the EU’s basic long-term objectives on climate change and energy as set out in the European Strategy for low emission mobility of July 2016;