Activities of Siôn SIMON related to 2015/2042(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Implementation of the European Progress Microfinance Facility (A8-0331/2015 - Sven Schulze)
Amendments (17)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2 a (new)
Citation 2 a (new)
– having regard to the 'Study on imperfections in the area of microfinance and options how to address them through an EU financial instrument' prepared on the European Commission's request,
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas mEuropean Microfinance canFacilities must contribute to meeting the objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy; and whereas microfinance can help to lift people out of poverty, get out of unemployment and improve social inclusion;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the objective of the Facility is to increase access to finance for unemployed and other disadvantaged people and for micro enterprises, which in turn generates employmentand to improve the capacities of the sector for bank intermediaries and, above all, for non-bank intermediaries, in order to increase the number of potential operations and promoting high-quality job creation and growth in local communities;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the targeted ratio of 40:60ratio between female and male entrepreneurs has almost been reached, andbenefited by Progress Microfinance is just 36:64; whereas ithis is significantly higher than the Union averagetill insufficient in terms of reducing the gap between men and women;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas business development services such as training and mentoring are key to the success and viability of a microenterprise, and whereas they are not funded by the European Microfinance Facilities;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses the importance of a financial instrument such as the Facility in times of financial crisis in order to reduce the risk borne by microfinance institutions, widening the scope of potential operations, and to ensure that unemployed people, disadvantaged people, social entrepreneurs, self-employed and micro enterprises have access to financing;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Calls on the Commission and Member States to establish national, regional and local contact points and to promote the knowledge among potential beneficiaries and citizens in general about European Microfinance Facilities;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Urges the Commission and the European Investment Fund (EIF) to make the Microfinance and Social Entrepreneurship (MF/SE) axis of EaSI fully operational as soon as possiblewithout delay, so as to secure access to money for the beneficiaries; expects that EaSI will tackle successfully the shortcomings of the Facilityfunding tools for Microfinance Intermediaries (MFIs) and access to loans for beneficiaries;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission to assess the suitability of the current definition of microcredit with a view to ensuring that future financial instruments meet not just the needs of the market; welcomes the fact that the balance and the reflows of the Facility will be, but specially the needs of people targeted by the article 2 of the Decision No 283/2010/EU establishing a European Progress Microfinance Facility for employment and social inclusion; urges the Commission to injected into the budget of the MF/SE axis of EaSI, thus all remaining funds and reflows available at the end of the European Progress Microfinance Facility, increasing the number of guarantees and funded instruments that will be offered to microborrowers;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Calls on the Commission to enlarge the geographical scope of the European Microfinance Facilities, in order to reach every Member State; highlights the need of widening the sectorial scope of this Facilities, beyond the agriculture and trade sectors;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Deplores the fact that, owing to the lack of well-defined social reporting, the social impact of the Facility has not been measured more accurately in terms of job creation, business sustainability and minority groups outreach; suggesturges, therefore, that suitable indicators be developed, and encourages the Commise Commission to establish binding social indicators, aligned with the European Code of Good Conduct for Microcredit provision, to better assess wthether the definition of target groups needs to be clarified further; impact of the instruments, also with regards to the Europe2020 targets and to the social purpose of Microfinancing.
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the EIF to enforce provisions in agreements with MFIs requiring them to apply the European Code of Good Conduct for Microcredit Provision and to cooperate more closely with organisations representing minority groups in order to reach target groups more effectively;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Commission to pursue equality between men and women in terms of access to microfinance and to envisage anask MFIs to pay special attention to reduce the gap between men and women to access funding in terms of microfinance and to promote an effective equal tpargetticipation ratio between male and female entrepreneurs in the futurethrough the new EaSI Microfinance Facility;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Urges on the Commission to focus their efforts to improve access to microfinance for potentially excluded clients, such as migrants, refugees, long- term unemployed, young people, low- income persons, low-skilled workers and persons with disabilities, who are currently not benefiting enough from the European Microfinance Facilities;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Encourages the Commission to closely monitor this new feature, ensuring appropriate reporting from MFIs, and motivating them to support projects with high social impact among their potential clients;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Deplores the fact that business development services, including mentoring and training, for final recipients, monitored by MFIs, cannot be directly financed under EaSI, and; calls on the Commission to investigate future financing avenuefund also technical assistance and mentoring programmes for final recipients and micro borrowers in order to guarantee their success beyond the financial easing provided by the European Microfinance Facilities and to ensure better outcomes in terms of Europe 2020 targets;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Recommends that the Commission and Member States develop their strategic cooperation with local and regional organisations and institutions regarding EaSI, ESF and other possible national programmes, promoting their cooperation with MFIs and final recipients, in order to improve the assistance given to microborrowers in terms of training, mentoring and overall support for greater business viability;