Activities of Barbara KAPPEL related to 2017/2071(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the Annual Report on the Financial Activities of the European Investment Bank
Amendments (21)
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the EIB is considered to be the ‘financial arm of the EUBank of the European Union’ and the key institution in sustaining public and private investments within the EU, while also playing an important role outside the EU through its external lending activitiesas well as outside the EU;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the EIB Group financial activities include both lending own resources and fulfilling the various mandates granted to it with the support of the EU budget and third parties such as the EU Member States;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Acknowledges the EIB’s contribution to restoring investment activity in the EU after the economic and financial crises; stresses that the EIB’s activities during the current period of recovery and credit availability in some countries and sectors must be carefully directed towards products and projects, thereby ensuring additionality, while addressing underlying investment gaps;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the EIB maintained a solid profitabilityfinancial standing in 2016 in accordance with the forecast for that year, with a net annual surplus of EUR 2.8 billion;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses the need to minimise the risk of crowding out the private sector by focusing on long-term financing otherwise unavailable to EIB clients on the markets, or by greater risk-taking, namely by supporting the financing of projects that would not get financed otherwise; further points out that additionality of EIB financing also consists of providing technical advice and capacity-building in order to help projects to become investment-ready;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the EIB should continue to strengthen its efforts to expand its loan activities effectively by providing technical advice, especially in regions with low investment capacity, while reducing administrative burdens for applicantslevels, while increasing the efficiency of its scrutiny mechanism;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that the current crisis has significantly weakened economic growth in the EU and that one of the main contributing factors is the decline in investment in the EU; underlines that the fall in public and private investment has reached alarmingworrisome levels in the countries most affected by the crisis, as evidenced by Eurostat’s findings; expresses concern about macroeconomic imbalances and unemployment rates that remain significant in some Member States;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the fact that the EIB has affirmed its commitment to supporting the fulfilment of the Paris Agreement; believes that the review of the EIB’s energy policy foreseen for 2018 will be an opportunity for the bank to reconsider the support it gives to the fossil fuels sector; urges the bank, in this context, to publish the concrete action plans deriving from its 2015 Climate Strategy and to align its portfolio with the global average temperature increase target of less than 2°C, through the phasing-out of fossil fuel projects and the prioritisation of energy efficiency projects;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Believes that instead of playing a partly anti-cyclical role, the key priorityies for the EIB should be to focus on helping to bridge investment gaps in areas where markets fail;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Notes that the value of the EIB loans signed is forecast to rise once again in 2019 (to EUR 76 billion, following a fall from EUR 77 billion in 2014 to EUR 73 billion in 2016); points out that the current context should encourage the bank to adopt more ambitious objectives and to increase the loans signed by the EIB; rRecalls that the EIB should play a fundamental role in the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy through the Horizon 2020 instrumentinstruments such as Horizon 2020 and the Connecting Europe Facility;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Welcomes the EIB’s commitment to tackling the phenomenon of forced displacement androot causes of migration and taking action in countries particularly affected by the migration crisis, including by strengthencomplementing humanitarian action and, by providing support for economic growth, the construction of infrastructure and job creation and by tackling the root causes of migration; expects the EIB Group, to this end, to step up its efforts in coordinating its Economic Resilience Initiative and the External Lending Mandate currently under revision with the establishment of the EFSD mid-2017;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Expects a rapid agreement to be reached on the prolongation of EFSI action, and that the revised fundthat the revised EFSI regulatory framework will enable the problems identified in the previous version, namely in relation to additionality, geographic balance and advisory hub activities, to be overcome;
Amendment 58 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Recalls the high degree of urgency of clarifying the impact of Brexit on the EIB and its activities in order for the bank to continue to be able to perform its role;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Recalls that the EIB’s NCJ Policy needs to be ambitious; notes that relying on the commonwelcomes the adoption by the EIB of an interim approach with regard to the NCJ Policy and tax sensitive jurisdictions, and notes that the EIB Group NCJ Policy will be revised following the adoption of the EU list of third country jurisdictions that fail to comply with tax good governance standards, which is expected to be endorsed by the Council of the EU by the end of 2017 and which will prevail over other lead organisations’ lists in the case of conflict, is a positive but insufficient step, and calls for; welcomes the inclusion of country-by- country reportactual safeguards requiring without exemptions to be made a key part of the EIB’s corporate social responsibility strategy, before the EU adopts its legislation in the fields counterparties to comply with applicable legislation currently in force, including but not limited to, in relation to country-by- country reporting;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Asks the EIB to take greaterWelcomes the fact that the EIB takes into account of the tax impact in countries where investment is made and of how this investment contributes to development and reducing inequality; asks the EIB to study how this exercise can be improved;
Amendment 70 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses the need for the EIB to prioritise external operations so that its activities especially focus on geographical and sectoral areas of high importance for the EU; highlights the great potential for EIB operations to improve the economic situation in Ukraine, which is facing great economic stress and instability due to the ongoing armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine, with the direct and indirect participation of Russian military and security services;
Amendment 88 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Notes a wide variety of experiences with EFSI projects; calls for supports and encourages the further exchange of best practices between the EIB and the Member States in order to increase the effectiveness of the Juncker plan;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. UrgesWelcomes that the EIB Group to adopt the whistleblowing policy review that has already been announcedhas started the revision of its Whistleblowing Policy, which is to update the previous policy dating from 2009; urges the EIB to finalise its revision within due time;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Warns, in this respect, that market- driven instruments risk shifting the focus of the EU budget from EU public common goods and expectncourages the EIB Group to reinforce its reporting to the Commission on the quality as opposed to the quantity of its financing;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Underlines that the pricing ofdue diligence of investment projects financed by the EIB Group products should be based on both factors related to financial return and other factors related not to financial return, but instead to the achievement of other kinds of objectives, such as the contribution of the project to upward economic convergence and cohesion in the EU, or to the achievement of the Europe 2020 targets or the 2030 SDGs; considers that the EIB Group should explain these non-financial criteria to institutional and private investors (for example, pension funds and insurance companies) in an appropriate manner, thus promoting an increased focus on socio- economic and environmental impact across the financial sector;