Activities of Sofia SAKORAFA related to 2016/2064(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the implementation of the European Fund for Strategic Investments
Amendments (14)
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. WelcomesRegrets the fact that although the investment mobilised by EFSI to date, which amounts to EUR 169.9 billion and accounts for 52 % of the total target investment to be mobilised by 2018, recent data on national accounts do not indicate any surge in investment since EFSI was launched; reiterates that only direct public investment can close the large investment gap in Europe;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Regrets the lack of official information on the amount of used guarantee; notes, however, that unofficial information indicates a and of the multiplier of 14.1effect; calls on the EIB to make the exact multiplier public and to use the OECD calculation methodology;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes that, according to the EY 2016 independent evaluation, EU-15 received over 90 % of EFSI support and the 13 new Member States received about 9 %; regrets the disproportionate benefit from a market-driven instrument such as EFSI to certain larger Member States with more developed capital markets; recalls that three Member States should not account for more than 45 % of total EFSI funding and therefore calls on the EFSI Steering Board to continuously monitor sectoral and geographical spread, especially in crucial sectors such as modernizing and improving productivity and sustainability of all Member- States economies;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Regrets the relative lack of investments in countries facing severe economic imbalances and undergoing violent structural adjustments;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes that only 10 projects under the IIW and two under the SMEW, corresponding to nine Member States, benefited from blended EFSI/ESIF funding; encourages a timely adoption of the Financial Regulation and Omnibus Regulation revision that would allow the simplification of the combined ESIF and EFSI funds in order to avoid competition and overlaps, substitution, overlaps, any generation of profit and to ensure complementarity;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Notes that 31 % of the EFSI funding was used for SMEs, 22 % for energy projects, 21 % for RDI and 10 % for the digital sector; regrets, however, the lack of information regarding the additionality of the projects funded; calls for an urgent improvement of the sectorial diversification as well as the consideration of any further extension of support to other sectors;
Amendment 58 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses the need to revise the current definition of additionality by adding new factors and in particular the sectorial and geographical diversification; notes that geographical concentration is working against the principle of cohesion; recalls that the current regulation enabled the possibility of projects with lower-than- minimum risk than EIB Special Activities; notes that many projects could have been carried out without EFSI support and calls the EIB to ensure real additionality;
Amendment 73 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Notes that National Promotional Banks are not well established in all Member States and that their limited geographical spread poses additional barriers to the EFSI geographical coverage; considers that the establishment of National Promotional Banks should be a high EFSI priority in order to address regions where support is needed, to boost small scale projects and to improve regional and sectorial diversification; calls on the EIB and the Commission to ensure that National Promotional Banks are high in the priorities of the European Advisory Investment Hub; calls on the Commission to encourage and support the establishment of National Promotional Banks in regions where their presence is limited;
Amendment 92 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Deplores the fact that, on account of EFSI, a series of budgetary lines were reduced for the period 2015-2020, negatively affecting programmes like Horizon 2020 and the Connecting Europe Facility; considers that in the context of MFF revision this budgetary deficit should be redressed taking into consideration the assessment of the opportunity cost of the relevant cuts and that EFSI should be financed from sources independent from EU programmes that have already been approved;
Amendment 99 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. StresseRegrets the needlack for transparency in the selection of EFSI operations, especially the need for information concerning additionalityrelated to the use of the scoreboard and the criteria applied in the selection of EFSI operations towards the EU institutions as well as for all EU citizens; stresses the need for accessible, accurate and updated information especially concerning additionality, their contribution to growth and job creation and the reasons for granting the EU guarantee;
Amendment 104 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Calls for publication of all information of all EFSI operations and decisions on the European Investment Project Portal (EIPP);urges the Commission to increase EIPP potential and visibility;
Amendment 106 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 12 b (new)
Paragraph 12 b (new)
12b. Reminds that for improving the transparency, efficiency and accountability of EFSI, its governance structures should be completely separate from that of the EIB;
Amendment 109 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Is of the opinion that further evaluation of the original EFSI regulation would have been desirableis crucial before the adoption of the any proposed EFSI extension; hop in order to identify possible areas of improvement and whether maintaining a scheme for supporting investment is warranted; anticipates that the conclusions of this report will be duly taken into consideration in the final elaboration of EFSI II Regulation.
Amendment 113 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Acknowledges that EFSI has a strong impact on EU budget and calls for further proposals on how to permanently boost public investment in Europe;