17 Amendments of Caroline NAGTEGAAL related to 2021/0191(COD)
Amendment 279 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 requires Member States and the Union to apply the criteria set out in Article 3 of that Regulation to determine whether an economic activity qualifies as environmentally sustainable for the purposes of any measure setting out requirements for financial market participants or issuers in respect of financial products or corporate bonds that are made available as environmentally sustainable. It is therefore logical that the technical screening criteria referred to in Article 3, point (d), of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 should determine which fixed assets, expenditures and financial assets can be financed by the proceeds of European green bonds. In view of the expected technological progress in the field of environmental sustainability, the delegated acts adopted pursuant to Articles 10(3), 11(3), 12(2), 13(2), 14(2) or 15(2) of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 are likely to be reviewed and amended over time. Regardless of such changes, in order to provide legal certainty to issuers and investors and prevent amendments to the technical screening criteria from having a negative impact on the price of European green bonds that have already been issued, issuers should be able to apply the technical screening criteria applicable at the moment the European green bond was issued when allocating the proceeds of such bonds to eligible fixed assets or expenditures, until maturity of the bond. To ensure legal certainty for European green bonds whose proceeds are allocated to financial assets, it is necessary to clarify that the underlying economic activities funded by those financial assets should comply with the technical screening criteria applicable at the moment the financial assets were created. Where the relevant delegated acts are amended, the issuer should allocate proceeds by applying the amended delegated acts within five years.
Amendment 289 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12 a (new)
Recital 12 a (new)
(12a) European Green Bonds are financial products based on taxonomy aligned projects and issuers who do not have entity-level transition plans detailing their path to climate neutrality by 2050 should be able to emit European Green Bonds if they respect the requirements specified in this regulation;.
Amendment 299 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) Issuers of European green bonds should abide by their commitments to investors and allocate the proceeds of their bonds within a reasonably short time after issuance. At the same time, issuers should not be penalised for allocating bond proceeds to economic activities that do not yet meet the taxonomy requirements, but will do so within the five year period (or extended ten year period). In that case, issuers should draw up a CapEx plan setting out when and by what means those activities will meet the taxonomy requirements and how alignment will be guaranteed (Taxonomy alignment plan). Issuers should in any case allocate all proceeds of their European green bonds before the maturity of each bond.
Amendment 301 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 15 a (new)
Recital 15 a (new)
(15a) ESMA should be mandated to develop draft regulatory technical standards to specify the form and content of CapEx plans. The Commission should be empowered to adopt those regulatory technical standards by means of a delegated act pursuant to Article 290 TFEU and in accordance with Article 10 to 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council1a. __________________ 1aRegulation (EU) No 1095/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 establishing a European Supervisory Authority (European Securities and Markets Authority), amending Decision No 716/2009/EC and repealing Commission Decision 2009/77/EC (OJ L 331, 15.12.2010, p. 84).
Amendment 327 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 36 a (new)
Recital 36 a (new)
(36a) The application of this Regulation should be reviewed in order to assess, inter alia, the uptake of the European green bond standard, the functioning of the market of external reviewers, whether the standard should be converted to a mandatory standard.
Amendment 346 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. Before maturity of the bond, the proceeds of European green bonds shall be exclusively and fully allocated, withoutafter deducting costs directly linked to issuance, to the following, or a combination thereof:
Amendment 351 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 3
Article 4 – paragraph 3
Amendment 358 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
The use of proceeds referred to in Article 4 shall relate to economic activities that meet the taxonomy requirements, or that will meet the taxonomy requirements within a defined period of time as set out in a taxonomy-alignment plan as defined in paragraph 1.1.2.2 of annex I of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2178 of 6 July 2021 and shall be referred to as CapEx plans.
Amendment 362 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Amendment 368 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 3
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 3
The period referred to in the first and second subparagraph shall not exceed five years from bond issuance, unless a longer period of up to ten years is justified by the specific features of the economic activities concerned as documented in a taxonomy- alignment plan (CapEx plan).
Amendment 372 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 a (new)
Article 6 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 a (new)
Where the use of proceeds referred to in Article 4 of this Regulation is in line with the delegated acts adopted pursuant to Articles 10(3), 11(3), 12(2), 13(2), 14(2) or 15(2) of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 but data is not yet available to demonstrate compliance with Article 17 of that Regulation, the CapEx plan shall include a description of the actions and expenditures necessary to gather the relevant data.
Amendment 374 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 6 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Sovereign issuers can allocate up to 20% of their use of proceeds to activities, provided that they respect the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2020/852, for which technical screening criteria have not yet been established by the Commission in accordance with Article 10(3), 11(3), 12(2), 13(2), 14(2) or 15(2) of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 covering fundamental climate and environmental research, specifically basic research in climate science, spatial information activities, meteorological forecasting activities, crucial to taxonomy’s climate and environmental objectives but not currently covered by the published technical screening criteria. Sovereign issuers must prove that these activities respect the requirements of the taxonomy regulation. These activities are eligible to use of proceeds’ allocation until the European Commission establishes technical screening criteria in accordance with Article 10(3), 11(3), 12(2), 13(2), 14(2)or 15(2) of Regulation (EU) 2020/852.
Amendment 383 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Amendment 420 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 6
Article 9 – paragraph 6
6. Issuers of European green bonds shall provide the allocation reports referred to in paragraph 3, 4, and 5 to an external reviewer within 390 days following the end of the year to which the allocation reports refer. The post-issuance review must be made public within 90 days following the receipt of the allocation report.
Amendment 434 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 10 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Issuers of European Green bonds may obtain a review of the impact report by an external reviewer.
Amendment 465 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 1
Article 23 – paragraph 1
1. External reviewers shall adopt and implement measures to ensure that their pre-issuance reviews as referred to in Article 8 and their post-issuance reviews as referred to in Article 9 are based on a thorough analysis of all the information that is available to them and that, according to their transparent and public methodologies, is relevant to their analysis.
Amendment 496 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 63 a (new)
Article 63 a (new)