20 Amendments of Markus FERBER related to 2021/0191(COD)
Amendment 234 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3 a (new)
Recital 3 a (new)
(3a) In relation to the EU Green Bond Standards, the term "sustainability" shall only refer to the environmental dimension of sustainability.
Amendment 244 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 7
Recital 7
(7) A uniform set of specific requirements should therefore be laid down for bonds issued by financial or non- financial undertakings or sovereigns that voluntarily wish to use the designation ‘European green bond’ or ‘EuGB’ for such bonds. Specifying quality requirements for European green bonds in the form of a Regulation should ensure that there are uniform conditions for the issuance of such bonds by preventing diverging national requirements that could result from a transposition of a Directive, and should also ensure that those conditions are directly applicable to issuers of such bonds. Issuers that voluntarily use the designation ‘European green bond’ or ‘EuGB’ should follow the same rules across the Union, to increase market efficiency by reducing discrepancies and thereby also reducing the costs of assessing those bonds for investors. The requirements laid down in this regulation shall only apply to bonds designated as ‘European green bond’ or ‘EuGB’. Other sustainable bonds that do not carry this designation shall not be affected by this regulation.
Amendment 252 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) In accordance with Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852, and in order to provide investors with clear, quantitative, detailed and common definitions, the requirements set out in Article 3 of that Regulation should be used to determine whether an economic activity qualifies as environmentally sustainable. Proceeds ofFor a bonds that useo carry the designation ‘European green bond’ or ‘EuGB’ should exclusively, at least 70% of the proceeds shall be used to fund economic activities that either are environmentally sustainable and are thus aligned with the environmental objectives set out in Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852, or contribute to the transformation of activities to become environmentally sustainable. Those bonds can however be used both to finance such environmentally sustainable activities directly through the financing of assets and expenditures that relate to economic activities that meet the requirements set out in Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852, or indirectly through financial assets that finance economic activities that meet those requirements. It is therefore necessary to specify the categories of expenditures and assets that can be financed with the proceeds of bonds that use the designation ‘European green bond’ or ‘EuGB’.
Amendment 260 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8 a (new)
Recital 8 a (new)
(8a) Issuers of Green Bonds shall be allowed to deduct a reasonable amount of the issuance proceeds to cover administrative and issuance costs such as for underwriting, prospectus approval, assurance etc. before calculating the share of proceeds being taxonomy- compliant.
Amendment 266 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 9 a (new)
Recital 9 a (new)
(9a) This regulation aims to create a gold standard for sustainable bonds and should therefore be fully aligned with the taxonomy for sustainable investments. In particular, it should not go beyond the taxonomy by arbitrarily excluding activities that are eligible under the taxonomy.
Amendment 270 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) Sovereigns are frequent issuers of environmentally sustainable bonds and should therefore also be allowed to issue ‘European green bonds’, provided that the proceeds of such bonds are used to finance either assets or expenditure that meet the taxonomy, or assets or expenditure that will meet those requirements within a reasonably short period from the issuance of the bond concerned, which can be extended however where duly justified by the specific features of the economic activities and investments concerned. For financial stability reasons, European green bonds shall not enjoy any beneficial prudential treatment or beneficial treatment under the stability and growth pact.
Amendment 282 #
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 not be required to allocate proceeds by applying the amended delegated acts within five years.
Amendment 290 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12 a (new)
Recital 12 a (new)
(12a) While this regulation introduces clear criteria for the use of the proceeds generated by a green bond issuance, this regulation shall not introduce any additional entity-level requirements for the issuer.
Amendment 332 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 37 a (new)
Recital 37 a (new)
(37a) The EU Green Bond Standard shall remain a voluntary tool and shall not be made mandatory at a further stage.
Amendment 334 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1
Article 1 – paragraph 1
This Regulation lays down uniform requirements for issuers of bonds that wish to use the designation ‘European green bond’ or ‘EuGB’ for their environmentally sustainable bonds made available to investors in the Union, and establishes a registration system and supervisory framework for external reviewers of European green bonds. This Regulation shall not apply to other bonds marketed as sustainable in the Union.
Amendment 337 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point f
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point f
Amendment 348 #
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, without deducting costs, to the following, or a combination thereof:
Amendment 350 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 4 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Issuers of European Green Bonds shall be allowed to deduct a customary amount of the issuance proceeds to cover administrative and issuance costs.
Amendment 354 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Amendment 365 #
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 fiveeight years from bond issuance, unless a longer period of up to ten12 years is justified by the specific features of the economic activities concerned as documented in a taxonomy- alignment plan.
Amendment 379 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 a (new)
Article 6 a (new)
Article 6a Use of Proceeds in Case of Securitisation In case a European Green Bond is used for securitisation purposes, the requirements of Article 6 shall apply to the entity from which the issuance economically originates.
Amendment 387 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
Amendment 390 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 3
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 3
Where 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 amended following the creation of the debt referred to in the first subparagraph, the issuer shall allocate bond proceeds to the debt referred to in the first subparagraph by applying the amended delegated acts within five years afnot be required to reallocater their entry into application bond proceeds.
Amendment 419 #
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 30 days following the end of the year to which the allocation reports refer. Tand have the post-issuance review must be made public within 9120 days following the receiptend of the year to which the allocation reports refer.
Amendment 501 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 64 – paragraph 1
Article 64 – paragraph 1
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. It shall apply from ... [one year after the date of entry into force of this Regulation].