Activities of Henrike HAHN related to 2021/2063(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the European Central Bank – annual report 2021
Amendments (41)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 a (new)
Citation 6 a (new)
— having regard to the Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change’s (IPCC) special report on global warming of 1,5 °C, its special report on climate change and land, and its special report on the ocean and cryosphere in a changing climate,
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 b (new)
Citation 6 b (new)
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13 a (new)
Citation 13 a (new)
— having regard to the European Parliament resolution of 14 March 2019 on gender balance in EU economic and monetary affairs nominations (2019/2614(RSP)),
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
E a. whereas climate change, the loss of biodiversity and the transition towards a carbon neutral economy affects price stability through their impact on macroeconomic indicators, financial stability and the transmission of monetary policy, while increasing the exposure of the ECB portfolio to climate-related financial risks; whereas monetary policy operations on the other hand further exacerbate the risks of climate change by supporting greenhouse gas intensive assets that are not aligned with the Paris Agreement;
Amendment 57 #
E b. whereas, according to Executive Board Member Isabel Schnabel1a, the ECB corporate sector purchase programme (CSPP) currently exhibits an inherent bias towards large firms in carbon-intensive industries as a direct consequence of the application of the existing eligibility criteria and market neutrality principle; _________________ 1a https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/ 2021/html/ecb.sp210614~162bd7c253.en. html
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E c (new)
Recital E c (new)
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E d (new)
Recital E d (new)
E d. whereas out of 25 members of ECB Governing Council, there are only two women; whereas women continue to be underrepresented across the ECB organisation hierarchy;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E e (new)
Recital E e (new)
E e. whereas housing costs represent almost a quarter of EU-27 household expenditure; whereas more than two thirds of the EU population own their home; whereas house prices have been subject to a steep increase by over 30% in the past decade1a and rents have gone up by almost 15% in the EU, in a context of rising unemployment across the Eurozone; _________________ 1ahttps://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics- explained/index.php?title=Housing_price _statistics_-_house_price_index
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Highlights that the statutory independence of the ECB is a prerequisite for it to fulfil its mandate; emphasises that accountability is the necessary counterpart to that independence;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Welcomes the ECB Monetary Policy Strategy Review adopted unanimously and announced on 8 July 2021, which sets out how to achieve the primary objective of maintaining price stability and contribute to the achievement of the Union’s objectives without prejudice to the objective of price stability; notes that this is the first strategy review in 18 years;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Is deeply concerned about the unprecedented healthcare, social and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a sharp contraction of the euro area economy, a sharp increase in economic and social inequalities, and rapidly deteriorating labour market conditions; notes that euro area economic activity is expected to rebound, although the speed, scale and evenness of the rebound remains highly uncertain;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that sustainable growth, resilience and price stability cannot be achieved by monetary policy alone and that supportive and discretionary fiscal policy and socially balanced and productivity- enhancing reforms and investments are also necessary; acknowledgesupports President Lagarde’s call for full alignment of fiscal and monetary policies in tackling the COVID-19 crisis;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Points out that climate change and the loss of biodiversity will endanger the ECB’s fulfilment of its mandate, since climate change poses a direct threat to price stability; stresses that to reach climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest, as outlined in the EU climate law, all relevant actors must contribute to that objective and operate in a way that is consistent with it;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Underlines the importance of a central fiscal capacity capable of providing a counter-cyclical stabilisation function and timely and adequate support in the event of economic shocks as well as financing of the green transition; emphasises that a permanent central EU common fiscal capacity would act as the ECB’s central fiscal counterpart;
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Welcomes the ECB’s substantially eased monetary policy stance in response to the COVID-19 crisis, which includes the introduction of the pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP), the relaxation of the eligibility and collateral criteria and the offer of newre-calibrated longer-term refinancing operations; welcomes, moreover, the ECB’s decision to maintain instruments, such as negative interest rates, forward guidance, asset purchases and longer-term refinancing operations, as an integral part of its toolkit;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. WelcomAcknowledges the ECB’s decision to continue to conduct net asset purchases at a significantly highmoderately lower pace under the PEPP until at least the end of March 2022;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. NotWelcomes the ECB’s decision on a new symmetric inflation target of 2 % over the medium term and its commitment to maintain a persistently accommodative monetary policy stance in order to meet its inflation target; notes with concern that inflation rose to a decade-high 3 % in August 2021; calls on the ECB to evaluate and address this upward trend and its consequences more attentively;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. NotWelcomes the ECB’s decision to develop a roadmap to include the costs related to owner-occupied housing in the HICP, but stresses the need to accelerate this process, in order to better represent the inflation rate that is relevant for households; and design better informed monetary policy operations; takes the view that methodologies aimed at isolating the investment component from the consumption component should ensure that the actual impact of the significant increase of housing price on consumer expenses is adequately captured;
Amendment 203 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Recalls that, as an EU institution, the ECB is bound by the Paris AgreementEU commitments under the Paris Agreement and the objective to achieve climate neutrality in the EU by 2050 at the latest, and that this should be reflected in all of its policies, decisions and operations;
Amendment 216 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Agrees with the ECB that tackling the climate emergency touches not only upon its secondary but also upon its primary mandate, given that climate change and its consequences pose a serious threat to price stability; emphasises that tackling the climate and biodiversity emergency requires an integrated approach in order to achieve a just transition;
Amendment 223 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Welcomes the ECB’s new action plan and its detailed roadmap of climate change-related actions to further incorporate climate change considerations into its policy framework and models; emphasises that this is an important step, but stresses that more ambitious and timely action is required to tackle climate change and the loss of biodiversity and put climate action at the core of its strategy, moving away from the market neutrality principle;
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Believes that the market neutrality principle falls short of the commitments under the Paris Agreement and the EU’s objective of achieving climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest; notes that the ECB has already deviated from market neutrality in several instances; calls on the ECB to adopt a benchmark that fully accounts for market failures and the need to align with EU environmental objectives;
Amendment 242 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17 a. Calls on ECB to move beyond a purely risk-based approach and to apply the “double materiality” by taking urgent steps to decarbonise the collateral framework governing its monetary policy operations, its long-term refinancing operations, and corporate bond purchase programs, noting that concrete and feasible proposals to do so already exist1a; _________________ 1aDafermos et al. (2020), Dafermos et al (2021)
Amendment 244 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Paragraph 17 b (new)
17 b. Notes with concern that the ECB refinancing operations, especially the targeted Longer-Term Refinancing Operations (TLTRO), provide banks with cheap funding, irrespective of whether their lending contributes to or harms the EU’s climate and environmental objectives; highlights that such operations have been indirectly supporting carbon lock-in and unsustainable lending practices; urges the ECB to implement Green TLTROs by making the provision of liquidity at favourable financing conditions to banks conditional on their volume of lending to sustainable activities that comply with the EU’s Green Taxonomy, in order to counterbalance the existing carbon-intensive bias of bank lending and accelerate the green transition;
Amendment 254 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18 a. Calls on the ECB to stop purchases related to fossil fuels in order to accelerate the decarbonisation of the ECB’s portfolio and reduce exposure to companies that undermine the Paris climate agreement; stresses the need for a EU Taxonomy for environmentally harmful activities to be developed by the Commission; at the same time calls on the ECB to accelerate the development of indicators on the carbon footprint of portfolios of financial institutions;
Amendment 263 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Welcomes the fact that the ECB is taking steps to incorporate climate-related risks into its collateral framework but warns against delays in its implementation; and recommends the ECB also aligns its collateral framework with the Paris Agreement and EU climate objectives; is concerned about the fact that the ECB continues to over-rely exclusively on private external credit rating agencies (CRAs) for risk assessment;
Amendment 266 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19 a. Welcomes the ECB’s commitment to challenge the methodologies and disclosures of credit rating agencies and assess how they incorporate climate change risk in credit ratings; calls on the ECB to speed up the introduction of climate risks assessment into the Eurosystem Credit Assessment Framework (ECAF) and create a unified framework for the in-house Credit Assessment System (ICAS) of the national central bank in the Eurosystem, in order to expand internal capacity and to reduce reliance on external ratings;
Amendment 270 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 b (new)
Paragraph 19 b (new)
19 b. Highlights that recent studies1a found evidence for the structural carbon bias in the corporate asset purchase programmes towards GHG-intensive assets, which undermines the EU’s environmental and climate objectives and policies and is a direct consequence of the application of the existing eligibility criteria and contentious market neutrality principle, and put forward strategies and proposals how to address the carbon bias; underlines that according to available data, 62.7 % of ECB corporate bond purchases take place in the sectors that are responsible for 54.8 % of euro area greenhouse gas emissions; _________________ 1a https://greenpeace.at/assets/uploads/pdf/G reening-the-Eurosystem-collateral- framework-Report.pdf https://neweconomics.org/2020/10/decarb onising-is-easy
Amendment 273 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 c (new)
Paragraph 19 c (new)
19 c. Welcomes the fact that the ECB is preparing to align its corporate asset purchases with the Paris Agreement but warns against delays; calls, in this respect, to set a deadline for a restructuring of the ECB’s portfolio of securities held under the CSPP and PEPP in order to reduce its holding of bonds linked with fossil fuel industries and increase its holding of bonds linked with sustainable investments, taking into account the Paris Agreement and ESG objectives; advocates for the urgent adoption of precise and measurable intermediate targets, that are evaluated on a regular basis, in order to comply with the objective of climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest; stresses that ECB policy action in this regard would have a strong signalling effect on the market and incentivises companies to accelerate the green transition;
Amendment 275 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 d (new)
Paragraph 19 d (new)
19 d. Welcomes the ECB’s commitment to introduce disclosure of climate-related risks as an eligibility requirement for collateral and asset purchases; calls further on the ECB to investigate the option to include in the eligibility criteria for asset purchases the adoption of credible decarbonisation plans aligned with the Paris Agreement using science- based emission targets; urges the ECB to publish comprehensive climate-related data on its asset purchases;
Amendment 276 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 e (new)
Paragraph 19 e (new)
19 e. Welcomes the implementation and publication of the first economy-wide climate stress test analysing the impacts on over four million firms worldwide and 1,600 euro area banks under three different climate policy scenarios; welcomes the commitment to introduce regular climate stress-testing building up on the pilot and warns against delay; Calls on the ECB to strengthen its cooperation on climate change with international networks also beyond the NGFS, in particular the Sustainable Banking Network and the UN Principles for Responsible Banking initiative, and to improve the dialogue with the civil society, with the aim to reinforce the EU role as global leader on sustainable finance and climate action;
Amendment 277 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 f (new)
Paragraph 19 f (new)
19 f. Encourages the ECB to follow up on its economy-wide climate stress test by addressing finance-related climate financial risks its supervisory practice, drawing upon the opportunities provided, among others, by the Single Review and Evaluation Process (SREP), and proactively sharing best supervisory practices within the ESCB;
Amendment 279 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Underlines the pivotal role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as the backbone of the in the EU economy, economic and social convergence and employment; stresses that SMEs have been severely hit by the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to a serious deterioration in their economic turnover, the challenge to succeed in the green transition and their access to finance; calls on the ECB to step up its efforts on financing and access to credit for SMEs;
Amendment 284 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Is concerned about the risks caused by the serious delay in completing the third pillar of the banking union; welcomes the ECB’s long-standing support of the establishment of a fully fledged European Deposit Insurance Scheme (EDIS); stresses that the upcoming review of the Crisis Management and Deposit Insurance framework (CMDI) should include a proposal in this regard and address the existing loopholes in the resolution framework, in order to ensure a consistent and efficient approach for all banks, regardless of their size or business model; considers that the further integration of the banking sector could revitalize the "too big to fail" problem; calls on the ECB to refrain from promoting the further consolidation of the banking sector;
Amendment 293 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21 a. Shares its concern about rising levels of income and wealth inequalities between households in the European Union; encourages the ECB to continue to monitor the side-effects of its accommodative monetary policy on inequality levels, including on the housing market;
Amendment 298 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Welcomes the ECB’s decision to launch a 24-month investigation phase of a digital euro project; calls on the ECB to effectively address the expectations and concerns raised during the public consultation on a digital euro; points out that a digital euro shall not replace cash, should promote financial inclusion, and must give additional data privacy and legal security for consumers and companies; reiterates its strong concerns about the risks for financial stability, monetary policy and consumer protection posed by private stablecoins with potential for mass adoption, aimed to replace public currencies; invites the ECB to closely align and exchange with the Parliament during the investigation phase;
Amendment 317 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Calls on the ECB to step up its monitoring of the development of crypto- currencies and the related risks in terms of financial stability, monetary policy and the functioning and safety of market infrastructures and payments; stresses that the development of crypto-assets poses additional concerns in terms of cybersecurity and money laundering;
Amendment 332 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Stresses the need to further enhance the accountability and transparency arrangements of the ECB; recognises the steps taken by the ECB; repeats its call to launch negotiations on a formal interinstitutional agreement; notes in this context the existing staff rules of the ECB for potential conflicts of interests of staff and encourages the broad application of staff rules; recognises the steps taken by the ECB; repeats its call to launch negotiations on a formal interinstitutional agreement as it was already agreed for the banking supervision in order to strengthen accountability practices and the cooperation and exchange of information with the European Parliament, while increasing its democratic legitimacy of the ECB, without prejudice to its independence; calls on the ECB to increase transparency towards the European Parliament and civil society by publishing detailed minutes and reports in all EU languages and the ‘ECB Listens’ initiative;
Amendment 343 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Welcomes the enhancement of the ECB’s new internal whistleblowing framework; calls on the ECB to ensure its integrity and efficiency;
Amendment 349 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Reiterates that the nominations of the Executive Board members should be prepared carefully and take a gender- balanced approach, with full transparency and together with Parliament, in line with the Treaties and Resolution2019/2614(RSP), which requires short-lists that respect the principle of gender balance;
Amendment 354 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Welcomes the ECB’s new strategy to further improve the gender balance of its staff at all levels; notes the increasing share of women in managerial positions, which, however, remains low; points out the huge gender gap in the Governing Council, where only 2 out of 25 seats are held by women; regrets that the gender imbalance also persists across the organisational structure of the ECB, notably in the share of women in senior management positions; encourages the ECB to steadily progress to its targets as defined in the 2020 gender balance strategy, and to reinforce its efforts to achieve a substantial change across the organisational hierarchy;