Activities of Olivier CHASTEL related to 2021/0191(COD)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on European Green Bonds
Amendments (40)
Amendment 10 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) The transition to a low-carbon, more sustainable, resource-efficient, circular and fair economy is key to ensuring the long-term competitiveness of the economy of the Union and improve the well- being and the quality of life of its peoples. In 2016, the Union concluded the Paris Agreement31 . Article 2(1), point (c), of the Paris Agreement sets out the objective of strengthening the response to climate change by, among other means, making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate- resilient development. __________________ 31Council Decision (EU) 2016/1841 of 5 October 2016 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Paris Agreement adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (OJ L 282, 19.10.2016, p. 4).
Amendment 14 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1 a (new)
Recital 1 a (new)
(1a) The resolution of the European Parliament of 29 May 2018 on sustainable finance and the report of the high-level group of experts on sustainable finance of 31.01.2018 proposed developing a European standard for green bonds;
Amendment 16 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) The European Green Deal Investment Plan of 14 January 202032 envisages the establishment of a standard for environmentally sustainable bonds to further increase investment opportunities and facilitate the identification of environmentally sustainable investments through a clear label thus making it possible to combat any risk of greenwashing and tax evasion . In its December 2020 conclusions, the European Council invited the Commission to put forward a legislative proposal for a green bond standard33 . __________________ 32 COM(2020) 21 final. 33 EUCO 22/20.
Amendment 18 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3
Recital 3
(3) Environmentally sustainable bonds are one of the main instruments for financing investments related to low- carbon technologies, energy and resource efficiency as well as sustainable transport infrastructure and research infrastructure. Financial or non-financial undertakings or sovereigns can issue such bonds. Various existing initiatives for environmentally sustainable bonds do not ensure common definitions of environmentally sustainable economic activities. This prevents investors from easily identifying bonds the proceeds of which are aligned with, or are contributing to environmental objectives as laid down in the Paris Agreement and in the Sustainable Development Goals defined by the United Nations.
Amendment 22 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) In ensuring alignment with the objectives of the Paris agreement, and given the existing divergences and absence of common rules, it is likely that Member States will adopt diverging measures and approaches, which will have a direct negative impact on, and create obstacles to, the proper functioning of the internal market, likely to develop uncertainties that could lead to greenwashing and/or tax evasion and be detrimental to issuers of environmentally sustainable bonds. The parallel development of market practices based on commercially driven priorities that produce divergent results causes market fragmentation and risks further exacerbating inefficiencies in the functioning of the internal market. Divergent standards and market practices make it difficult to compare different bonds, create uneven market conditions for issuers, cause additional barriers within the internal market, and risk distorting investment decisions.
Amendment 24 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) The lack of harmonised rules for the procedures used by external reviewers to review environmentally sustainable bonds and the diverging definitions of environmentally sustainable activities make it increasingly difficult for investors to effectively compare bonds across the internal market with respect to their environmental objectives. The market for environmentally sustainable bonds is inherently international, with market participants trading bonds and making use of external review services from third party providers across borders. Action at Union level could not only reduce the risk of fragmentation of the internal market for environmentally sustainable bonds and bond-related external review services, and ensure the application of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council34 in the market for such bonds, but also make the EU the world leader in sustainable finance, thus strengthening the international role of the Euro . __________________ 34 Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2020 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment, and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (OJ L 198, 22.6.2020, p. 13).
Amendment 25 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6 a (new)
Recital 6 a (new)
(6a) Regulation (EU) 2019/2088, which defines the obligations of transparency and information for financial market participants, is directly linked to the Regulation (EU) 2020/852, aimed at encouraging sustainable finance by setting up a legal and technical framework;
Amendment 126 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 – paragraph 4
Article 13 – paragraph 4
4. Issuers of European green bonds shall notify the National Competent Authority referred to in Article 36 of the publication of all the documents referred to in paragraph 1 without undue delay., with the responsibility for the competent national authority to transmit the said documents relating to the issuance directly to ESMA
Amendment 128 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 – paragraph 5
Article 13 – paragraph 5
Amendment 235 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) Diverging rules on the disclosure of information, on the transparency and accountability of external reviewers reviewing environmentally sustainable bonds, and on the eligibility criteria for eligible environmentally sustainable projects, has impeded the ability of investors to identify, trust, and compare environmentally sustainable bonds, and the ability of issuers to use environmentally sustainable bonds to transitionfund their activtransitieson towards more environmentally sustainable business models.
Amendment 246 #
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 ofassociated with assessing those bonds for investors. A uniform, reliable standard with integrity would also help incentivise cross-border investment in such bonds.
Amendment 273 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) Sovereigns are frequent issuers of bonds marketed as 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.
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 291 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12 b (new)
Recital 12 b (new)
(12b) Issuers of European green bonds should however adhere to an entity-level requirement. Issuers should not be engaged in tax avoidance practices via countries on the EU list of non- cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes.
Amendment 297 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) Investors should benefit from cost- effective access to reliable information about the European green bonds. Issuers of European Green Bonds should therefore contract independent external reviewers to provide a pre-issuance review of the European green bond factsheet, and post- issuance reviews of European green bond annual allocation reports.
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 339 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 5 a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 5 a (new)
(5a) ‘home Member State’ means [(i)] for European green bond issuances subject to the requirement to establish a prospectus pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2017/1129, a home Member State as defined in Article 2, point (m), of that Regulation; [(ii)] for European green bond issuances that are not subject to the obligation to establish a prospectus that are made by issuers having their registered office in the Union, the Member State where the issuer has its registered office; (iii) for European green bond issuances not mentioned in points (i) and (ii), the Member State where the securities are intended to be offered to the public for the first time.
Amendment 342 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 5 b (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 5 b (new)
(5b) ‘European green bond programme’ means a portfolio of European green bonds enabling the financing of multiple projects or objectives related to Regulation (EU) 2020/852.
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 347 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) capital expenditures, including those of households that were incurred less than three years prior to the issuance of the European green bond;
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 388 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
Where, at the time of the creation of the debt referred to in the first subparagraph, non allocating bond proceeds to the debt referred to in Article 5(1), point (a), issuers shall apply 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 were in force, issuers shall apply the first delegated acts that were adopted pursuant to Articles 10(3), 11(3), 12(2), 13(2), 14(2) or 15(2) of Regulation (EU) 2020/852applicable at the latest date of (i) the point in time when the debt was created and (ii) three years prior to the issuance of the bond.
Amendment 395 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 3
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 3
Where the, at the time of the creation of the debt referred to in the first subparagraph, no delegated acts adopted pursuant to Articles 10(3), 11(3), 12(2), 13(2), 14(2) or 15(2) of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 awere 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 after their entry into applicationin force, issuers shall apply the first delegated acts that were adopted pursuant to Articles 10(3), 11(3), 12(2), 13(2), 14(2) or 15(2) of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 after the latest date of (i) the point in time when the financial claim was created and (ii) three years prior to the issuance of the bond..
Amendment 402 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 a (new)
Article 7 a (new)
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 490 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 37 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point g a (new)
Article 37 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point g a (new)
(ga) to prohibit an issuer from issuing European green bonds for a period of time not exceeding 1 year after repeated temporary suspension of European Green Bond offers and advertisements due to reasonable grounds for believing there has been infringement of articles 8 to 13 of this regulation by the issuer;
Amendment 496 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 63 a (new)
Article 63 a (new)
Amendment 504 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex I – point 4.2
Annex I – point 4.2
4.2 Process for selecting green projects / portfolios and estimated environmental impact .
Amendment 506 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex I – point 5 a (new)
Annex I – point 5 a (new)
5a. Entity level requirement – An indication of the issuer’s activity in jurisdictions listed in Annex I and Annex II to the EU list of non- cooperative jurisdictions for tax havens and their real economic presence in these jurisdictions in terms of assets, full time employees, sales and taxes paid in these jurisdictions]