Activities of David CORMAND related to 2023/2229(INI)
Plenary speeches (2)
Financial activities of the European Investment Bank - annual report 2023 (debate)
Financial activities of the European Investment Bank - annual report 2023 (debate)
Reports (1)
REPORT on the financial activities of the European Investment Bank - annual report 2023
Amendments (26)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A (new)
Recital -A (new)
-A. Whereas the EIB Group consists of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF) and is the biggest multilateral financial institution in the world and one of the largest providers of climate finance, operating in the international capital markets offering competitive terms to clients and favourable conditions to support EU policies and projects both inside and outside the Union;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
B a. Whereas over 2021-2027, InvestEU’s EUR 26.2 billion guarantee, with provisioning from the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and Next Generation EU, is expected to mobilise more than EUR 372 billion in additional private and public investment in Europe, mainly for sustainable infrastructure, research innovation and digitalisation, SMEs and social investment and skills;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
B b. Whereas the EIB will support REPowerEU with an additional EUR 45 billion in loans and equity financing over the next five years;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Overview of policies and operations
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Reiterates its call for a capital increase; notes that this is necessary for supporting key real economy investments that would not be made otherwise and that have the potential to maximise innovation gains in key EU policy areas such as digitalisation and the green transformation, for helping mitigate high energy prices, skills gaps and insufficient investments in innovation and new technologies and for helping implement the European Pillar of Social Rights and the UN Sustainable Development Goals; expects the EIB to ensure that its financing contributes to addressing market failures and avoids crowding-out effects, without increasing its overall financing costs;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Takes note of the approval by the Board of Directors of the ‘EIB Group Operational Plan 2023-2025 confirming EIB’s alignment with the EU political priorities and its commitment to step up its ambition for twin transition;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the EIB to address systemic shortcomings that prevent certain regions or countries from taking full advantage of its financial activitiStresses the importance of avoiding further geographical imbalances in the EIB’s lending activities so as to ensure a broader geographical and sectoral allocation of investments, reduce regional disparities and enhance economic and social convergence; calls on the EIB to address systemic shortcomings that prevent certain regions or countries from taking full advantage of its financial activities; invites the EIB to assess, in particular, whether the geographical distribution of financing under InvestEU is balanced, especially as regards smaller Member States;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. SRecalls that SMEs are the backbone of Europe’s economy; recalls that the EU’s 23 million SMEs account for 99 % of all businesses and provide around three quarters of all jobs; points out that the energy crisis and the consequences of Russia’s war in Ukraine pose further challenges for them; stresses the role of the European Investment Fund in improving access to finance for smaller EU companies, mid- caps and start-ups; calls on the EIB to provide additional growth capital to enable small and medium-sized enterprises to scale up their operations; points out that a stable energy supply is one of the foundations of a successful industrial policy, in particular for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs);
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Recalls that the EIB is the world’s largest multi-currency issuer of green bonds; points out that increasing the proportion of euro-denominated bonds would further strengthen the international role of the euro;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7 b. Reminds that the green transition must be inclusive and fair, that green investments must be viable and expects the EIB, therefore, to leverage its lending, financial instruments, technical assistance and advisory services to support citizens and businesses facing socio-economic challenges deriving from achieving climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest; invites the EIB to support projects delivering affordable access to renewable energy, housing and public services, community-led initiatives, and small projects with a particular focus on fighting energy poverty as a priority;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Reiterates that corporate clients are contractually required to create and publish credible decarbonisation plans which should include mid-term, rolling and quantitative emission reduction targets and options over a longer time frame in order to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest; is concerned that the EIB has signed contracts with corporate clients regardless of whether they have published these plans; expects the EIB to systematically evaluate the credibility of these plans, applying decarbonisation criteria compatible with the 1.5 degree target before signing any new financial commitments;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Reiterates its call for the EIB to work only with financial intermediaries that have a credible decarbonisation plan, including short-term targets that are compatible with the 1.5-degree pathway and that will be put in place as soon as possible and by 2025 at the latest;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10 b. Stresses the key role played by the EIB in ensuring a just transition; calls on the EIB to lower the minimum loan amount for individual projects or loan schemes contributing to the just transition ; encourages the EIB to intensify cooperation with national and regional financial institutions to deliver targeted financing; calls on the EIB to contribute to achieving the EU’s objectives on equality between women and men in this context; welcomes the involvement of the EIB in the EU Just Transition Mechanism in order to address the socio- economic impact of the transition to net- zero economy and to generate new opportunities for sustainable development in eligible regions;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Expects the EIB to engage more actively in nature-positive and biodiversity-enhancing investments and in sectors with the greatest biodiversity co- benefits, such as water management, sanitation, forestry and the ocean, with the highest level of integrity and assurances especially regarding local communities' rights, and integrating the lessons learned from the Natural Capital Financing Facility;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14 a. Expects the new forestry lending paper to ensure that EIB lending promotes sustainable forest management, encourages the sustainable use of wood- based materials, fosters the wider bio- economy and guarantees that it does not directly or indirectly contribute to deforestation or afforestation;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Expects enhanced efforts to mainstream nature in analyses and operations assessing the financial risk of biodiversity loss at counterparty level; expects nature-positive elements to be systematically required for large-scale infrastructure projects, especially for urban investments; warns against projects contributing to climate objectives that do not take into account impacts on biodiversity; is concerned that in at least one occurrence, the EIB funded a project that contributed to significant direct loss of biodiversity in an urban area subject to severe heatwaves;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. ERecalls the role played by the EIB in the EU Raw Material Alliance and the Union’s aim of becoming more autonomous as regards the Critical Raw Materials (CRM) supply; emphasises the need for a circular economy approach to critical raw materialsCRM, based on recycling and reuse, in order to reduce the EU’s dependence on third countries; calls on the EIB to invest more in the CRM sector to enhance resilience in raw materials and calls, in particular, on the EIB to support CRM- related projects that aim first and foremost at avoiding any new mining processes and recycling secondary raw material, and to foster circular economy solutions;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Welcomes the EU for Ukraine initiative; welcomes the fact that all EIB actions in Ukraine are guided by the priorities for reconstruction and will be fully aligned with the upcoming Ukraine plan; welcomes the technical assistance component to ensure optimal project preparation and implementation, as well as capacity building measures; expects that the upcoming Rapid Damage Needs Assessment 3 carried out by the World Bank in coordination with the Commission, the EIB and the Ukrainian government will identify significantly increased needs; welcomes the EIB’s efforts to prevent, deter and investigate fraud and corruption in relation to its projects in Ukraine;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19 a. Recalls the fact that the war has created a severe humanitarian crisis and has had a fundamental impact on the economic, social and security situation in the EU and its neighbourhood; stresses that the changes in supply chains and trade and economic relations caused by the war should be taken into account in future investment planning;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Expects EIB Global’s activities to remain aligned with EU strategic interests and external policy objectives; expects EIB Global to ensure that investments clearly benefit recipient communities, by safeguarding natural heritage, enhancing climate resilience, creating local jobs and alleviating poverty; believes that recipient country stakeholders, such as public authorities, civil society and social partners need to be involved in deciding on and implementing Global Gateway;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Takes note of the EIB Global strategic roadmap and the expectation that it will facilitate at least one third of the EUR 300 billion in investments set out to be generated by the end of 2027; welcomes progress made towards setting up the Global Gateway Fund under the EFSD+ guarantee, which is expected to finance high-impact private sector investments and provide equity and debt financing for high-impact infrastructure, clean energy and human development projects around the world; expresses concern over the lack of inclusive and meaningful consultations with stakeholders who are impacted by its operations; calls for more support for projects with limited bankability and high public returns, and to lower the minimum loan amount for individual projects, particularly in less developed countries; reiterates its call for EIB Global to limit blending operations to areas where they can add value to the local economy and to ensure that blended finance is not used for essential public services;, particularly health, education and social protection, as monetisation could exacerbate existing inequalities and jeopardise universal access to these services; expresses its concerns about significant direct and indirect EIB investments in for-profit health-care providers in the Global South, that directly undermine EU development policy goals and in particular universal access to healthcare, as private health- care services have led to worse health outcomes as compared to government- provided health-care, and have impoverished patients, in particular women.
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Is of the opinion that EIB Global should be accountable for compliance with the principles set out in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Accra agenda for action (ownership, alignment, harmonisation, managing for results and mutual accountability); is particularly concerned, in this context, about a conflict of interest between export credit agencies and EIB Global development finance and about the impact on the development additionality of EIB Global’s affected investments;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22 a. Takes note of the EIB information note summarising its approach to human rights; reminds the EIB of the importance of integrating human rights into its due diligence procedures, conducting human rights impact assessments, anchoring its general human rights commitment in a responsibility to respect human rights and operating in full compliance with Article 2 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union; reiterates, moreover, its call on EIB Global to ensure inclusive and meaningful consultation and engagement with the communities impacted by its projects prior to their approval and throughout project implementation; underlines that specific measures should be taken to include indigenous peoples, women, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups in consultations;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. IRecalls that EIB funds are public money and should always be subject to public scrutiny and accountability; is concerned that the EIB is falling behind other public financial institutions in terms of transparency and in ensuring that no harm is done by its intermediated investments, as it rated only ‘fair’ on the 2023 Foreign Direct Investment Transparency Index; recalls that the EIB’s transparency policy runs counter to the presumption of disclosure and is not aligned with the applicable exceptions listed in Regulation (EC) No 1049/20013 and Regulation (EC) No 1367/20064 ; urges the EIB to implement the European Ombudsman’s recommendations of 20 November 2023 from Case 2252/2022/OAM and of 21 April 2022 from Case 1251/2020/PB to allow for a meaningful assessment of the environmental and social aspects of projects it is considering for funding; _________________ 3 Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43). 4 Regulation (EC) No 1367/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 September 2006 on the application of the provisions of the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters to Community institutions and bodies (OJ L 264, 25.9.2006, p. 13).
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24 a. Reiterates its call on the EIB to commit to strengthening its policy against tax fraud, tax evasion and tax avoidance, including by refraining from funding beneficiaries or financial intermediaries and cooperating with financial partners where these beneficiaries, intermediaries or partners have a proven negative track record; reiterates its call on the EIB to enforce prevention measures and regular tax assessments against non-cooperative tax jurisdictions tax and fiscal fraud, tax evasion and illegal and aggressive tax avoidance;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Reiterates its concern that EIB Vice-Presidents are often involved in project proposals from their home countries; invites the EIB to fully implement all recommendations received from the European Ombudsman in Case 1016/2021/KR, as regards the activities of former members of its Management Committee, as set out in the Ombudsman’s decision of 27 July 2022;