Activities of Angelika WINZIG related to 2021/2235(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the control of the financial activities of the European Investment Bank – annual report 2020
Amendments (21)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas public policy goals such as territoriEIB's main objective of contributing to the bal and social cohesion, sustainable development, and tackling (youth) unemployment, poverty and social exclusion should be the core focus and targets of the EIB in its task of ced and steady development of the internal market shall also take into accountributing to the balanced and steady development of the internal market; public policy goals such as social cohesion and sustainable development.
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 required a significant effort from the EIB to offer additional support to businesses and especially SMEs which have been hit particularly hard by the effects of the crisis as well as to contribute to EU objectives;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Notes that the process of updating the EIB Group’s environmental and social policy started in 2020 and has led to the approval in February 2022 of the new Environmental and Social Sustainability Framework; welcomes the revised EIB environmental and social standards included in the Framework, especially those related to labour rights, biodiversity and environmental protection; regrets, however, the lack of a specific tool on human rights due dinotes that human rights principles are fully integrated into the Bank’s key due diligence procedures and standards and contractual clauses with cligence; regrets furthermore that the EIB or its intermediaries are not required to disclose details of actual environmental and social risks or impacts linked to operations carried out through partnerts allow for the suspension of disbursements in the case of serious violation of human rights; recalls that the EIB is directly bound by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights; welcomes that EIB and their promotors are required to consider human rights as part of the environmental and social impact assessment process;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Calls on the EIB to review its transport lending policy (TLP) and to align it with the EIB Group Climate Bank Roadmap 2021-2025 and the Commission’Supports EIB’s commitment to reach climate neutrality by 2050 and to align its actions with the EU Green Deal; welcomes the upcoming revision of the transport lending policy (TLP) which will be in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement and is planned to be adopted in June/July2022; stresses that such new requirements smustainable and smart mobility strategy not go to the detriment of access to finance for SMEs; reiterates the need for the policy to avoid locking in carbon intensive assets and to support modal shifts towards zero-carbon mobility both for freight and passengers at urban and inter- urban levels;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37
Paragraph 37
37. Reiterates its calls for the extension of the right of access to information by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) in respect of EIB operations implementing EU policies; regrets the fact that the Commission and the EIB refer to the definition of the ECA’s mandate as laid out in the TFEU in order to prevent the Court from accessing information related to EIB operations whose sole reason to exist is the implementation of the EU policies;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
38. Is of the opinion that the action of the EIB Audit Committee is not alternative but complementary to that of the ECA; deplorwelcomes the fact that the Tripartite Agreement, which was renewed on 11 November 2021 by the EIB, the Commission and the ECA, does not offer a satisfactory solution and that its renewal confirms the situation without any meaningful improvementincreases the Courts access to documents, information and IT systems;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
39. Notes that in 2020, the EIB complaint mechanism registered 77 new cases, handled 137 cases and closed 94 cases; welcomes that the EIB's complaint mechanism systematically monitors the implementation of its recommendations and suggestions for improvement by EIB services; calls on the EIB to address the findings of the complaint mechanism with concrete actionsadequately;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41
Paragraph 41
41. Reiterates its call on the EIB to run comprehensive analysis of the nature of the financial support affected by alleged misbehaviour and about the geographical distribution of such cases, to facilitate the identification of systemic weaknesses deserving of attention and resources; welcomes in this regard, that IG/IN developed several industry leading prevention and detection tools over the last 10 years;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
44. Welcomes the working arrangement with the EPPO signed in December 2021 and calls for its full and diligent implementation, in particular as regards reporting; highlights in this regard that IG/IN started its collaboration with EPPO months before the signature of the working arrangement and reported in 2021 a total of 17 cases;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44 a (new)
Paragraph 44 a (new)
44 a. notes with appreciation that in 2021 the EIB also enhanced its cooperation with the Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (EUROPOL) by signing a cooperation agreement aiming to foster the prevention and fight against all forms of serious international and organised crime, cybercrime and terrorism;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47
Paragraph 47
47. Is very concerned by the decline of transparency at the EIB:Notes that in 2010, 96.1 % of all projects were published three weeks before Board approval, falling to only 60 % in 2020decreasing to 60 % in 2020; recalls that the EIB Group Transparency Policy foresees that a limited number of project summaries may not be published before Board approval and, in some cases, not before loan signature in order to protect justified interests like commercial secrets; welcomes that ultimately all projects are subject to publication by the EIB;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49
Paragraph 49
49. Is concernedHighlights that the new tEIB Group Transparency pPolicy has not reflected Parliament’s very clear demands for improvements in line with other financial institutions’ best practices and standards; calls on the EIB to align its transparency policy with that of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on mandatory disclosure for intermediaries of projects with high environmental and human rights riskincludes a number of improvements which reflect some of the Parliament’s previous demands and keeps the policy in line with other financial institutions’ best practices and standards;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51
Paragraph 51
51. RegreHighlights that the EIB still does not fully disclosedisclosure of the details of the beneficial ownership of its clients; reiterates its calls for enhancedclients can only be carried out within the legislative framework including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR); welcomes that the EIB’s transparency policy provides obligations on transparency regarding the EIB’s operations through financial intermediaries such as commercial banks and investment funds and for the definition of standard reporting obligations that can provide an adequate level of data and information; recalls in this regard that Article 30 of the AML Directive imposes an obligation on Member states to collect and store accurate and current information on ultimate beneficial ownership of companies in a national register and to ensure that this information is accessible in all cases; asks the EIB to use the available tools and to implement the standards promoted by the 5th AML Directive to make such data accessible; invites the EIB to explore the feasibility of working arrangements and memoranda with the relevant partners to make relevant information available and to eliminate the risk of opacity in the relevant procedures;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 54
Paragraph 54
54. Takes note of the updated codes of conduct of the Management Committee and the Board of Directors of August 2021; welcomes the introduction of a longer cooling-off period for the members of the Management Committee (24 months instead of 12) and for the members of the Board of Directors (12 months instead of 6); regrets, howevernotes, that there is no provision excluding vice-presidents from overseeing operations in their countries of origin and insists that this be addressed in the next revision; understands that this allows for the necessary country-specific expertise in projects; is convinced that the EIB will continue to carry out project assessment alongside objective technical, financial and economic indicators making the project's quality the decisive factor in deciding whether or not to grant financing;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 57
Paragraph 57
57. Expresses serious concerns at the lack ofRecognises that recent efforts have been made by the EIB to foster social dialogue at the EIB, in particular to address concerns about harassment allegations and the working environment; encourages the EIB management to engage in constructive dialogue with staff in order to address their concerns and to foster trust and a culture of accountability; encourages the EIB to launch surveys and consultations across its stafftakes note of EIB's efforts to include surveys as part of their continuous listening approach in order to foster staff engagement e.g. through their recent health and wellbeing survey;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 58
Paragraph 58
58. Notes with concern that onlya slight decline form 30% to 29.5 % ofin management positions at the EIB were held by women at the end of 2020 (30 % at the end of 2019); reiterates its concern for the persistent lack of diversity and gender balance at senior management level and within the EIB Group’s governing bodies, as well as the very high share of women in support functions; welcomes EIB’s efforts to promote diversity and gender balance; notes that the bank increased the percentage of female managers to 30%, the share of women at senior officer level to 35% and the share of women at officer level to 43% by the end of 2021;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 59
Paragraph 59
59. Underlines that the Board of Directors is made up of Member States’ representatives and that vice-presidents are nominated by Member States; notes that the EIB President calls on the Member States to ensure diversity when selecting new members and urges the EIB to encourage the Members States also to consider gender balance when putting forward nominees for vice-presidencies; observes that despite Member States nomination competence, the EIB President’s regular calls for diversity have led to a significant improvement of the gender balance; highlights in this regard that the Bank’s Management Committee and the Board of Directors have a respective share of women of 33% and 48%;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 60 – point b
Paragraph 60 – point b
b) acdaptations adoprelated to enhance the prevention of conflicts of interest,
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 60 – point c
Paragraph 60 – point c
c) measures to strengthenregarding transparency following integrity due diligence of clients in order to prevent tax avoidance, fraud and corruption,