20 Amendments of Udo BULLMANN related to 2011/0308(COD)
Amendment 36 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 32
Recital 32
(32) In order to provide for enhanced transparency of payments made to governments, large undertakings and public interest entities which are active in the extractive industry or the logging of primaryr clearing of natural forests1 should disclose in a separateas part of their annual financial statements a report on an annual basis of all material payments made to governments in the countries in which they operate. Such undertakings are active in countries rich in natural resources, in particular minerals, oil, natural gas as well as primarynatural forests. The report should include types of payments comparable to those disclosed by an undertaking participating in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). The initiative is also complementary to the EU FLEGT Action Plan (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade) and the Timber Regulation which require traders of timber products to exercise due diligence in order to prevent illegal wood from entering into the EU market. __________________ 1 Defined in Directive 2009/28/EC as ‘naturally regenerated forest of native species, where there is no clearly visible indication of human activities and the ecological processes are not significantly disturbed.’
Amendment 44 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 33
Recital 33
(33) The reports should serve to facilitate governments of resource-rich countries in implementing the EITI Principles and Criteria and account to their citizens for payments such governments receive from undertakings active in the extractive industry or loggers of primarynatural forests operating within their jurisdiction. The report should incorporate disclosures on a country and project basis, where a project is considered as the lowest level of operational reporting unit at which the undertaking prepares regular internal management reports, such as a concession, geographical basin, etc and where payments have been attributed to such projectsequivalent to a set of activities governed by a specific licence, concession, contract or other legal agreement between the undertaking and a host government, where such agreement gives rise to specific revenue liabilities for the undertaking. In the light of the overall objective of promoting good governance in these countries, the materiality of payments to be reported should be assessed in relation to the recipient government. Various criteria on materiality could be envisaged such as payments of an absolute amount, or a percentage threshold (such as payments in excess of a percentage of a country’s GDP) and these can be defined through a delegated actTo promote comparability and ensure a relevant definition of materiality, payments shall be considered material if any one payment or set of payments of the same type amount to more than €15,000. The reporting regime should be subject to a review and a report by the Commission within five years of the entry into force of the Directive. The review should consider the effectiveness of the regime and take into account international developments including issues of competitiveness and energy security, and the potential utility of promoting tax compliance by expanding the range of financial information required to include, inter alia, effective tax rates, production volumes, sales and profit, as well as extending enhanced reporting requirements to other major economic sectors. The review should also take into account the experience of preparers and users of the payments information and consider whether it would be appropriate to include additional payment information such as effective tax rates and recipient details, such asrecipients’ bank account information.
Amendment 48 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 35
Recital 35
(35) In order to take account of future changes to the laws of the Member States and in the legislation of the Union concerning company types, the Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty in respect of updating the lists of undertakings contained in Annexes I and II. The use of delegated acts is also necessary to adapt the undertaking size criteria, as with the passage of time inflation will erode their real value. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level. In order to ensure a relevant and appropriate level of disclosure of payments to governments by the extractive industry and loggers of primary forests and to ensure uniform application of this Directive, the Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty in respect of the specification of the concept of materiality of payments.
Amendment 74 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 36 – paragraph 1 – point 1
Article 36 – paragraph 1 – point 1
1. ‘"Undertaking active in the extractive industry’" means an undertaking with any activity involving the exploration, discovery, development, and extraction ofthe highest level parent company publishing accounts within the European Union where the group of companies for which that parent company prepares consolidated financial statements includes subsidiary companies, branches, permanent establishments, joint ventures and associates undertaking any activity involving the exploration, discovery, development, extraction, processing, export, transportation of, or any other significant activity related to, minerals, oil and natural gas deposits, as referred to in Section B-Divisions 05 to 08 of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
Amendment 77 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 36 – paragraph 1 – point 2
Article 36 – paragraph 1 – point 2
2. ‘"Undertaking active in the logging of primary forests’ means an undertaking with activitiesr clearing of natural forests" means the highest level parent company publishing accounts within the European Union where the group of companies for which that parent company prepares consolidated financial statements includes subsidiary companies, branches, permanent establishments, joint ventures and associates undertaking any activity involving the processing, export, transportation of, or any other significant activity related to, the logging or clearing of all types of natural forests, as referred to in Section A- Division 2.2 of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council , in primary forests35, in natural forests. Natural forests correspond to FAO definitions of ‘primary forest’ and ‘other naturally regenerated forest’.
Amendment 83 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 36 – paragraph 1 – point 4
Article 36 – paragraph 1 – point 4
4. ‘Project’ is equivalent to a specific operational reporting unit at the lowest level within the undertaking at which regular internal management reports are prepared to monitor its business. and shall include each specific licence, concession, contract or other legal agreement between the company and the government where such agreement gives rise to specific revenue liabilities for the company
Amendment 89 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 37 – paragraph 1
Article 37 – paragraph 1
1. Member States shall require large undertakings and all public interest entities active in the extractive industry or the logging of primary forests to prepare and make public a report on payments made to governmentsor in other natural resources-based industries to prepare, have audited and make public a report on payments made to governments including those of countries where they operate and or have financial presence on an annual basis.
Amendment 113 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 38 – paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
Article 38 – paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
(ca) the identity of each national, regional or local authority of a Member State or of a third country (including a department, agency or undertaking controlled by that authority) receiving payments, and the amount per type of payment, including payments in kind, made to that authority.
Amendment 141 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 38 – paragraph 2 – point f a (new)
Article 38 – paragraph 2 – point f a (new)
(fa) payments to state security forces for security services;
Amendment 143 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 38 – paragraph 2 – point f b (new)
Article 38 – paragraph 2 – point f b (new)
(fb) taxes on land and buildings;
Amendment 144 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 38 – paragraph 2 – point f c (new)
Article 38 – paragraph 2 – point f c (new)
(fc) withholding taxes;
Amendment 145 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 38 – paragraph 2 – point f d (new)
Article 38 – paragraph 2 – point f d (new)
(fd) import and export levies and taxes;
Amendment 146 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 38 – paragraph 2 – point f e (new)
Article 38 – paragraph 2 – point f e (new)
(fe) payments for violations of law such as environmental and remediation liabilities;
Amendment 148 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 38 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 38 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. The following items should also be reported in relation to each project: (a) A list of subsidiaries’ names (b) Production volumes (c) Sales (d) Staff numbers and total staffing cost (e) Profits and assets.
Amendment 157 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 38 – paragraph 4
Article 38 – paragraph 4
4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 42 in order to specify the concept of materiality of paymentsPayments shall be considered material if any one payment or set of payments of the same type amount to more than €15,000.
Amendment 162 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 38 – paragraph 5
Article 38 – paragraph 5
Amendment 170 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 39 – paragraph 1
Article 39 – paragraph 1
1. A Member State shall require any large undertaking or any public interest entity active in the extractive industry or the logging of primaryr clearing of natural forests and governed by its national law to draw up a consolidated report on payments to governments in accordance with Articles 37 and 38 if that parent undertaking is under the obligation to prepare consolidated financial statements as laid down in Article 23(1) to 23(6) of this Directive.
Amendment 175 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 39 – paragraph 3 – introductory part
Article 39 – paragraph 3 – introductory part
3. An undertaking need not be included in a consolidated report on payments to government where at least one of the following conditions is fulfilled provided that the financial statements of the constituent entity making the payment are also excluded from the consolidated financial statements for the period to which the report relates, but not otherwise:
Amendment 180 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 40 – paragraph 1
Article 40 – paragraph 1
The report referred to in Article 37 and the consolidated report referred to in Article 39 on payments to governments shall be publishedaudited and published as part of the annual financial statements as laid down by the laws of each Member State in accordance with Chapter 2 of Directive 2009/101/EC.
Amendment 182 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 41 – paragraph 1
Article 41 – paragraph 1
The Commission shall review and report, report and where appropriate take the initiative to amend the present directive on the implementation and effectiveness of this Chapter, in particular as regards the scope of the reporting obligations and the modalities of the reporting on a project basis. The Commission should also assess the introduction of the requirements laid down in the present chapter to other industries. The review should also take into account international developments and consider the effects on competitiveness and security of energy supply. It should be completed at the latest five years after the date of entry into force of this Directive. The report shall be submitted to the European Parliament and the Council, together with a legislative proposal, if appropriate.