15 Amendments of Raffaele FITTO related to 2017/2190(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas the EIB plays a key role in implementing an ever greater number of financial instruments capable of leveraging EU budgetary funds;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Takes note of the set of EIB annual reports for 2016 presenting the various investing impacts; reiterates its request that the EIB present a more comprehensive, detailed and harmonised annual report with a better impact overview and evaluation of the EIB’s overall activities and lending priorities as well as of financed projects and sectors; calls on the EIB to forward the results of the ex-post evaluations to the European Parliament;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Invites the EIB to pursue efforts in that direction by providing policymakers with complete and exhaustive information on the concrete and achieved economic, social and environmental impacts and added value of its operations in the Member States and outside the EU; stresses the importance of carrying out, for each project, an independent ex-ante and ex-post evaluation; calls on the EIB to provide detailed examples of crossnational added value in its impact investment reporting as well as key-indicators of sectoral and intersectoral successes; calls on the EIB to forward the results of the ex-post evaluations to the European Parliament;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Recalls that activities benefiting from EIB support must be in accordance with the principles of the EU’s policy goals as outlined in the Europe 2020 strategy and the COP21 agreement; underlines therefore that the EIB’s mission is to revitalise the European economy in order to stimulate quality jobs and support smart, inclusive and sustainable growth in the Union; hopes, to this end, to that ever closer collaboration between the EIB, the Commission and EU Member States can be achieved, in order to improve planning and the definition of objectives, leading to the re-prioritisation of funding targets;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses the need to optimise the use of EU funds and grants, in addition to the EIB’s approach to delivering technical assistance and financial advice to Member States in an easily accessible manner, based on a combination of lending (project loans, intermediated loans, microfinance, venture capital, equity and fund investment), blending (direct financing supported by additional sources of investment, e.g. guarantees, project bonds) and advice (financial and technical expertise); calls on the EIB therefore, in cooperation with the Commission, to provide more technical assistance in the fields of advisory and analytical services, project management and capacity-building to those Member States which receive a low share of EIB financing; recalls that financial instruments, such as project bonds, should be seriously assessed with regard to their financial, social and environmental impact, in order to prevent the entire burden of risk being shifted to the public; in this context, recalls with regret the role played by the EIB and the Commission in the Castor project, involving a risk assessment which did not take account of the risk of increased seismic activity associated with the injection of gas, despite the existence of studies clearly warning of the potential dangers;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Notes that in 2016 the EIB’s portfolio of loans, guarantees and investments mobilised EUR 280 billion of total investment; observes that EUR 67.7 billion of investment was related to EFSI approvals in 2016, which were dedicated primarily to smaller companies (31 %), the energy sector (22 %), and research, development and innovation (22 %); regrets, however, that a large share of investments under the EFSI portfolio was earmarked for fossil-fuel-related projects; reiterates the need for an in-depth analysis and evaluation on the environmental impact of each project;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Stresses that the EIB’s activity in the current period of sluggish recovery must be carefully directed towards high- quality projects ensuring strengthened additionality vis-à-vis other existing Union instruments and the EIB’s main operations; hopes, to this end, to that closer collaboration between the EIB, the Commission and EU Member States can be achieved for the purposes of greater market flexibility and better digital and transport infrastructures, the lack of which is often perceived as an obstacle to investment;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Recalls that the assessment of the additionality of all EFSI-supported projects must be duly documented; regrets that the scoreboards for the approved operations are not published; recalls that this failure to publish creates both accountability and transparency issues; emphasises that transparency regarding the EFSI Scoreboard of Indicators is necessary, also in view of the need to hold the EFSI Investment Committee accountable; stresses also the need for a clearer definition of the principle of additionality in relation to activities with a higher risk than standard EIB operations, in order to ensure greater coherence and transparency in the selection of projects;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Regrets the fact that only 20 % of EFSI financing has supported projects that contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation, whereas the EIB’s standard portfolio has attained the 25% threshold; calls on the EIB to ensure that its maximum standards are respected in all circumstances, with a view to protecting the environment and meeting the COP21 criteria;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Believes that adequate clarification or strategic guidance should be provided for local and regional actors, particularly with regard to the EFSI’s positioning and possible combination with other Union or EIB funds; points outnotes that cooperation between the EFSI and other sources of EU funding (COSME, Horizon 2020) offers great prospects; points out at the same time that the EFSI should not be considered as merely another additional financial source, and that due care should be devoted to avoiding double targeting or double funding;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
44. Underlines that investment in innovation and skills is crucial to the development of Europe’s knowledge economy and to the achievement of the Europe 2020 targets, including 3 % of GDP being spent on R&D; hopes in particular that the EIB, in cooperation with the Commission and the Member States, will fund projects that can guarantee to cover, in the short to medium term, the shortfall in skilled labour, which represents a strong obstacle to investment;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Paragraph 48 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Calls on the EIB to pay greater attention to the implementation of infrastructure projects, especially in weaker regions, in order to avoid a slowdown of the economic convergence process; calls, therefore, for a reflection at EU level on public financing for measures, even of a provisional nature, that can bring about a genuine revival of public investment in infrastructures;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 60
Paragraph 60
60. Recognises the importance of raising awareness at local and regional level of the availability of funding and technical assistance throughout the EU; acknowledges, moreover, that an appropriate awareness of the EIB’s involvement in project financing for various stakeholders is crucial if citizens at local level are to be aware of their right to appeal and lodge complaints with the Complaints Mechanism Office and the European Ombudsman; notes that 89 complaints were registered in 2016, of which 84 were admissible, by comparison with the 56 complaints received in 2015;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 66 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Paragraph 66 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Hopes that the EIB, in line with the 2016 Commission communication, will continue to implement and improve an external strategy for effective taxation, ensuring to compliance with international tax transparency standards and encouraging international country-by- country reporting; calls on the EIB to ensure a high quality of information regarding ultimate beneficiaries and effectively prevent transactions with financial intermediaries having adverse consequences with regard to transparency, fraud, corruption, organised crime and money laundering or harmful social and environmental repercussions;