Activities of Bart STAES related to 2013/2131(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
European Investment Bank annual report 2012 (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the European Investment Bank (EIB) – Annual Report 2012 PDF (237 KB) DOC (128 KB)
Amendments (17)
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Strongly believes, however, that within these broad priorities greater focus should be placed on investing in long-term job creation and on generating a durable and visible impact in the real economy, and therefore calls, in this respect, for an annual in- depth evaluation providing viable figures on the long-term employment created through, and the impact on the economy as a result of, EIB lending, in all areas, following the financial crisis;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Demands that the EIB increase its internal risk-taking capacity by ensuring that its risk-management systems are adapted to the current environment; at the same time taking into account the highest financial standards concerning due diligence and transparency ;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Believes, moreover, that the EIB advisory capacity could be used to provide targeted technical and specialised assistance at government level and where appropriate also at regional level, in order to facilitate proper assessments regarding the benefits of involving a SG in a PPP programme;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Recalls the launch in 2012, by the EIB and the Commission and with the support of Member States, of the pilot phase of the Project Bond Initiative, which aims at boosting the funding for key-infrastructure projects by attracting institutional investors; But urges that these key- infrastructure projects should be selected to those that serve the public interest and respond best to the social, environmental, cultural and economic needs of peoples and communities. funding via Project Bonds should promote a transition towards a sustainable economic model based on the respect for territories and the environment, capable to respond to the needs for local jobs for younger generations, especially in the Mediterranean region, where the economic and financial crisis is having the most severe impacts also in terms of youth unemployment;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Demands that Parliament be informed on an annual basis about the selected projects in an appropriate manner and in due time;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. 32. Welcomes the EIB’'s new energy policy, introducing new energy lending criteria that reflect the EU’'s energy and climate policies as well as current investment trends; demands that EIB energy investments are made public and analysed on an annual basis, showing which energy sources are supported by the EIB;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Welcomes the introduction by the EIB of a new Emissions Performance Standard (EPS), to be applied to all fossil fuel generation projects in order to screen out investments with projected carbon emissions exceeding a threshold level; calls on the Board of the EIB to keep the Emissions Performance Standard under review and to consider more restrictive commitments in the future; recalls the EIB commitment to review the EPS in 2014 in the light of the 2030 climate and energy package's discussion and calls for an EPS level that is compatible with the EU long term climate target, at a level of 350 g CO2/kWh;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 a (new)
Paragraph 33 a (new)
33 a. Given the step change that will result from the 2030 climate and energy package, requiring a stronger decarbonisation and additional low carbon investments efforts, demands that the EIB does a climate assessment and review of all its activities in 2014 making the results and recommendations public. On this basis, it should elaborate a renewed climate policy including more ambitious climate action targets, a stronger weighting of climate action through project assessment and an integrated approach to smartly combine sector-specific policies for key sectors (energy, transport) and cross-cutting energy efficiency and low carbon requirements;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Recalls the important role played by the EIB in financing public and private sector investment in energy infrastructure and in supporting projects that contribute to achieving EU climate and energy policy goals; recalls the 2007 Parliament resolution calling for an end to public funding for fossil fuel projects and a shift to energy efficiency and renewable energies, and calls on the EIB to become the first fossil fuel-free public bank globally in 2020 at the latest;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 a (new)
Paragraph 34 a (new)
34 a. Demands that the EIB enforces the best international standards regarding hydropower, namely the World Commission on Dams' guiding principles and the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP), implying to only invest in cases where countries have put in place a legal framework establishing energy planning mechanisms (including "no go" areas) and requiring that negative impacts on ecosystems and local communities are properly assessed, avoided, mitigated and monitored and implying as well that the projects are not located in/nearby protected areas or on river stretches with good ecological status;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48
Paragraph 48
48. Invites the EIB to identify and select higher-value-added and higher-risk projects, notably by identifying start-ups, micro-enterprises, cooperatives, clusters of enterprises, SMEs and mid-cap companies undertaking research, development and innovation projects in priority technologies area;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51
Paragraph 51
51. Reiterates with concern that a considerable number of outstanding issues remain unresolved in this area, notably the lack of transparency that is inherent to this type of lending (especially concerning information about the final beneficiaries), the difficulty in assessing the economic and social impact of the loans (resulting in a flawed targeted approach) and the reliance, via outsourcing of responsibilities, on third parties for carrying out the due diligence; urges the Bank to provide details on its approach to accelerate measures addressing these issues;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 76
Paragraph 76
76. Reiterates and accentuates the Bank’'s responsibility in enhancing the level of transparency in the selection of financial intermediaries and partners for co-financed projects and as regards the final beneficiaries; Reiterates with concern that there is still a lack of due diligence and transparency towards financial intermediaries. Therefore asks for a stringent list of criteria for selection of these financial intermediaries to be established by the EIB jointly with the Commission and be publicly available;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 76 a (new)
Paragraph 76 a (new)
76 a. Furthermore ask for a public exclusion list for financial intermediaries to be developed jointly with the EC, based on their track record in terms of transparency, fraud, links to offshore jurisdictions and social and environmental impacts;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 80
Paragraph 80
80. Welcomes the fact that the EIB has taken measures in the area of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, and has reinforced the resources of its compliance function through the appointment of a new Group Chief Compliance Officer; requests that Parliament be updated regularlyon a six month basis on the results presented in the Group Chief Compliance Officer’'s report; Calls for the EIB to revise its Non Cooperative Jurisdictions policy (tax heavens policy). The EIB must therefore ensure that all companies and financial institutions involved in its projects publicly disclose the beneficial ownership of any legal structure directly or indirectly related to the company, including trusts, foundations and bank accounts
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 80 a (new)
Paragraph 80 a (new)
80 a. Calls on the EIB to follow the Country by country reporting in order to combat financing of illegal activities. In order to be eligible for EIB financing, all beneficiaries, whether corporations or financial intermediaries, that are incorporated in different jurisdictions must be obliged to disclose country level information about their sales, assets, employees, profits and tax payments in each country in which they operate in their audited annual reports. Beneficiaries must make contracts with host governments public and in particular disclose the fiscal regime in each country in which they operate;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 82
Paragraph 82
82. Calls on the EIB to report on the state of play and status of previous recommendations issued by Parliament in each annual report;