17 Amendments of Bas EICKHOUT related to 2018/0178(COD)
Amendment 202 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 23
Recital 23
(23) Some economic activities have a negative impact on the environment, and a substantial contribution to one or more environmental objectives can be achieved by reducing that negative impact. For those economic activities, it is appropriate to set out technical screening criteria that require a substantial improvement in environmental performance compared to, inter alia, the industry average. Those criteria should consider also the long term impact of a specific economic activity in order to consider whether that the activity may deliver a substantial contribution to one or more environmental objectives. Those criteria should consider also the long term impact of a specific economic activity and should ensure that economic activities contributing to carbon intensive lock-in effects are not considered sustainable economic activities.
Amendment 220 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 27
Recital 27
(27) To avoid distorting competition when raising financing for environmentally sustainable economic activities, the technical screening criteria should ensure that all relevant economic activities within a specific sector can qualify as environmentally sustainable and are treated equally if, in the way these activities are carried out, they contribute equally towards one or more of the environmental objectives laid out in this Regulation. The potential capacity to contribute towards those environmental objectives may however vary across sectors, which should be reflected in the criteria. However, within each sector, those criteria should not unfairly disadvantage certain economic activities over others if the former contribute towards the environmental objectives to the same extent as the latter.
Amendment 293 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) ‘financial market participants’ mean financials any of the following: (i) an insurance undertaking which market participants as defined in Article 2 (a) of [Commission proposal for a Regulation on disclosures relating to sustainable investments and sustainabilits available an IBIP, an AIFM, an investment firm which provides portfolio management, an IORP or a provider of a pension product; (ii) a manager of a qualifying venture capital fund registered in accordance with Article 14 of Regulation (EU) No 345/2013; (iii) a manager of a qualifying social entrepreneurship fund registered in accordance with Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 346/2013; (iv) a UCITS management company; (v) any risks and amending Directivesuers of issuances under the Prospectus Directive 2003/71/EC and the Prospectus Regulation (EU) 2016/2341];7/1129 not covered by points (i) to (iv)
Amendment 294 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
(b a) ‘insurance undertaking’ means an insurance undertaking authorised in accordance with Article 18 of Directive 2009/138/EC or as defined in Article 13(1) of Directive 2009/138/EC, when providing an insurance coverage to an undertaking;
Amendment 296 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point b b (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point b b (new)
(b b) ‘IBIP’ means either of the following: (i) an insurance-based investment product as defined in Article 4(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014 the European Parliament and of the Council; (ii) an insurance product, made available to a professional investor, which offers a maturity or surrender value and where that maturity or surrender value is wholly or partially exposed, directly or indirectly, to market fluctuations;
Amendment 297 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point b c (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point b c (new)
(b c) ‘AIFM’ means an AIFM as defined in Article 4(1)(b) of Directive 2011/61/EU;
Amendment 339 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 b (new)
Article 3 b (new)
Article 3 b Criteria for economic activities with a significant negative environmental impact For the purposes of establishing the degree of environmental sustainability of an investment, an economic activity shall be considered an economic activities with a significant negative environmental impact if it significantly harms any of the environmental objectives set out in Article 5 in accordance with Article 12.
Amendment 364 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 4 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Financial market participants shall use the service of a third party authorised under Article 4a to check compliance with the requirements of paragraph 2.Credit institutions shall use the service of a third party authorised under Article 4a to check compliance with the requirements of paragraph 2a. Notwithstanding the first subparagraph, the use of such a service shall not, under any circumstances, affect the liability of the financial market participant in respect of their legal obligations under this Regulation. The disclosure requirement pursuant to Article 4(2) and 4(2a) shall include a statement that compliance with the requirements of these paragraphs was confirmed by that authorised third party. The notification shall include the name of the authorised third party and its place of establishment.
Amendment 384 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 a (new)
Article 4 a (new)
Article 4 a Third party verifying environmentally sustainable investments A third party referred to in Article 4(2b) shall be authorised by ESMA to assess the compliance of financial products with the criteria provided for in Article 3 and 3a if the following conditions are met: (a) the third party is a legal person established in the established in the Union. (b) the third party only charges non- discriminatory and cost-based fees to financial market participants of which the third party assesses the financial products, without differentiating fees depending on, or correlated to, the results of its assessment. The prices and fees associated with these assessment services shall be publicly disclosed, for each service provided separately, including discounts and rebates and the conditions to benefit from those reductions. The third party shall allow potential clients and clients to access specific services separately; (c) the performance of the third party’s other activities does not compromise the independence or integrity of its assessment; (d) the third party demonstrates sufficient financial health funded by equity in order to continue providing services as a going concern without risk that the independence or integrity of its assessment may be compromised; (e) the third party, or any related entity as referred to in paragraph 9(b) of International Accounting Standard 24 (‘related party disclosures’) in the Annex to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1126/2008, shall not provide any form of advisory, audit or equivalent service to the financial market participant involvedthe development, marketing, distribution, or sale of the relevant financial product; (f) the third party adheres to a recognised corporate governance code of conduct or to sound corporate governance principles; (g) the members of the management body, as defined in point 36 of Article 4(1) of MiFiDII, of the third party have professional qualifications, education, knowledge and experience that are adequate for the task of the third party, are they are of good repute and integrity; (h) the management body of the third party includes at least one third, but no fewer than two, independent members; (i) the third party takes all necessary steps to ensure that the verification of compliance with the criteria of Article 3 and 3a is not affected by any existing or potential conflicts of interest or business relationship involving the third party; its parent, ultimate parent, or any other related entity; its shareholders or members; managers; employees or any other natural person whose services are placed at the disposal or under the control of the third party. To that end, the third party shall establish, maintain, enforce and document an effective internal control system governing the implementation of policies and procedures to identify and prevent potential conflicts of interest. Potential or existing conflicts of interest which have been identified shall be eliminated or mitigated and disclosed without delay. The third party shall establish, maintain, enforce and document adequate procedures and processes to ensure the independence of the assessment of criteria referred to in Articles 3 and 3a. The third party shall periodically monitor and review those policies and procedures inorder to evaluate their effectiveness and assess whether it is necessary to update them; and (j) the third party can demonstrate that it has adequate methodologies, operational safeguards and internal processes that enable it to assess compliance with the criteria referred to in Articles 3 and 3a. 2. An authorised third party shall comply at all times with the conditions for authorisation set out in paragraph 1. A third party authorised in accordance with paragraph 1 shall notify ESMA without delay of any material changes to the information provided under that paragraph, or any other changes that could reasonably be considered to affect the assessment of the ESMA. 3. ESMA shall charge fees to the third party referred to in paragraph 1, in order to cover necessary expenditure relating to the assessment of applications for authorisation and to the subsequent monitoring of compliance with the conditions for authorisation set out in paragraph 1. 4. The authorisation of a third party according to this Article shall be effective for the entire territory of the Union. 5. ESMA shall withdraw the authorisation where: a. The third party expressly renounces the authorisation; b. The third party obtained the authorisation by making false statements or by any other irregular means, or; c. ESMA considers the third party no longer meets the conditions set out in paragraph 1. 6. ESMA shall develop draft regulatory technical standards specifying the information to be provided in the application for the authorisation of a third party in accordance with paragraph 1. ESMA shall submit those draft regulatory technical standards to the Commission by [within 12 months of the date of entry into force of the Regulation]. 7. The Commission shall adopt a regulation on fees. That Regulation shall determine in particular the type of fees and the matters for which fees are due, the amount of fees and the way in which they are to be paid. The amount of a fee charged to a third party shall cover all administrative costs and be proportionate to the turnover of the third party. 8. The Commission is empowered to supplement this Regulation by adopting the regulatory technical standards referred to in this paragraph in accordance with Articles 10 to 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010.
Amendment 463 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – point d
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – point d
(d) reducing the content of hazardous substances and substituting Substances of Very High Concern in materials and products;
Amendment 517 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 – paragraph 1
Article 13 – paragraph 1
The minimum safeguards referred to in Article 3(c) shall be procedures implemented by the undertaking that is carrying out an economic activity to ensure that the following are observed: a. principles and rights set out in the eight fundamental conventions identified in the International Labour Organisation’s declaration on Fundamental Rights and Principles at Work, namely: the right not to be subjected to forced labour, the freedom of association, workers' right to organise, the right to collective bargaining, equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value, non- discrimination in opportunity and treatment with respect to employment and occupation, as well as the right not to be subjected to child labour, are observed. b. The International Bill of Human Rights c. The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights d. The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights e. The OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises 2. The minimum safeguards shall be implemented by the undertaking that is carrying out an economic activity by due diligence procedures consistent with the relevant international standards and with the following principles: (a) Take into account the nature and scale of the undertaking's operations, supply chains and business relationships. (b) Assess and address the negative human rights impacts of the economic activity itself, as well as of the products and services used by and produced by that economic activity, notably by considering their production, use and where relevant, end-of-life. (c) Be risk-based, meaning that the level of due diligence applied should be commensurate to the severity and likelihood of the negative impacts. The focus should be on preventing negative impacts first, and when prevention is not possible, then mitigating, preventing recurrence and, where relevant, remediating impacts. (d) Be supported by relevant policies and management systems to reinforce a systematic, proactive and reactive approach to on-going identification and management of human rights impacts. (e) Be informed by engagement with stakeholders, which includes workers and other potentially impacted individuals or groups. (f) Provide relevant information to investors and other stakeholders to enable them to assess compliance with the minimum safeguards. 4. The Commission, shall be empowered to supplement this article by a delegated act specifying the criteria to determine whether the requirements this article are adhered to. The Commission shall adopt this delegated act by 31 December 2019.
Amendment 554 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 2
Article 14 – paragraph 2
2. The technical screening criteria referred to in paragraph 1 shall also include criteria based on indicators for activities related to the clean energy transition towards net-zero GHG emissions, in particular energy efficiency and renewable energy, to the extent that those are substantially contributing to any of the environmental objectives. The technical screening criteria shall ensure that power generation activities that, on average, emit more than 100gCO2/kWh or produce non-renewable waste are not considered sustainable economic activities. The technical screening criteria shall ensure that economic activities contributing to carbon intensive lock-in effects are not considered sustainable economic activities even if these activities have an environmental performance which is substantially better than the industry average.
Amendment 555 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 14 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. The screening criteria referred to in paragraph 1 a (new) of Article 12 shall ensure that power generation activities that, on average, emit more than 350gCO2/kWh or produce non-renewable waste are considered economic activities with a significant negative environmental impact. The technical screening criteria shall ensure that economic activities contributing to carbon intensive lock-in effects are considered economic activities with a significant negative economic impact even if these activities have an environmental performance which is substantially better than the industry average.
Amendment 559 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. The Commission shall establish a Platform on sustainable finance composed ofthe composition of which shall take into account the need to ensure balance and a multidisciplinary approach, including experts in the field of socially sustainable investment and human rights, ensure gender equality and reflect a wide range of knowledge and views. The Platform on sustainable finance shall be composed of representatives of the four following groups:
Amendment 580 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
(b a) experts representing civil society, including trade unions
Amendment 584 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Experts refered to in points (b), (b a) and (c) of paragraph 1 shall be appointed in accordance with Article 237 of the Financial Regulation.
Amendment 585 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
(c a) Each of the four groups under paragraph 1 shall be represented in roughly equal measure. No group shall provide more than one third of the members of the Platform.