Activities of Bas EICKHOUT related to 2020/2124(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Financial activities of the European Investment Bank - annual report 2020 - Control of the financial activities of the European Investment Bank - annual report 2019 (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the financial activities of the European Investment Bank – annual report 2020
Amendments (36)
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Expresses serious concerns about the severe macroeconomic imbalances deriving from the COVID-19 crisis and their related impact on sustainable economic growth, investment, resilience, employment rates and socio-economic inequalities;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Underlines the EIB’s crucial role in supporting the economic recovery in the short and medium term in conjunction with the European Green Deal, the European Climate Law, the Next Generation EU Recovery Instrument, the EU’s long-term budget, the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) and other European financial instruments; welcomes the EIB’s financial engagement in the EFSI as a way to help overcome the investment gap in the EU; welcomes, moreover, the EIB’s central role in supplying advisory support under the InvestEU Advisory Hub;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. CNotes that according to the Commission’s 2030 Climate Target Plan, annually in the period 2021-2030 the EU will need to invest € 350 billion more than it did in the period 2011-2020; stresses that an even larger role for the EIB is required to meet this climate investment gap; calls on the Board of Governors to seize the opportunity of favourable lending conditions for the EIB to increase issuance and maturity of bonds; calls on the shareholders of the EIB to agree on a capital increase, both cash-in and callable in nature; emphasises that a capital increase should go hand in hand with greater transparency and democratic accountability as well as more environmental sustainability;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Asks the EIB as the EU’s public bank to make the utmost concerted efforts to deliver strong, policy-driven financing activity which gives priority to public purpose projects promoting EU policy objectives, in particular those that would not otherwise be ‘bankable’, both within and outside the EU, with a view to addressing the unprecedented global challenges of the decades to come;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Emphasises the importance of the additionality factor to be provided by the EIB to investments across the EU; underlines the need to coordinate strategies with other European institutions and Multilateral and National Development Banks;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses the importance of avoiding further geographical imbalances in the EIB’s lending activity so as to ensure a broader geographical and sectoral allocation of investments, reduce regional disparities and enhance convergence and cohesion; welcomes the efforts already made by the EIB in this regard;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Welcomes the study “The EIB and the new EU missions framework”; calls on the EIB to further strengthen the EIB’s inhouse financial and analytical capacities to ensure long-lasting commitment and financing of missions, further promote ecosystem-building and coordination among national and regional mission-relevant actors and further develop higher risk-taking by developing suitable patient, long-term, higher risk financial instruments;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Urges the EIB to require companies supported by the European Guarantee Fund or other funding programmes put in place to tackle the COVID-19 crisis to comply with binding social and environmental conditions, including the adoption of decarbonisation plans, as to increase their resilience and capacity to withstand future crises, and to refrain to pay out dividends, bonuses and share buy backs for at least the next 2 years after benefiting from support;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Underlines that in the light of the successive waves of COVID-19 infections, these instruments will need to be further strengthened and extended; asks the EIB to stand ready to upscale existing instruments and launch new supportive financial initiatives;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Welcomes the adoption by the EIB Board of Directors of the EIB Climate Bank Roadmap for 2021-2025 and the inclusion of the shadow carbon pricing mechanism in particular, which provides a crucial framework to support the implementation of the European Green Deal and marks a decisive step towards making the EIB the EU Climate Bank, promoting sustainable investments and protecting the environment during the critical decade ahead;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Welcomes the proposal to increase EIB financing for climate action and environmental sustainability, including renewable energies, from around 30 % to at least 50 % by 2025, which would unlock investment of more than EUR 1 trillion over the next decade;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Notes, however, that the roadmap envisages the introduction of a transition period until the end of 2022, which would mean that the EIB will not be aligned with the objectives of the Paris Agreement until 2023 at the earliest; calls on the EIB to shorten the transition period allowing non-Paris aligned projects to be approved only until the end of 2021;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14 a. Expresses concern that the EIB has signed six gas projects in 2019 and 2020 with a total financing of 890 million euro, including projects which are not on the list of Projects of Common Interest; points to the risk of a lock-in of assets incompatible with the EU’s objective of climate-neutrality by 2050 at the latest; calls on the EIB to refrain from approving any further gas projects in the transition period of the energy lending policy;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14 b. Calls on the EIB to use the opportunity of the review of its Energy Lending Policy in 2022 to close existing loopholes for financing economic activities which are not aligned with the 2050 climate neutrality target and to align the policy with the EU Taxonomy for sustainable activities, without prejudice to the possibility of applying more stringent criteria to ensure high standards of environmental and social sustainability in all its lending operations;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Recalls that the review of the EIB’s transport lending policy is a key priority; stresses the importance of aligning the EIB’s transport portfoliocalls on the EIB to fully align its transport portfolio and transport lending policy with the Paris Agreement as soon as possible;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15 a. Calls on the EIB to increase support for modal shifts towards low- carbon transportation, such as cycling and public transport, in particular for underserved communities and localities;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15 b. Calls on the EIB to exclude in its transport lending policy financing which hinders the decarbonisation of the transport sector, in particular the expansion of airports and infrastructure for Liquefied Natural Gas;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 c (new)
Paragraph 15 c (new)
15 c. Welcomes the EIB’s development of a Biodiversity Risk Assessment (BRA) system and calls on the EIB to devote sufficient resources to ensure thorough application of this assessment for all operations;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 d (new)
Paragraph 15 d (new)
15 d. Expresses its concern about the shortcomings in the environmental impact assessment of EIB-financed hydropower plants; calls on the EIB to ensure that its biodiversity policy is strictly applied both to hydropower operations inside and outside the EU and fully in line with the EU’s biodiversity Strategy for 2030; calls on the EIB to ensure that when assessing environmental impact, cumulative impact with other projects are fully taken into account; calls on the EIB to ensure that financial intermediaries are also not allowed to finance projects in Natura 2000 sites or critical habitats and to ensure that hydropower projects financed by financial intermediaries are required to be referred as high-risk projects to the EIB;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Highlights the crucial role of the EIB in meeting the goals of the Just Transition Mechanism and asks for more commitment and concrete action in this respect, namely through structural programme loans, InvestEU and as a financing partner for the public sector loan facility; calls on the EIB to only support sustainable projects that fully comply with the do-no harm principle and provide real additionality; underlines in particular the importance to prioritise projects that support less developed regions and which generate a positive impact on reducing gender inequality, with a view of achieving a successful just and inclusive transition that leaves none behind; invites the EIB to use its role as financing partner for the public sector loan facility as an opportunity to strengthen its capacity to finance smaller projects and community-led initiatives and to build partnerships with municipalities and other public entities;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Welcomes the commitment by the EIB in the Climate Bank Roadmap to focus support on sustainable rearing and dairy industries, and in particular to address animal welfare; suggests that the EIB should refrain from investments that facilitate incentives to industrial farming expanding livestock production and which lead directly or indirectly to deforestation and land degradation; calls on the EIB to explicitly exclude the funding of practices such as battery caging and high population densities, tail-docking and routine castration of pigs, and fur farming;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Considers that investment in innovation, infrastructure and skills are crucial elements to recover from the economic and social crisis, ensure sustainable growth and create high-quality jobs and long-term competitiveness; highlights in this regard the need to upscale lending to female led SMEs to promote a more gender equal recovery;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24 a. Calls on the EIB to ensure additionality and the development impact of its operations outside the Union by increasing its engagement in LDCs, enhancing the transparency of operations carried out by financial intermediaries notably thanks to the disclosure of the name of the final beneficiary, the amount received, the type of project and related environmental information, cooperating with EU delegations, and increasing its presence on the ground with additional staff focusing on development issues;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 b (new)
Paragraph 24 b (new)
24 b. As all EIB shareholders are part of the G20 commitment to suspend the debt of 77 countries following the debt crisis linked to the COVID-19 outbreak, calls on the EIB to apply a suspension to its pending loans, to carefully assess the debt impact of its future operations, and to express public support to the creation of a multilateral debt workout mechanism to address both the impact of the current crisis and the financing requirements of the Agenda 2030;
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)
Paragraph 26 a (new)
26 a. Reiterates its call to allow the European Court of Auditors full rights to audit EIB’s operations and access all relevant documents to perform its audit, including information on rejected loan applications and the underlying rationale for approval or rejection;
Amendment 200 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Welcomes the EIB’s launch of a public consultation on the review of its transparency policy in December 2020; recalls its request for the EIB to step up its transparency policy in line with the best practices and standards employed by other financial institutionnotes however that the current proposal falls short to meet the demands made by the European Parliament and civil society organisations to step up its transparency policy in line with the best practices and standards employed by other financial institutions and to ensure the timely publication of more ample information on all its financing activities; calls on the EIB to increase proactive transparency by making non-confidential documents publicly available in a user friendly database in a timely manner; reiterates its call to operate on the basis of the ‘presumption of disclosure’ rather than the ‘presumption of confidentiality’; calls for the timely publication of the full agendas and minutes of meetings of the Management Committee and Board of Directors’; underlines that the future Transparency Policy should reinforce the transparency requirements for all its operations and require project promoters to make Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and related documents publicly available, by including stringent transparency obligations in the specific contractual clauses signed with all EIB clients; asks the EIB to publish more regular, in-depth and comprehensive information on the financial intermediaries responsible for leveraging EIB funds and to include contractual clauses concerning mandatory disclosures from these institutions on lending activity;
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27 a. Reiterates its call for the disclosure of the opinions issued by the Commission within the framework of the procedure in accordance with Article 19 of the EIB Statute on the EIB financing operations for the purpose to assess their compliance with the relevant EU legislation and EU policies; calls on the Commission and EIB to reach an agreement to ensure full transparency on such opinions and their underlying rationale;
Amendment 207 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 b (new)
Paragraph 27 b (new)
27 b. Takes note of the ongoing revision of the EIB Anti-Fraud Policy; urges the EIB to address the existing weaknesses in its due diligence and internal control mechanisms and to strengthen its policy against fraud and corruption, in line with reiterated EP demands; calls for the suspension of funding where local authorities have notified possible violations of the relevant legislation, at least until investigations and judicial processes at national level are concluded; expects the inclusion of human rights due diligence obligation for all projects in order to prevent any abuse, unfair expropriation or violence against local populations, and demands from the Bank to take immediate and firm action once it is informed of the involvement of a client or beneficial owner in a human rights and environment defenders reprisal, and withdraw funding when such involvement is proven; recalls that the Commission asked the EIB to share more information on the effective application of contractual clauses enabling the EIB to halt or withdraw funding1a and expects that the Parliament will have full access to this information; expects the EIB to conduct thorough monitoring that fully takes into account concerns expressed by concerned parties and stakeholders, in particular those pertaining to human rights violations; demands that the Bank take immediate and firm action once it is informed of the involvement of a client or beneficial owner in a human rights or environmental defenders reprisal; _________________ 1a Executive summary of the evaluation of Decision No 466/2014/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 granting an EU guarantee to the European Investment Bank against losses under financing operations supporting investment projects outside the Union {SWD(2019) 333 final} 13 September 2019
Amendment 211 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 c (new)
Paragraph 27 c (new)
27 c. Calls on the EIB to follow up on its calls to cease working with financial intermediaries with a negative track record as regards transparency, fraud, corruption, organised crime or money laundering or respect for human rights and to make disbursement of direct and indirect loans conditional on the disclosure of information on beneficial ownership by the beneficiaries and financial intermediaries involved in financing operations and on the publication of country-by-country tax and accountancy data; calls for the EIB to publish ‘Know Your Customer’ checks before approving any project.
Amendment 212 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 d (new)
Paragraph 27 d (new)
27 d. Expresses its concern that the eight EIB Vice-Presidents in addition to sectoral responsibilities, oversee project proposals from their home countries, alongside other country responsibilities; regrets the failure of the EIB to act on Parliament’s request to include in the Code of Conduct of the Management Committee a provision excluding the possibility of their Members overseeing lending or the implementation of projects in their home countries; expresses its concern that a former Member of the Management Committee joined, during the cooling-off period, the Management Board of Iberdrola, one of the largest EIB clients, raising serious concerns about a possible conflict of interests and calls the EIB to provide clarification on this case;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 e (new)
Paragraph 27 e (new)
27 e. Calls on the EIB to ensure that the environmental and social assessments related to the due-diligence process are disclosed in a timeframe in line with international best practices and are made readily accessible to potential beneficiaries, affected groups and local civil society organisations;
Amendment 216 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 f (new)
Paragraph 27 f (new)
27 f. Takes note of the judgment by the General Court in Case T-9/19 which annuls the EIB decision that declared inadmissible the request for review of the resolution of the EIB’s Board of Directors; calls on the EIB to take this judgement into account in the review of its transparency policy;
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 g (new)
Paragraph 27 g (new)
27 g. Expects the EIB to comply with Article 191 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union by applying the precautionary principle, and to put on hold disbursement, and, if necessary, to withdraw funding, if there is evidence or a serious risk of adverse impacts on climate, and/or environment, and/or local communities; expects the EIB to conduct Human Rights Impact Assessments at project level, as well as to continuously monitor the implementation of projects on the ground; calls in this regard the Bank to engage actively with local communities, and to inform them accordingly of their rights, with a special focus to implement a free, prior and informed consent, including their access to a Complaints Mechanism;
Amendment 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Welcomes the progress achieved with the implementation of the EIB’s Group Strategy on Gender Equality and Gender Action Plan and calls on the EIB to further develop its strategy and internal capacity to mainstream gender equality in its lending policy in view of the upcoming Gender Action Plan II 2021-2024; urges the EIB to collect gender-disaggregated data and develop tools and methodologies to conduct gender analysis and gender impact assessment for EIB projects and operations both inside and outside the European Union, and to consult with independent experts to this end; regrets the fact that women are still not sufficiently represented in managerial and senior office positions; believes that more needs to be done in this regard during the implementation of the second phase of the Action Plan in 2021;
Amendment 226 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Welcomes the fact that the EIB will review its environmental and social standards and calls for a wide and inclusive public consultation on these issues; expects invites the EIB to take account ofapply the do-no harm principle inthroughout all its operations; calls on the EIB to take this opportunity to strengthen its human rights policy; expects all projects to include more comprehensive gender and human rights dimensions in due diligence obligations;
Amendment 235 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Welcomes the fact that the EIB is currently working to develop counterparty alignment guidelines; calls on the EIB to develop an ambitious Action Plan for a “counterparts alignment framework” which should include requirements for all financial intermediaries and corporate clients to have in place a credible decarbonisation plan aligned with the Paris Agreement using science-based emission targets by the end of 2021;