BETA

Activities of Ivailo KALFIN related to 2013/2131(INI)

Shadow reports (1)

2016/11/22
Committee: CONT
Dossiers: 2013/2131(INI)
Documents: PDF(237 KB) DOC(128 KB)

Amendments (41)

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas the EIB was set up by the Treaty of Rome with the dual role of being the bank of the European Union as well as a policy-driven bank, with the aim of helping to realise the Union’'s priorities by selecting economically v~~alu~~iable projects for investment by the EU;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Recital M

M. whereas the EIB’s operations outside the EU are undertaken in support of the Union’s external action policies and should be in line with, and promote, EU objectives according to Art. 208 and Art. 209 TFEU;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Recalls that for projects in the EU, prospects are particularly interesting for a number of priority thematic areas under the ‘Europe 2020’ strategy: innovation and skills, including low carbon infrastructure, investment in SMEs, cohesion and resource and energy efficiency (including the shift to low-carbon economy) ’packages’; notes that these focal areas have been duly identified in the EIB Groups’ Operational Plan for 2013- 2015, and welcomes the allotment of an additional EUR 60 billion in lending capacity in order to finance their implementation;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
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 a~~n in- depth~~ comprehensive evaluation providing ~~viable~~estimates 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;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Calls on the EIB to continue to support the EU’s long-term priorities for economic and social cohesion, growth and employment, environmental sustainability and climate action and resource efficiency, through further development of new financial and non- financial instruments designed to address both short-term market inefficiencies and the more long-term structural gaps of the EU economy;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Asks the EIB to ~~focus~~prioritise its financing on projects with ~~proven~~ high economic rates of return, which ensure that individual investment projects contribute strongly to economic growth;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Is particularly concerned that finance in Programme Countries 1 remained low in the course of 2012, representing roughly +/- 5 % of overall EIB investment; notes that the EIB’'s targets of investment in Programme Countries for 2013 represent up to EUR 5 billion, out of an overall EU target of EUR 62 billion; __________________ 1 Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Cyprus

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Is concerned that the EIB has maintained a somewhat risk-averse policy in its lending, thus limiting the scope of potential borrowers to meet EIB’s lending requirements and, subsequently, hindering the value-added of loans;deleted

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
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;~~deleted

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Acknowledges that it is fundamental for the EIB to maintain its triple A rating in order to preserve its financial strength and capacity to inject money in the real economy; urges, however, the EIB to ~~test the limits of the triple A rating, and to~~gether with the EIF to consider increaseing its engagement in more risk- related activities, in order to safeguard a reasonable cost-benefit perspective;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Notes the increase in the EIB’'s higher- risk special activity targets to EUR 6 billion in 2013 as well as the increase in funding for risk-sharing and credit enhancement initiatives to EUR 2.3 billion; Welcomes the recent launch of the Growth Financing Initiative (GFI) easing access to finance of innovative mid-cap companies.

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19

19. Calls on the Member States, where appropriate, to work with the Commission in using part of their Structural Fund allocations in order to share the EIB loan risk and provide loan guarantees for knowledge and skills, resource and energy efficiency, strategic infrastructure and access to finance for SMEs;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21

21. Calls on the EIB, in light of the different economic and financial conditions that prevail within the EU, to develop, in close cooperation with the Member States, result-driven investment ~~strategie~~plans that are properly adjusted to national, regional and local growth priorities, taking into due account the horizontal priorities of the Commission’s Annual Growth Survey and the European Semester for economic governance;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25

25. Believes, moreover, that the EIB advisory capacity, based on the expertise gathered in the European PPP Expertise Centre (EPEC), could be used to provide targeted technical and specialised assistance at government level in order to facilitate proper assessments regarding the benefits of involving a SG in a PPP programme;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
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;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 a (new)

34 a. In line with Union and international climate change objectives and the best international standards, before the end of 2015, the EIB, in cooperation with the Commission, shall update its climate change strategy as regards EIB financing operations; This update should inter alia integrate concrete actions to ensure that investment projects are in line with EU´s climate objectives and step up efforts to support renewable energy sources and energy efficiency;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36

36. Welcomes the particular focus (in the context of increasing the lending activity in the EU) on helping to improve access to finance for SMEs, and welcomes, subsequently, the EIB Group’s target for 2013 of more than EUR 2019 billion in SME lending to be signed within the EU;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37

37. Welcomes the enhanced bank lending to SME’'s through the revitalisation of the SME securitisation market by means of the EIB Group’'s new ABS initiative; invites the EIB to provide for a market analysis with a view of better calibrating this EIB offer to stakeholders needs; welcomes the enhancement of credit capacity of the EIF through capital increase and mandate, and invites the EIB and the Commission to finalise the process by early next year;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38

38. Supports the initiatives of the EIB Group on innovative financings for SMEs and mid-cap companies through the launching of Horizon 2020 and COSME financial instruments equity funds and the Risk Sharing Instruments (RSI) in order to encourage banks to provide financial resources by means of loans and guarantees, and to ensure the provision of long-term risk capitals;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39

39. Supports the Commission-EIB joint SME Finance Initiative under the new MFF, blending EU funds available under the COSME and Horizon 2020 programmes, with up to EUR 8.5 billion of resources dedicated to the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), in view of generating additional lending to SMEs;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41

41. Encourages the EIB to ~~increase the funds dedicated to~~expand the Trade Finance Initiative; considers that this guarantee mechanism for SMEs is of key importance and should be widened at EU scale, wherever it is deemed most needed;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42

42. ~~Agrees on the EIB’s focus~~Stresses the importance onf the regional and local dimension, ~~made possible through dedicated equity fund~~and calls MS to make use of financial engineering shared management instruments such as the JEREMIE programme and through regional fund-to-fund schemes providing equity and debt finance to local SMEs;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44

44. Notes that the evaluation shows EIB- SME intermediate lending (via the L4SME product) to be consistent with EU objectives; calls, nonetheless, for a better assessment of complementarity between the EIB product and the national policy mixes, in order to improve further the operations’' relevance; asks the EIB to ~~bring forward proposals for enhancing the effect of the L4SME product so that it can be mobilised~~continue developing its product offering to fill specific gaps, ~~instead of~~besides funding a broad spectrum of SMEs through the L4SME, thereby optimising EIB’'s contribution to growth and employment;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45

45. Notes with concern that ~~during~~ the period under review the EIB loans had ‘'some’' impact on growth and employment, but with great variations across countries (only 1/3 of SMEs attributed the growth of turnover to the EIB funding); is concerned that there is only limited evidence that the EIB loans helped maintain employment; notes, however, that the relative impact on growth and employment was found to be higher in the new Member States; acknowledges however that the period under review included the financial and economic crisis and the relatively modest new job creation was achieved despite a background of falling employment levels;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46

46. Is concerned that EIB funding, for a majority of operations, seems to have been used in support of SME ‘'champions’', not as ’'gap funding’'; notes however that more than 80% of the SMEs reached were companies with less than 50 employees, which proves that the EIB reaches out to the smaller segment of the SME universe;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47

47. Demands that the ~~EIB make full use of the eligibility criteria~~financial intermediaries make full use of the lending possibilities given by EIB SME loans in order to influence the targeting of financial beneficiaries in a more effective way;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48

48. Invites the EIB to identify and select higher-value-added and higher-risk projects, notably by identifying start-ups, micro-enterprises, clusters of enterprises, SMEs and mid-cap companies undertaking research, development and innovation projects in priority technologies area;deleted

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51

51. Reiterates with concern that a considerable number of outstanding issues remain unresolved in this area, notably the ~~lack of transparency~~insufficient detailed information 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 p~~financial intermediarties for carrying out the due diligence; urges the Bank to provide details on its approach to accelerate measures addressing these issues;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52

52. Urges the EIB to make an up-to-date and comprehensive evaluation of how the financial crisis has affected the final recipients of EIB funding, and to provide a thorough assessment of the effects and impact of the financial crisis on the current status of financial intermediaries used by the Bank, both within and outside of the EU;deleted

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53

53. Demands that the EIB ~~ensure that its goal of~~strives to generat~~ing~~e employment ~~for around a half a million people,~~ through lending to infrastructure, resource and energy efficiency and knowledge economy projects in 2013 alone~~, is accomplished~~;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 55

55. Believes the EIB’s Youth Employment programme (with a lending volume of EUR 6 billion), comprising the Jobs for Youth and Investing in Skills components, to be of utmost importance in addressing these issues; welcomes the interim implementation report showing important achievements in this sector, such as the EUR 4.9 billion provided in loans through the Investing in Skills sub-programme, complemented by the EUR 2.7 billion provided under the Jobs for Youth pillar; acknowledges the early accomplishment of its objectives;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 59

59. Supports ~~the increase of the EU Guarantee Fund, provided to the EIB by the EU budget, to EUR 30 billion (with EUR 27 billion as a celling and an additional optional EUR 3 billion)~~an External Lending Mandate of a similar size as the current one for the next financial period by using reflows deriving from Mediterranean risk capital and loan investments under past EIB MEDA mandates;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 62

62. Asks the EIB to make additional flexible use of the Guarantee Fund, ~~and to focus more on~~complemented by own-risk lending, by extending its area of reach for bankable projects; insists that the EIB ensure a high level of visibility to the final beneficiaries of the projects of the European financial support it provides;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 63

63. Notes that the pre-accession countries and the eastern and southern neighbourhood are at the top of the EIB’s priority areas; emphasises, in particular, the need to maintain support to democratic and economic transitions following the Arab Spring, with specific focus on support for civil society’s components, job creation and economic recovery in the Southern countries as well as Eastern Partner countries; notes with satisfaction the focus on SMEs and access to finance;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 64

64. Supports, in the context of the EU’s external policies, the progressive development of new financial products with the Commission and the Member States, such as products blending EU grants, loans and risk sharing instruments in order to reach new categories of firms; demands that best practices and well- defined eligibility criteria be defined for the use of those instruments, accompanied by structured reporting, monitoring and control conditions; calls on the finalization of allocation policy;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 65

65. Expects, therefore, the governance report on the implementation of the platform for cooperation with international financial instruments on blending to ensure an adequate role for the EIB and include detailed and consistent information in this regard, and calls on the Commission to provide a full-fledged report on the impact and results of the implementation of financial facilities in the context of the platform for cooperation on blending;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 66

66. Welcomes the EIB’s support for projects, across several energy sectors, targeting growth and jobs; recalls the need to maintain consistency with the new developments in the EU’s energy and climate policies; encourages the EIB, in the context of its renewed energy policy, to continue to support, both within and outside of the EU, projects dedicated to energy efficiency and sustainable renewable energies, and thereby pave the way towards a low carbon economy;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 72

72. Calls on the EIB and other associated partners and stakeholders to further improve their governance mechanisms through, inter alia, the development of ~~exhaustive and~~ sound monitoring, reporting and control systems that will ensure higher transparency for, and give better insight into, the results of the projects to be financed through each innovative financial instruments implemented within the 2014-2020 Financial Framework;

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 75

75. Demands that the next annual report be complemented with a set of cross- cutting performance indicators on the impact of the financing operations for the main domains of EIB interventions, the expected multiplier effect when appropriate and the transfer of financial advantages in the programmes funded;deleted

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 77

77. Considers it to be fundamental that the EIB maintains its triple A rating as it enabled it to borrow EUR 71 billion on the international capital markets in 2012; considers that while maintaining the triple A rating is an essential ‘asset’ when it comes to preserving the EIB’s financial strength and capacity to inject money in the real economy, this should not lead to the financing of certain projects being waived or replaced; encourages the EIB also to research higher-value-added projects with higher risk;deleted

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 78

78. Recalls and stresses, as in previous years, the necessity for prudential banking supervision of the EIB to be carried out by European Central Bank, in the framework of the future Banking Union; invites, once more, the Commission to make a proposal in this regard;deleted

2014/01/10
Committee: CONT