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14 Amendments of Maria da Graça CARVALHO related to 2022/2063(INI)

Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Is dismayed by the delays in the implementation of the blended finance actions under the Accelerator. Emphasises that the delays were completely and only the result of conflicts between different Directorates General of the European Commission about the management of the EIC Fund. Notes in this regard that the projects had been selected and that both the EIB and Investment Committee were ready to process the equity parts of the projects. Notes that conflicts only concerned the equity part of the project and should therefore not have affected the grant agreements. Deplores these internal Commission conflicts put at risk 96 European deep-tech companies. Welcomes that in late June 2022 the Commission seem to have been able to start moving forward with the implementation of these projects. Is dismayed that 51 beneficiaries selected following the October 2021 cut-off were informed in August 2022 that the Commission was not able sign their grant agreement in summer 2022 and that the Commission now hoped to sign in October 2022. Strongly condemns these intolerable delays leading to a time-to-grant of 12 months. Deeply concerned that, except for one exceptional Investment Decision, no decisions for actual investments have been taken by the EIC Fund. Notes that only in the summer of 2022 the Commisison started signing term sheets for beneficiaries selected in 2021 and that most will be signed after summer;1a _________________ 1a https://eic.ec.europa.eu/news/eic- accelerator-implementation-update-2022- 08-05_en
2022/09/09
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 a (new)
-1 a. Reminds that the EIC Fund is set up to support startups and SMEs developing deeptech innovations. Highlights that cash flows are crucial for startups and SMEs, and that long delays in receiving expected funding can bankrupt these kinds of companies. Emphasises therefore the importance of the EIC Fund being able to invest within market conform timeframes. Deplores the examples where the EIC Fund failed to achieve this objective and where the original investment decision of the EIC Fund was rendered irrelevant, due to the long time lag and the company’s development during that time;
2022/09/09
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 c (new)
-1 c. Recalls that EIC Blended Finance should be awarded through a single process and through a single decision covering both the grant and the financial instruments. Reminds that Commission should manage all operational elements of Accelerator projects;
2022/09/09
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11 b. Stresses the importance of a reliable time-to-grant promise. Highlights in this regard that for the evaluation of the 2021 Pathfinder Open call took more than 5 months, while Article 31 of Regulation (EU) 2021/695 requires that applicantsare informed within 5 months about the outcome of the evaluation process;
2022/09/09
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 d (new)
11 d. Regrets that the low success rates of the programme (6-10%) leads to too many highquality proposals not being funded. Highlights that low success rates represent a loss in terms of potentially deeply transformative innovations not being developed further as well as in lost time and money invested in preparation of proposals. In this regard calls for the use, where appropriate, of two-step applications to limit the loss of time and money invested in proposal preparation;
2022/09/09
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 e (new)
11 e. Emphasises the importance of an accessible and effective application procedure for a Programme that aims to attract the most ambitious innovators. Notes that the procedure can still be approved along the following lines: a. Both mono- and multi-beneficiary proposals should be facilitated in the application procedure - this requires a dedicated proposal template for both types of application. b. All information needed for a successful application should be available in a coherent manner. Currently, the information is spread across several documents which makes preparing the application unnecessarily cumbersome;
2022/09/09
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 q (new)
11 q. Points to the importance of the EIC Board as principle advisor to the European Commission regarding the implementation of the EIC as well as the development of broader innovation policy, particular with regards to improving the innovation ecosystem in Europe as well as identifying strategically relevant technologies. Stresses that the EIC Board should be fully and timely informed, both by the EISMEA and other Commission services involved, on all developments in the implementation of the EIC, as well as be presented with any and all information regarding the EIC it requests;
2022/09/09
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 r (new)
11 r. Emphasises that the Europe’s innovative capacity, economic growth and resilience is undermined because of the low participation of women in the startup and VC scene. Welcomes in this regard the efforts made by the EIC to promote woman leadership and participation in startups and VC. Regrets that this has not yet resulted in sufficient change. Points in this regard to the fact that of investments raised by European startups in 2021 only 1.8% was raised by all-women-founded startups and merely 9.3% was raised by mixed-gender founding teams1a _________________ 1a https://europeanwomeninvc.idcinteractive .net/
2022/09/09
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 s (new)
11 s. Is alarmed by the fact that the EIC Work Programme requires any project to comply with the Do No Significant Harm principle as enshrined in Regulation (EU) 2020/852, known as the EU Taxonomy. Highlights that the 2022 Work Programme refers to the principle both as an evaluation criterion for the EIC Accelerator and as an eligibility criterion for the EIC in general. Recalls that the scope of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 is limited to financial markets. Recalls that the Horizon Europe legislation in no way requires compliance with the DNSH principle. Concludes therefore that there is no legal base for this additional eligibility criterion;
2022/09/09
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 t (new)
11 t. Welcomes the efforts within the EIC to develop a suitable framework for the evaluation of the EIC’s performance. Highlights that the unique nature of the EIC requires a tailor-made approach to monitoring the performance as well as the use of the outcome of the monitoring in order to ensure the EIC is a top performer in the market;
2022/09/09
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12 a. Calls on the Commission to refrain from the use of the DNSH principle as additional eligibility criterion for EIC projects;
2022/09/09
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 c (new)
12 c. Calls on the Commission to instate a system of continuous and agile evaluation of the performance of the EIC and particularly the Accelerator;
2022/09/09
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 d (new)
12 d. Calls on the Commission to include a rigorous and continuous assessment of the evaluation procedure, taking into serious account complaints raised by applicants that can show clear inconsistencies in the evaluation of their proposal. Invites the Commission to inform the Parliament on how it handles individual complaints that demonstrate a clear failure by the evaluators;
2022/09/09
Committee: ITRE
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 e (new)
12 e. Calls on the relevant Union bodies, including the European Court of Auditors and the EIC Board, to develop a dedicated auditing strategy for the EIC which reflects the particular nature of the EIC;
2022/09/09
Committee: ITRE