18 Amendments of Paolo DE CASTRO related to 2015/0009(COD)
Amendment 29 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) The purpose of the EFSI should be to help resolve the difficulties in financing and implementing productive investments in the Union and to ensure increased access to financing. It is intended that increased access to financing should be of particular benefit to small and medium enterprises. It is also appropriate to extend the benefit of such increased access to financing to mid- cap companies, which are companies having up to 3000 employees. Overcoming Europe's current investment difficulties should contribute to strengthening the Union's economic, social and territorial cohesion, particularly in rural, remote and disadvantaged areas.
Amendment 35 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) The EFSI should support strategic investments with high economic value added contributing to achieving Union policy objectives. The CAP, being the only fully communitised field of policy, is of territorial application and is therefore very well suited to carry out projects which can complement those supported by the EFSI. Many of the existing instruments of the CAP make targeted investments successfully.
Amendment 41 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) The purpose of the EFSI should be to help resolve the difficulties in financing and implementing productive investments in the Union and to ensure increased access to financing. It is intended that increased access to financing should be of particular benefit to small and medium enterprises. It is also appropriate to extend the benefit of such increased access to financing to mid- cap companies, which are companies having up to 3000 employees. Overcoming Europe's current investment difficulties should contribute to strengthening the Union's economic, social and territorial cohesion and energy and resource efficiency by transitioning into a sustainable, digital and circular economy.
Amendment 43 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) Many small and medium enterprises, as well as mid-cap companies, across the Union require assistance to attract market financing, especially as regards investments that carry a greater degree of risk. This is particularly true of businesses in rural areas, where economic growth and the preservation of services and jobs are urgently needed in order to prevent rural depopulation. The EFSI should help these businesses to overcome capital shortages by allowing the EIB and the European Investment Fund ('EIF') to provide direct and indirect equity injections, as well as to provide guarantees for high-quality securitisation of loans, and other products that are granted in pursuit of the aims of the EFSI.
Amendment 49 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) The EFSI should support strategic investments with high economic value added contributing to achieving Union policy objectivesor operations between a Member State and a country falling within the scope of the European Neighbourhood Policy including the Strategic Partnership, the Enlargement Policy, and the European Economic Area or the European Free Trade Association, or investments implementing the EU Macro-regional strategies and operations between a Member State and an Overseas Country or Territory, as set out in Annex II of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The investment should guarantee high economic, social and environmental value added, promoting quality jobs, sustainable innovation, skills and high quality employment, integrating and completing the single market, boosting the competitiveness of the EU. These strategic projects should benefit from positive externalities created by public investment and European Structural and Investment Funds in order to achieve Union policy objectives, including economic convergence between Member States and social cohesion.
Amendment 53 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) The EFSI should target projects delivering high societal, sustainable and economic added value. In particular, the EFSI should target projects that promote job creation, long- term growth and competitiveness of quality and long-term jobs, long-term growth and competitiveness, especially infrastructure measures (transport and digital, especially fast broadband). The EFSI should support a wide range of financial products, including equity, debt or guarantees, to best accommodate the needs of the individual project. This wide range of products should allow the EFSI to adapt to market needs whilst encouraging private investment and involvement of rural communities in the projects. The EFSI should not be a substitute for private market finance but should instead catalyse private finance by addressing market failures, without adding to administrative burden or creating additional payment systems, which would undermine the efficiency of the EFSI objectives, so as to ensure the most effective and strategic use of public money. The requirement for consistency with State aid principles should contribute to such effective and strategic use.
Amendment 63 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) The EFSI should target projects with a higher risk-return profile than existing EIB and Union instruments to ensure additionality over existing operations. The EFSI should finance projects across the Union, including in the countries most affected by the financial crisis, as well as in the many disadvantaged areas of Europe which are rural and areas in border regions and extremely peripherial location particularly those suffering depopulation. The EFSI should only be used where financing is not available from other sources on reasonable terms.
Amendment 70 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) The EFSI should target projects delivering high societal, sustainable and economic added value. In particular, the EFSI should target projects that promote jobsustainable high quality employment creation, long- term sustainable growth and competitiveness, which will help achieve the EU's climate, energy and digital agenda goals. The EFSI should support a wide range of financial products, including equity, debt or guarantees, to best accommodate the needs of the individual project. This wide range of products should allow the EFSI to adapt to market needs whilst encouraging private investment in the projects. The EFSI should not be a substitute for private market finance but should instead catalyse private finance by addressing market failures so as to ensure the most effective and strategic use of public money. The requirement for consistency with State aid principles should contribute to such effective and strategic use.
Amendment 87 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 16
Recital 16
(16) The EFSI should target investments that are expected to be economically and technic, technically and environmentally viable, which may entail a degree of appropriate risk, whilst still meeting the particular requirements for EFSI financing.
Amendment 90 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
The purpose of the EFSI shall be to support investments in the Union and to ensure increased access to financing for companies having up to 3000 employees, with a particular focus on small and medium enterprises, through the supply of risk bearing capacity to the EIB, with particular priority being assigned to businesses and social-cooperative bodies in rural areas and in structurally weak and disadvantaged areas, as well as areas in extremely peripherial locations ('EFSI Agreement').
Amendment 112 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 2
Article 3 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 2
The Investment Committee shall be composed of sixeight independent experts and the Managing Director. Independent experts shall have a high level of relevant market experience in project finance and be appointed by the Steering Board for a renewable fixed term of three yeastructuring and project financing, as well as macroeconomic expertise. The Investment Committee shall have a pluridisciplinary composition encompassing a broad range of expertise in various sectors, such as agriculture, research, transport and SMEs. It shall be appointed by the Steering Board for a renewable fixed term of three years. When appointing the Committee, the Steering board shall take into account the gender balance of the members.
Amendment 118 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point a
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point a
(a) development of infrastructure, including local community related infrastructures, in the areas of transport, particularly in industrial centres; energy, in particular energy interconnections; and digital infrastructure with priority to rural areas lagging behind in fast broadband provisions;
Amendment 123 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point b
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point b
(b) investment in education and training, health, research and development, local community capacity building, information and communications technology and innovation;
Amendment 128 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point d
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point d
(d) infrastructure projects in the environmental, agricultural, natural resources, rural and urban development and social fields;
Amendment 193 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 2
Article 3 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 2
The Investment Committee shall be composed of sixeight independent experts and the Managing Director. Independent experts shall have a high level of relevant market experience in project finance and be appointed by the Steering Board for a renewable fixed term of three yeastructuring and project financing, as well as macroeconomic expertise. The Investment Committee shall have a pluridisciplinary composition encompassing a broad range of expertise in various sectors, such as environment, research and development, transport and SMEs. It shall be appointed by the Steering Board for a renewable fixed term of three years. When appointing the Committee, the Steering board shall take into account the gender balance of the members.
Amendment 203 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1
Article 4 – paragraph 1
The Union shall provide a guarantee to the EIB for financing or investment operations carried out within then irrevocable and unconditional guarantee for financing or investment operations carried out within the Union, or operations between a Member State and a country falling within the scope of the European Neighbourhood Policy including the Strategic Partnership, the Enlargement Policy, and the European Economic Area or the European Free Trade Association, or investments implementing the EU Macro-regional strategies and operations between a Member State and an Overseas Country or Territory, as set out in Annex II of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, covered by this Regulation ('EU guarantee'). The EU guarantee shall be granted as a guarantee on demand in respect of instruments referred to in Article 6.
Amendment 206 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – introductory part
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – introductory part
The EU guarantee shall be granted for EIB financing and investment operations, focused at fostering the transition towards a smart, sustainable and decarbonized economy and at speeding up the transition towards a digital economy, based on the smart use of new available technologies approved by the Investment Committee referred to in Article 3(5) or funding to the EIF in order to conduct EIB financing and investment operations in accordance with Article 7(2). The operations concerned shall be consistent with Union policies and support any of the following general objectives:
Amendment 228 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point c
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point c
(c) expansion of renewable energy and energy and resource efficiency, with a particular focus on projects investing on fostering the circular economy;