Activites

• 2008/11/12 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Decision 2008/847
  • OJ L 301 12.11.2008, p. 0013
• #2901
• 2008/11/04 Council Meeting
• 2008/11/04 End of procedure in Parliament
• 2008/11/04 Act adopted by Council after consultation of Parliament
• 2008/09/04 Results of vote in Parliament
  • Results of vote in Parliament
  • T6-0403/2008 summary

    The European Parliament adopted by 614 votes to 3, with 8 abstentions, a legislative resolution amending the proposal for a Council decision on the eligibility of Central Asian countries under Council Decision 2006/1016/EC granting a Community guarantee to the European Investment Bank against losses under loans and loan guarantees for projects outside the Community. The report had been tabled for consideration in plenary by Esko SEPPANEN (GUE/NGL, FI) on behalf of the Committee on Budgets.The main amendments - adopted under the consultation procedure - were as follows:the guarantee agreement between the Commission and the EIB, as foreseen in Article 8 of Council Decision 2006/1016/EC, shall lay down the detailed provisions and procedures relating to the Community guarantee and shall contain conditions with clear benchmarks regarding respect for human rights;on the basis of the information received from the EIB, the Commission shall produce an assessment and a report, on an annual basis, to be forwarded to the European Parliament and the Council, on the EIB financing operations carried out under this Decision. The report should include an assessment of the contribution of the EIB financing operations to the achievement of the external policy objectives of the EU and especially the contribution to the general objective of developing and consolidating democracy and the rule of law, the objective of respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the observance of international environmental agreements to which the European Community or its Member States are parties;the EIB shall ensure that framework agreements between the Bank and the countries concerned are made available to the public and that adequate and timely objective information is made available to enable them to play a full part in the decision making process.Parliament noted in an amended recital that the macro-economic conditions prevailing in the Central Asian countries, and in particular the situation of external finances and debt sustainability, have improved in the recent years as a result of strong economic growth and prudent macroeconomic policies, and they should therefore be allowed access to financing from the EIB. There should nevertheless be pre-conditions for their eligibility for EIB loans: these countries must show clear progress in establishing the rule of law, freedom of speech and the media and freedom of NGOs, and in achieving the Millennium Development Goals as specified in the EU Partnership and Cooperation Agreements. They should not be subject to EU sanctions for human rights violations and they should have made real progress in terms of the human rights situation.

• 2008/07/18 Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading
  • A6-0317/2008
• 2008/07/16 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
• 2008/05/08 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 2008/04/07 Legislative proposal published
  • COM(2008)0172 summary

    PURPOSE: to make Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan eligible for financing under the Community’s European Investment Bank (EIB) guarantee.PROPOSED ACT: Council Decisions.BACKGROUND: in June 2007, the European Council requested the development of a new EU Central Asia strategy to serve as an overall framework for EU relations with Central Asia. The Strategy, based upon common interests, defines the EU's priorities for its cooperation with the region as a whole, with implementation tailored to the specific requirements and performance of each Central Asian country. In order to intensify cooperation with the Central Asian countries, the Strategy requires that interaction between the EU and the Central Asian countries be strengthened vis-à-vis the international financial institutions, including the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The European Investment Bank (EIB) should play an important role in the financing projects of interest to the EU in Central Asia. Existing EU legislation specifies that EIB activity in Central Asia should focus on major energy supply and energy transport projects with cross-border implications. Central Asia , with its significant hydrocarbon resources and favourable geographical location for transport routes to European markets, has the potential to play an important role in ensuring the EU's energy supplies. In 2006, the EU adopted Council Decision 2006/1016/EC granting a Community guarantee to the European Investment Bank against losses under loans and loan guarantees for projects outside the Community. Under the terms of this Decision, countries which have been marked with an asterisk (*) in Annex I can only become eligible for EIB financing under the Community following a decision by the Council on a case by case basis and in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 181a (2) of the Treaty. All five of the Central Asian countries to whom this proposal is addressed fall under this category.CONTENT: bearing the above in mind, the purpose of this proposal is to establish the eligibility of five Central Asian countries, namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, for EIB financing under Council Decision 2006/1016/EC. Any future EIB activity in the five Central Asian countries will be fully compatible with EBRD activities as well as activities under the remit of: the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance cooperation; and the Nordic Investment Bank, thanks to a number of Memorandums of Understanding that have been signed.The Commission, in spite of Parliamentary attempts to nullify this choice before the European Court of Justice, has decided to maintain Article 181a of the Treaty establishing the European Community as the sole legal basis of this legislative initiative and not to share the legal basis of the proposal with Article 179 (an instrument of development policy) as requested by Parliament. This is fully in line with Article 2 of Council Decision 2006/1016/EC. The Parliament has asked the European Court of Justice - should it decide in favour of an annulment - to uphold the effects of Council Decision 2006/1016/EC until a new Decision has been adopted.

  • DG {'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/economy_finance/index_en.htm', 'title': 'Economic and Financial Affairs'}, ALMUNIA Joaquín

Documents

• Legislative proposal published: COM(2008)0172
• Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading: A6-0317/2008
• Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T6-0403/2008
• : Decision 2008/847
• : OJ L 301 12.11.2008, p. 0013

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)