2018/2161(INI) | [ParlTrack]

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Stresses the importance which the European Investment Bank (EIB) attaches to operations outside the EU in its overall lending activity, and that new lending outside the EU should continue to maintain a fairly even split between support for social and economic infrastructure and support for local private sector development; recalls that 10 % of the EIB’s overall lending activity is dedicated to operations outside the Union; stresses, for this reason, the importance of the annual reporting by the EIB on its operations outside of the Union with regard to compliance with the general principles guiding the external action of the Union, specifically Articles 3 and 21 TFEU, the Agenda 2030 and the Paris Climate Agreement;

Amendment 10 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Calls on the EIB to continue to pay special attention in its lending outside the EU to private sector development, which is a major engine of poverty reduction, and to impact finance and credit lines targeting microfinance institutions; ~~calls for a strategic EIB contribution to tackle the root causes of migration by expanding the EIB’s external lending mandate (ELM)~~takes note of the fact that half of all lending operations of the EIB under the ELM goes to local financial intermediaries, with the goal to boost micro-credits; asks the EIB specifically to supply better and more systematic information with regard to the on-lending by its financial intermediaries, and to conduct a gender evaluation of the on-lending of financial intermediaries, given that micro-credits are mostly directed to women entrepreneurs;

Amendment 11 #

Salvatore CICU

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Calls on the EIB to continue to pay special attention in its lending outside the EU to private sector development, which is a major engine of poverty reduction, and to impact finance and credit lines targeting microfinance institutions; calls ~~for a strategic EIB contribution to tackle the root causes of migration by expanding the EIB’s external lending mandate (ELM);~~in this respect on the EIB to improve effective access to funding for SME's, including through trade facilitations programmes and initiatives, making sure that these firms can integrate into global supply chains.

Amendment 12 #

Salvatore CICU

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 (new)

Calls for a strategic EIB contribution to tackle the root causes of migration by expanding the EIB's external lending mandate (ELM), strengthening humanitarian action and providing support for economic growth, the construction of infrastructure and job creation;

Amendment 13 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. Suggests the EIB to modify the wording of transparency provisions related to its intermediated loans in order to clarify that the transparency regime for these indirect financial operations should be similar to the one applicable to direct loans; suggest in this respect to consider redrafting Article 5.13 of its Transparency Policy, in line with the recommendation of the European Ombudsman in case 1316/2016/TN issued on 23 May 2018.

Amendment 14 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)

2b. In the wake of the recent controversial EIB loans to Volkswagen and infrastructure projects in Italy, encourages the EIB to remove from its transparency policy the presumption of non-disclosure related to information and documents collected and generated during inspections, investigations and audits on fraud and corruption, including once these have been closed;

Amendment 15 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Calls on the EIB to leverage financial resources by partnering with other financial institutions, blending EIB loans and third-party grants and further catalysing its financing sources, technical advice and help to attract further finance; Calls on the EIB to better ensure that the Union's environmental and social policy goals are respected, including also in co- financed projects or contributions to investments funds and private equity funds;

Amendment 16 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Regards it as important that the EIB advocates higher transparency and social and environmental performance standards in its cooperation with other development banks as a condition for any capital involvement; regrets that the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the European Investment Fund and China’s Silk Road Fund (SRF) and the one signed by the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the New Development Bank, and the World Bank have not yet improved the business environment for European enterprises and workers; notes with concern that the AIIB governance structures do not yet foresee adequate involvement of shareholders in project financing decisions and that publically available project documentation lacks any detail on the fulfilment of the environmental and social measures that the AIIB requires from its lenders; expresses scepticism over the involvement of the EIB in the One Belt One Road initiative (OBOR) due to the lack of proper assessments on the project’s impact on working conditions and workers’ rights, on the environment, and on human rights; is concerned about the lack of transparency and good governance practices in the implementation of the project;

Amendment 17 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Calls on the EIB to be increase transparency in all its programming and undertakings, and to publish in full length the results of its reviews into lending operations such as with Glencore in the Mopani Copper mine in Zambia; calls the bank to cut any lending to investments funds and private equity funds that are active in tax paradises;

Amendment 18 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3b. Calls on the EIB to bring its activities in line with the most recent UNCTAD recommendations, and to support the strengthening of own new industrial policies of developing countries by contributing to the creation of investment policy tools and focus on different sectors, economic activities, and mechanisms to maximise the contribution of investment to the development of industrial capabilities;

Amendment 19 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Welcomes the rolling out by the EIB of the Economic Resilience Initiative that helps the countries in the Western Balkans and the EU’s Southern Neighbourhood to address the challenges posed by ~~irregular~~ migration and forced displacement; calls for increased funding to this Initiative and a strengthened involvement of the EIB in these regions in order to support humanitarian action, job creation, economic growth and infrastructure improvements; in this regard welcomes the approval of the first projects of the European External Investment Plan (EEIP) in Africa and looks forwards to a strengthened role for the EIB;

Amendment 2 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

Amendment 20 #

Nadja HIRSCH

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

Amendment 21 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Calls on the EIB to invest significantly into the environmental transition in Eastern Neighbourhood countries;

Amendment 22 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4b. Welcomes the EIB's plan to create a Sustainability Awareness Bond, and encourages the Bank to adopt a key role in sustainable finance both in and outside of Europe; Calls on the EIB to prioritise supporting through its lending activities the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by further unlocking investment in social, green and sustainable projects.

Amendment 23 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Is of the opinion that the EIB should continue to enhance its role in helping to achieve sustainable development, and that climate action lending should focus mainly on the transport and energy sectors.; reiterates its firm opposition to the financement of projects linked to the consumption of fossil fuels; calls on the EIB to pay greater attention to the impact of its operations on human rights and labour rights, and to further develop its policy on social standards into a human rights policy in the area of banking; suggests, for this purpose, the inclusion of human rights benchmarks in its project evaluations;

Amendment 24 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Is of the opinion that the EIB should continue to enhance its role in helping to achieve sustainable development, and that climate action lending should focus mainly on the transport and energy sectors.; calls on the EIB to further align its financing with the Paris Agreement by ending its support to fossil fuels and reinforcing its efforts to target small-scale renewable energy projects, and by phasing out projects inducing deforestation and the loss of bio- diversity;

Amendment 25 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Is of the opinion that the EIB should continue to enhance its role in helping to achieve sustainable development, and that climate action ~~lending~~ should focus mainly on ~~the~~clean transport and energy ~~sectors.~~production, reduction of energy consumption (for heating, transportation and production), clean industrial production and sustainable farming, water treatment and supply, and the environmental transition in general;

Amendment 26 #

Salvatore CICU

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Is of the opinion that the EIB should continue to enhance its role in helping to achieve sustainable development, in line with the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, and that climate action lending under its climate strategy should focus mainly on the transport and energy sectors. to achieve a more competitive, secure and sustainable energy system in line with the 2030 Energy Strategy;

Amendment 27 #

Nadja HIRSCH

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

Amendment 28 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Calls on the EIB to ensure that companies participating in projects co- financed by the EIB shall be required to adhere to the principles of equal pay and pay transparency as well as gender equality as set out in Directive 2006/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2006 on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation; also calls for EIB decisions on project financing to take into account action by candidate companies in the field of corporate social responsibility;

Amendment 29 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Welcomes the intention of the EIB to review their environmental and public information policies in 2018 and 2019, and to draw up guidelines for hydropower lending and financial intermediaries, deplores that a number of hydropower projects financed by the bank in Southeast Europe have devastating effects on protected areas and internationally recognised areas of high biodiversity value; urges the EIB to use the review to introduce close existing loop-holes and to tighten up environmental and disclosure standards for their financial intermediaries.

Amendment 3 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Stresses and welcomes the importance which the European Investment Bank (EIB) attaches to operations outside the EU in its overall lending activity, and that new lending outside the EU should continue to maintain a fairly even split between support for social and economic infrastructure and support for both local private and public sectors development;

Amendment 30 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Reminds the EIB that it needs to act in coherence with its development mandate under the ELM to ensure that investments in developing countries are bringing the due revenues to local tax authorities; encourages the EIB to go beyond the legally binding EU black list with regard to Non-Compliant Jurisdictions (NCJs) which should be excluded from lending operations;

Amendment 31 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)

5b. Calls on the EIB, taking into account the insufficient project generation capacity in the public and private sectors and the lower borrowing capacity in some Member States, and with a view to reducing the investment shortfall in the EU, to consider an approach whereby contributions made on a one-off basis to EIB-funded projects by Member States, whether by a Member State as such or by national promotional banks classified in the general government sector or acting on behalf of a Member State, would qualify as one-off measures within the meaning of Article 5 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1466/97and Article 3 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1497;

Amendment 32 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)

5 c. Calls on the EIB to publish detailed information on its website about decisions on the selection of projects to be financed, with particular reference to the reasons for rejection of projects submitted, the outcome of in-house investigations, the selection, supervision, and assessment of its activities and programmes, based on clear measurable indicators, and the methods used for, and the findings of, ex ante assessments and ex post reports for every project financed.

Amendment 4 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Recalls that Article 208 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union establishes the principle of policy coherence and therefore demands the EIB’s external lending activities to be more consistent with the Union’s external policies and strategy; demands that the EIB, in close cooperation with the European External Action Service (EEAS), better reflects the Union’s external affairs priorities into its Regional Technical Operational Guidelines;

Amendment 5 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Calls on the EIB to develop a methodology, in cooperation with the EEAS and DG DEVCO, in measuring the impact of its lending operations outside the EU on the overall EU development cooperation, specifically regarding the UN Agenda 2030 and the impact on human rights;

Amendment 6 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)

1b. Welcomes the reporting activities of the EIB’s to ensure an increasing level of transparency but demands a wider access to information concerning its activities and in particular with regards to the contracting and subcontracting system, as well as access to financial data relating to EIB-funded projects; calls on the EIB to strengthen the involvement of civil society and stakeholders;

Amendment 7 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)

1c. Recalls that the EIB activities must reflect the Union’s internal and external policies; underlines that its lending conditions should facilitate the achievement of these goals and in particular the development of the Union’s peripheral regions by promoting growth and employment; calls on the EIB to greatly strengthen the arrangements for providing technical assistance and financial expertise to local and regional authorities before project approval in order to improve accessibility and involve all Member States, especially those with a lower success rate in terms of projects approved;

Amendment 8 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)

1d. Recalls that small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the European economy and therefore calls on the EIB to bridge their lack of access to credit by enhancing existing programmes, such as the European Progress Microfinance facility, and by allocating them increased funds; regrets the sometimes limited use of trade preferences by European companies and reiterates the need for SMEs to fully benefit from the potential unleashed by European economic and trade partnership agreements; reiterates its support to the financing of new internationalization programmes tailored on SMEs’ needs; suggests the establishment of more pro-active SME and micro-enterprise policy requirements for intermediary banks disbursing EIB funds;

Amendment 9 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 e (new)

1e. Demands the involvement of the EIB in the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund’s activities and calls on the EIB to establish a task force to support the entrepreneurial activities of displaced workers and of the ones left behind by the collateral effects of globalisation;

source: 627.574

2018/10/10 BUDG 31 amendments...

Amendment 1 #

Indrek TARAND

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Insists on the fact that the enhanced economic role of the European Investment Bank (EIB) group, its increased investment capacity and the use of the EU budget to guarantee the EIB group’s operations must be accompanied by greater transparency and accountability; recalls that same principles of accountability and transparency must apply to EU bodies not financed by the EU budget, as reiterated in the European Court of Auditors Briefing Paper of February 2018;

Amendment 10 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 d (new)

2d. Highlights the importance of rethinking the articulation between the roles of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the National Promotional Banks (NPB), the development banks and the EIB, in order to ensure coherence between their respective mandates;

Amendment 11 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 e (new)

2e. Welcomes the development of regional investment platforms to address market gaps and country-specific needs;

Amendment 12 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 f (new)

2f. Stresses again the need to reduce the uneven geographical distribution of the EIBs financing, as 70% of it was allocated to six Member States in 2017 even though one of the objectives of the bank is economic and social cohesion in the Union; calls instead for a dynamic, fair and transparent geographical distribution of projects and investment among member states, with special focus on less developed regions;

Amendment 13 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Expects the EIB to ~~improve~~align its internal policies to reflect the newly adopted legal environment in order to fight tax avoidance, in addition to fighting tax evasion, as detailed in the Commission’s communication of 21 March 2018 on new requirements against tax avoidance in EU legislation governing in particular financing and investment operations (COM(2018)1756);

Amendment 14 #

Nicola CAPUTO

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. SUrges the Brexit negotiators to agree on a deal regarding the UK’s liability resulting from the EIB portfolio built up with UK participation, the reimbursement of the UK’s paid-in capital and a continuation of the protections extended to the EIB and its assets in the UK; stresses that, irrespective of the final agreement between the UK and the EIB, the EIB should commit to maintaining its investment capacity at the current level;

Amendment 15 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Stresses that, irrespective of the final agreement between the UK and the EIB, the EIB ~~should commit to maintaining its~~'s shareholders should ensure that the EIB can maintain the current investment capacity a~~t the current~~nd lending level;

Amendment 16 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Stresses that, irrespective of the final agreement between the UK and the ~~EIB~~Union, the EIB should commit to maintaining its investment capacity at the current level;

Amendment 17 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Appreciates the EIB’s efforts to provide worldwide finance to energy efficiency, renewable energy and the circular economy, which require a response broader than the national scope, and to divest funding from projects posing serious risks for the environment and natural resources;

Amendment 18 #

Indrek TARAND

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Invites the EIB to intensify its efforts in diversifying energy efficiency investments and renewable energy projects distribution across regions, governmental units and smaller enterprises;

Amendment 19 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)

5b. Highlights the importance of ex- ante and ex-post evaluation on the concrete and achieved economic, social and environmental impact and on the general macroeconomic impact, while fully disclosing this information to the European Parliament;

Amendment 2 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Calls for an urgent reinforcement of the European Parliament’s competences in the strategic orientation and policies of the EIB in order to ensure a most needed democratic scrutiny of the investments;

Amendment 20 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 d (new)

5d. Encourages the EIB to focus on the quality of the investments, thus benefiting projects that contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and increase well-being;

Amendment 21 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 e (new)

5e. Urges the need to consider gender equality as a standard in the assessment of project financing;

Amendment 22 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 f (new)

5f. Recalls that even though the EIB aims for a more inclusive growth according to its objectives, investments to reduce inequality have only accounted for 6% of EIB investments in 2017; expects this figure to grow in the future without jeopardizing the high credit standard of EIB; expresses the need to conduct project assessments, not only in terms of financial return, but also in terms of social and environmental impact;

Amendment 23 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Encourages the EIB to maximise the use of all available instruments and their impact on the ground in order to tackle the ~~phenomena of forced displacement and~~root causes of migration;

Amendment 24 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)

6c. Insists on the fact that standards on financial intermediates should be more ambitious and that the EIB must scrutinise cooperation with institutions that exhibit a negative track record in terms of transparency, fraud, corruption and environmental and social impacts;

Amendment 25 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)

6c. Encourages the EIB cooperation with the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and national authorities to prevent any fraud and money laundering;

Amendment 26 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 d (new)

6d. Calls for more supervision and disclosure on intermediated operations by commercial banks and similar financial institutions;

Amendment 27 #

Liadh NÍ RIADA

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7a. Insists on the need for the EIB to reflect the wording of Article 4.2 third indent of Regulation 1049/2001 in its Transparency Policy and to remove the presumption of non-disclosure related to information and documents collected and generated during inspections, investigations and audits, including after these have been closed;

Amendment 28 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7a. Stresses the importance of the EIB’s financing activities in the Eastern Neighbourhood; asks the EIB to increase its lending towards the Eastern Neighbourhood in order to support investments in countries that are implementing Association Agreements with the EU;

Amendment 29 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7a. Notes however that according to the Report of the High-Level Task Force on Investing in Social Infrastructure in Europe only 4% of approved EFSI financing supports social infrastructure projects in the EU;

Amendment 3 #

1a. Welcomes the contribution of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) in overcoming market failures by addressing market gaps and mobilising private investments;

Amendment 30 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)

7b. Advocates for the strong reinforcement of a social investment strategy, based on the findings from the ex-ante reports reflecting the needs of the real economy;

Amendment 31 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 c (new)

7c. Urges again the EIB group to adopt soon the review of its whistleblowing policy and to take the current revision of its Complaints Mechanism as an opportunity to reinforce its legitimacy ,accessibility, predictability, equitability and transparency;

Amendment 4 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)

1b. Notes that the implementation of EFSI’s SME Window has been effective in ensuring the speedy deployment of finance to SMEs and mid-caps; highlights the importance of enhancing EIB support to SMEs and mid-caps by providing beneficiaries with clearer information on how to access finance;

Amendment 5 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)

1c. Calls on the EIB to continue strengthening its work with National Promotional Banks and Institutions in order to ensure outreach and further develop advisory activities and technical assistance to support a balanced geographical distribution of EFSI in the long term; calls on the EIB’s local offices to extend their outreach to local partners in order to promote EFSI; stresses the importance to achieve a better geographical and sectorial distribution of the EIB’s lending activity without compromising the high quality of projects;

Amendment 6 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)

1d. Expects the Commission, the EIB and national, regional and local authorities to continue working with National Promotional Banks and Institutions to strengthen their cooperation in creating more synergies between the ESI Funds and EIB financing instruments and loans, in reducing administrative burdens, simplifying procedures, increasing administrative capacity, boosting territorial development and cohesion and improving the visibility of ESI Funds and EIB financing;

Amendment 7 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 e (new)

1e. Calls on the EIB to focus investment on a larger number of cross- border projects, especially in light of new priorities of the revised EFSI Regulation; emphasises that projects linking two or more Member States are considered to provide strong indication of additionally, but face issues in attracting funding, so they should become a new target of the EIB lending activities;

Amendment 8 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)

2b. Insists on the key role the EIB should play in boosting those investments which are most effective in terms of job creation; expects also the EIB to provide in-depth information on them and to focus on jobs of high quality and sustainability;

Amendment 9 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)

2c. Reiterates that EIB activities are necessary to address the investment gap of the public and private sector that has been deepening in Europe since the economic and financial crisis; reminds therefore the EIB of its role as an anti-cyclical force to relaunch investments;

source: 628.619

2018/10/12 ECON 165 amendments...

Amendment 1 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 9 a (new)

- having regard to the Paris Agreement and in particular Article 2 (c) thereof

Amendment 10 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B d (new)

B d. whereas financial instruments and budgetary guarantees could increase the impact of the EU budget;

Amendment 100 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 e (new)

10 e. Calls on the EIB to refrain from funding beneficiaries or financial intermediaries and from cooperating with financial partners with a proven negative track record, and to enforce prevention measures and regular tax assessments against non-cooperative tax jurisdictions officially declared to be tax havens by the Commission, tax and fiscal fraud and tax evasion, as well as illegal and aggressive tax avoidance; calls on the EIB to deal more effectively with risks of corruption and organised crime infiltration in EIB projects; calls on the EIB to reclaim loans where they were not spent according to the rules, and requests a list of outstanding EIB transactions, especially those featuring in the Commission’s list of ‘top 30’tax havens globally;

Amendment 101 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 f (new)

10 f. Welcomes disclosure of the minutes of the EIB Board of Directors’ meetings and recognises the need for disclosure of Management Committee decisions and documents related to key structural and policy developments in the Bank of high public interest, including proposal for establishing new development bank and EIB related Brexit strategy;

Amendment 102 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 g (new)

10 g. Emphasizes the need for a high level of transparency of financial intermediaries used by the EIB (commercial banks in particular, but also including microfinance institutions and cooperatives), in order to ensure that intermediated loans are subject to the same transparency requirements as other types of loans;

Amendment 103 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 h (new)

10 h. Urges the Bank to establish an efficient control, monitoring and reporting system on financial intermediaries lending in order to ensure that intermediated loans comply with environmental and social standards of the Bank;

Amendment 104 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 i (new)

10 i. Calls on the EIB to further enhance its cooperation with the European Ombudsman given the increasing complains that the European Ombudsman received;

Amendment 105 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 j (new)

10 j. Calls on the EIB to revise and conclude its Complaints Mechanism Policy in the 1st half of 2018 after proper consultation of all interested parties, including civil society organisations;

Amendment 106 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 k (new)

10 k. Calls on the EIB to provide with the necessary resources and human capital the independent Fraud Investigation Division, which investigates cases of corruption and fraud in bank’s projects and further enhance bank’s staff training and awareness;

Amendment 107 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Welcomes the EIB’s Economic Resilience Initiative (ERI) as part of the EU’s joint response to the migration and refugee crisis, with a focus on tackling the root causes of migration; insists on close coordination and complementarity with the EU External Investment Plan; notes that so far the 26 ERI projects and EUR 2.8 billion in investment are expected to benefit more than 1 500 smaller businesses and mid- caps, helping to sustain more than 100 000 jobs; points to the need to give proper effect to the initiative by supporting projects different from those financed before and in that way guaranteeing genuine added value;

Amendment 108 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Welcomes the EIB’s Economic Resilience Initiative (ERI) that helps the countries in the Western Balkans and the EU’s Southern Neighbourhood to address the challenges posed by irregular migration and forced displacement as part of the EU’s joint response to the migration and refugee crisis, with a focus on tackling the root causes of migration; insists on close coordination and complementarity with the EU External Investment Plan; notes that so far the 26 ERI projects and EUR 2.8 billion in investment are expected to benefit more than 1 500 smaller businesses and mid- caps, helping to sustain more than 100 000 jobs;

Amendment 109 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)

11 b. Calls the EIB to fulfil its purpose and increase its investment activity with regard to decrease the dangerous imbalances in the EU, by supporting projects to member-states, which are in post financial assistance phase, or suffer from high levels of long-term poverty, severe unemployment and deindustrialisation;

Amendment 11 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B e (new)

B e. whereas the EIB is the natural partner for EU to implement financial instruments, in close cooperation with national, regional or multilateral financial institutions;

Amendment 110 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 c (new)

11 c. Calls on the EIB to take all necessary measures based on lessons- learned from the EFSI experience, to maximise the results of the forthcoming InvestEU programme, paying particular attention to regional and social inequalities and the member-states that suffered from the economic crisis;

Amendment 111 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 c (new)

11 c. Calls on the EIB to establish as a criteria for funding a project, the creation of long term and quality working places, with full working rights, collective bargaining and right to union membership;

Amendment 112 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

~~12.~~ Welcomes the increase in ERI ~~12. f~~Financing for the Southern Neighbourhood and the Western Balkans of EUR 6 billion over a five-year period starting from October 2016, in addition to the EUR 7.5 billion of EIB financing already ~~envisag~~projected, and the focus on sustainable and vital infrastructure, such as services like clean water, energy and electricity, particularly in regions where infrastructure needs were aggravated by migration, but also by improving education, healthcare, local transport and urban services and additionally by supporting private sector growth boosting employment opportunities;

Amendment 113 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)

12 a. Recalls that the external policy of the EIB should be also consistent with the European Charter of Fundamental Rights; calls on the EIB to put this as a priority criterion;

Amendment 114 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Stresses the importance of developing economic resilience in host and transit countries by supporting the creation of jobs and construction of infrastructure needed for the local population, as well as ~~the~~ displaced population~~; welcomes the fact that refugee communities may also benefit from opportunities to develop their self-reliance and live in dignity~~s; underlines that the investments in economic resilience will contribute to improv~~ing~~e the preparedness of the regions for future external shocks, and ideally also contribute to enhanced stability in fragile countries and to effectively preventing mass-immigration to Europe;

Amendment 115 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Stresses the importance of developing economic resilience in host and transit countries by supporting the creation of jobs and construction of infrastructure needed for the local population, as well as the displaced population; welcomes the fact that refugee communities may also benefit from opportunities to develop their self-reliance and live in dignity; underlines that the investments in economic resilience ~~will~~should contribute to improving the preparedness of the regions for future external shocks, and ~~ideally also~~ to enhanced stability in fragile countries ~~and to effectively preventing mass- immigration to Europe~~;

Amendment 116 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)

13 a. Calls for an increase in financial assistance for projects that have a positive impact on refugees and other migrants and that are located in Member States that receive the largest flows of refugees and migrants;

Amendment 117 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)

13a. Takes the view that the EIB should maintain its existing external policy activities by means, for example, of instruments such as lending mandates for non-EU countries;

Amendment 118 #

Motion for a resolution
Subheading 6 a (new)

InvestEU

Amendment 119 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Recognises the achievements of the EFSI by its third anniversary and welcomes the EUR 335 billion in investment mobilised across the Union since the adoption of the EFSI Regulation1 by the co-legislators; welcomes that EFSI projects have been approved for all Members States and the improved geographical balance achieved, with younger EU-13 member states now collectively benefitting over-proportional to their share in EU GDP while stressing the importance of continuing to avoid geographical imbalances in the EIB’s lending activity, so as to ensure a broad geographical and sectoral allocation without compromising the high quality of projects and the market driven nature of the EFSI; _________________ 1 Regulation (EU) 2015/1017.

Amendment 12 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

C. whereas the EIB also plays an important role outside the EU through its external lending activities as the world’s biggest multilateral borrower and lender, including financing and advising on sustainable investment across the globe;

Amendment 120 #

Pirkko RUOHONEN-LERNER

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. ~~Recognises the achievements of the EFSI by its third anniversary and welcomes~~Calls for an independent impact assessment of the achievements of the EFSI, taking into account the requirements laid down for the EFSI at the time when it was established and the fact that the EUR 335 billion in investment mobilised across the Union since the adoption of the EFSI Regulation1 by the co-legislators gives no indication of the profitability of investments; _________________ 1 Regulation (EU) 2015/1017.

Amendment 121 #

Thierry CORNILLET, Petr JEŽEK, Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS, Nils TORVALDS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Recognises the achievements of the EFSI by its third anniversary and ~~welcom~~notes the EUR 335 billion in investment mobilised across the Union since the adoption of the EFSI Regulation1 by the co- legislators; _________________ 1 Regulation (EU) 2015/1017. Regulation (EU) 2015/1017.

Amendment 122 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. ~~Recognise~~calls theo intensif~~ied~~y the cooperation of the EIB Group with national promotional banks and institutions (NPBIs) and calls on the EIB to continue strengthening its work with NPBIs in order to ensure outreach and further develop advisory activities and technical assistance to support ~~a geographical balance in the long term~~growth where it is needed;

Amendment 123 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Recognises the intensified cooperation of the EIB Group with national promotional banks and institutions (NPBIs) and calls on the EIB to continue strengthening its work with NPBIs in order to ensure outreach and further develop advisory activities and technical assistance to support a geographical balance in the long term; notes a wide variety of experiences in terms of EFSI projects; supports and encourages the further exchange of best practices between the EIB and the Member States in order to ensure further economic efficiency;

Amendment 124 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15a. Tax policy and transparency Reiterates its call for the EIB to apply more stringent tax transparency standards; points to the need to make the granting of direct and indirect loans subject to publication of tax and accounting data country by country and to the sharing of beneficial ownership data on the beneficiaries and financial intermediaries involved in financing operations, with no possibility of exemption;

Amendment 125 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15 a. calls on the EIB to include in its assessment of the projects to be funded the conclusions coming from the Country Specific Recommendations (CSR) and the Macro-Economic Imbalances Procedure (MIP); recalls that the economic governance framework allows some vulnerabilities to be detected and it would therefore be logical for the EIB to favourably consider the projects that allow those vulnerabilities to be addressed;

Amendment 126 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15 a. Believes that the EIB group has been key in the successes of EFSI as the only interlocutor for beneficiaries and intermediaries and the exclusive implementing partner; believes that in any future Invest EU programme, the EIB is, in order to avoid duplication, the natural partner for the EU to carry out banking tasks (treasury, asset management, risk assessment) in relation to the implementation of financial instruments;

Amendment 127 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15a. Transparency, accountability and compliance with tax rules Welcomes the efforts made by the EIB in the area of transparency. The EIB provides a wealth of information on its investments via its website and its Public Register of Documents;

Amendment 128 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15 a. Welcomes improvements to transparency achieved via the publication of the Scoreboard of indicators for projects supported by the EFSI guarantee and of the Rationale of the independent Investment Committee for its decision, in line with the revised Regulation;

Amendment 129 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15 a. Emphasises that the EIB played and continues to play a positive role in reducing the negative public and private investment gap;

Amendment 13 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)

E a. whereas safeguards against fraud, including tax fraud and money laundering, and risks of financing terrorism are incorporated in the EIB Group contractual provisions included in the contracts signed by the EIB Group and its counterparties; whereas the EIB Group should require that its counterparties comply with all applicable legislation; whereas additional contractual provisions addressing specific transparency and integrity issues should be imposed by the EIB Group on the basis of due diligence results;

Amendment 130 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15 a. "Democracy, accountability and transparency"

Amendment 131 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)

15 b. Calls for improved democratic accountability of the EIB by agreeing an inter-institutional agreement to ensure the EIB’s participation in hearings upon request, answers to parliamentary questions and proper follow-up of Parliament’s recommendations; urges the conference of presidents to make a proposal for a single committee to be responsible for the scrutiny of the EIB.

Amendment 132 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)

15 b. is of the opinion that more funds should be allocated by the EIB to strenghten the administrative capacity of the Member States, the more efficient an administration is the better it is both for the citizens and for the economy;

Amendment 133 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)

15b. Maintains that international financial institutions have to eliminate the risk that EU funding might contribute, directly or indirectly, to tax evasion and tax fraud;

Amendment 134 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)

15 b. Recognises the improving possibility to blend EFSI financing with other instruments through the Omnibus legislation and encourages continued work towards better complementarity of Union financial instruments;

Amendment 135 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)

15b. Recalls that the EIB must, as a financial institution, find the right balance between transparency and the protection of commercially-sensitive information;

Amendment 136 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 c (new)

15c. Points to the need to guarantee a high standard of information on final beneficiaries and effectively prevent transactions involving financial intermediaries with a bad history regarding transparency, fraud, corruption, organised crime, and money laundering and with a poor social and environmental record;

Amendment 137 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 c (new)

15 c. Recalls its recognition of the need to provide continuity in the support of market-driven mechanisms such as EFSI that support long-term investment in the real economy, mobilise private investment and generate a substantive macroeconomic impact and jobs in sectors that are important to the Unions future beyond the current MFF;

Amendment 138 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 c (new)

15 c. Reiterates its demand of 8 February 2018 to publish all relevant documents regarding loans to the automotive industry for the development of diesel technology, including the respective European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) report and its recommendations on EIB loans to Volkswagen; calls on the EIB to swiftly act on this request

Amendment 139 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 c (new)

15c. Urges the EIB, within the scope of its powers, to continue to apply the highest standards in combating tax fraud, aggressive tax planning, money laundering and the financing of terrorism;

Amendment 14 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)

E a. whereas the bank should keep as an important parameter the investment profitability, with clear criteria to avoid overly speculative operations, expanding its credit activity in line with the needs of the European economy and particularly the social and regional cohesion and inclusive growth;

Amendment 140 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 d (new)

15 d. Encourages a timely establishment of a follow-on initiative for the post-2020 period to provide said continuity, which should incorporate lessons learned from EFSI, retain key success factors such as the setting of political priority targets at the portfolio level that may change over time in order to remain most relevant for the future of the Union, the proven governance structure, a clear definition of roles and responsibilities between the public guarantor and the financier, while supporting the unity of the Common Market;

Amendment 141 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 d (new)

15 d. Takes note of the review of the EIB Complaints Mechanism policy and procedures. Recalls its position on the EIB Complaint Mechanism as expressed by its Resolution of 3 May 2018 on the annual report on the control of the financial activities of the EIB for 2016; expresses its deep concerns by the fact that Parliament’s recommendations regarding the independence and admissibility of complaints have been ignored by the EIB. Urges the EIB group to adopt the review of its whistleblowing policy as soon as possible

Amendment 142 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 d (new)

15d. Points to the importance of greater transparency for operations carried out through financial intermediaries, first and foremost commercial banks and investment funds;

Amendment 143 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 e (new)

15 e. Welcomes the EIB’s important role in financing outside the EU through its external lending activities. Highlights especially the EIB’s efficient management of the External Lending Mandate, as confirmed by an independent evaluation in June 2018, which recognises its relevance and effectiveness in providing EU financing to third countries at a minimal cost to the Union budget;

Amendment 144 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 e (new)

15 e. Recommends that the new European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) examine the possibility of covering EIB operations in the EU member states concerned as part of its activities;

Amendment 145 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 f (new)

15 f. Welcomes the EIB’s management of the ACP Investment Facility, which mainly provides projects promoting the development of the private sector while. In this respect, underlines that it is crucial that the EIB’s central role, as the EU’s bilateral financial arm, will be firmly reflected in the post-2020 architecture for financing outside the Union;

Amendment 146 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 f (new)

15 f. Calls on the EIB to publish detailed minutes of management committee meetings;

Amendment 147 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 g (new)

15 g. Urges the EIB to ensure that its Transparency Policy is fully in line with the Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters (the Aarhus Convention), Regulation 1367/2006/EC on the application of the provisions of the Aarhus Convention to Community institutions and bodies (the Aarhus Regulation) and Regulation 1049/2001/EC regarding public access to documents;

Amendment 148 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 g (new)

15 g. Welcomes the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism Framework adopted by the EIB in January 2018, establishing the key principles regulating AML-CFT and related integrity aspects in EIB Group activities;

Amendment 149 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 h (new)

15 h. Welcomes the progress that the EIB has made in adopting the highest standards with a view to preventing tax fraud, tax evasion, tax avoidance, aggressive tax planning, money laundering and financing of terrorism by fully applying EU policies and standards, for instance the EU list of non- cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes; calls on the EIB, in this regard, to end cooperation with intermediaries, countries and jurisdictions that are on the EU list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions;

Amendment 15 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)

E b. whereas the EIB Group should maintain a high credit standing as a fundamental asset of its business model and a high-quality, solid asset portfolio with sound investment projects under the EFSI and all financial instruments in its portfolio;

Amendment 150 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 h (new)

15 h. Recalls paragraph 53 of its resolution on the EIB activities adopted on 30 April 2015 and calls for the EIB to follow up on Parliament’s demands;

Amendment 151 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 i (new)

15 i. Welcomes the EIB group Strategy on Gender Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment released in 2017; Believes that the Gender Perspective shall be applied to all EIB Group financial operations; Expects a Gender Action Plan to be implemented soon, to set ambitious targets and to be accompanied by concrete indicators;

Amendment 152 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 i (new)

15 i. Encourages the EIB to continue its practice to identify the beneficial ownership of recipients of EIB financing;

Amendment 153 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 j (new)

15 j. Welcomes the fact that the EIB takes into account the tax impact in countries where investment is made and how this investment contributes to economic development, job creation and the reduction of inequality;

Amendment 154 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 j (new)

15 j. Asks for a country-by-country reporting without exemptions as a key part of the Corporate Social Responsibility strategy of the EIB regardless of future EU legislative initiatives in this field;

Amendment 155 #

Motion for a resolution
Subheading 7 a (new)

Stresses that the EIB's AAA rating must not be affected by Brexit;

Amendment 156 #

Motion for a resolution
Subheading 7 a (new)

Amendment 157 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. Urges the Brexit negotiators to agree on a deal regarding the UK’s liability resulting from the EIB portfolio built up with UK participation, the reimbursement of the UK’s paid-in capital, a continuation of the protections extended to the EIB and its assets in the UK; calls on the Member States to make sure that the departure of the United Kingdom does not result in a loss of capital for the EIB;

Amendment 158 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)

16 a. Recalls that the United Kingdom has a share in the EIB’s capital of 16,1%, amounting to 39.2 billion euros;

Amendment 159 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)

16 b. Agrees with the Commission that UK liability resulting from EIB financing should be maintained and decreased inline with the amortisation of the EIB portfolio;

Amendment 16 #

Thierry CORNILLET, Petr JEŽEK, Nils TORVALDS, Lieve WIERINCK

Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)

E b. whereas the EIB should boost its macroeconomic analysis capacity;

Amendment 160 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)

17 a. calls on the EIB to step up its efforts in terms of communication; believes it is key to engage with EU citizens in order to better explain the aim of its policies; believes in this respect that a reflexion should be initiated regarding the possibility to offer options for more direct subscription by EU citizens to strenghten the funding capacities of the EIB as a way, inter alia, to concretely illustrate the contribution of the EU to the daily lives of its citizens;

Amendment 161 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)

17 a. Calls on the EIB to take into account the local context when investing in third countries; recalls that investing in third countries cannot be based only on a profit maximisation approach but also aim at generating long-term private sector-led sustainable economic growth and reduce poverty through job creation and improved access to productive resources; believes that the choice of financial intermediaries should be stricter in this regard;

Amendment 162 #

Thierry CORNILLET, Petr JEŽEK, Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS, Nils TORVALDS, Lieve WIERINCK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)

17 a. Considers that the UK’s withdrawal from the EIB should be set up in a way not to raise concern about the EIB’s AAA-rating;

Amendment 163 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)

17 b. recalls that the EIB group’s transparency policy is based on a presumption of disclosure and that everyone can access EIB group documents and information; calls on the EIB group to continue efforts to improve and increase its transparency practices, in line with recently undertaken improvements such as the publication of the minutes of its Board of Directors' meetings and the publication of the Scoreboard of indicators for projects supported by the EFSI guarantee; stresses, however, the importance of properly taking into account the EIB’s role as a financial institution that works with the private sector and which requires the strict protection of commercially sensitive information, in line with the respective EU legal framework;

Amendment 164 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)

17 b. Welcomes the will of the EIB to adopt the highest standards in order to prevent tax fraud, tax evasion, tax avoidance, aggressive tax planning, money laundering and financing of terrorism; calls nevertheless on the EIB to keep improving its procedures and to avoid at all cost to cooperate with intermediaries, jurisdictions and countries that do not comply with OECD and EU standards;

Amendment 165 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 c (new)

17 c. Calls for more comprehensive, frequent and proper parliamentary accountability of EIB, following the model of the ECB's monetary dialogues;

Amendment 17 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E c (new)

E c. whereas the EIB should address regional inequalities by supporting direct public investments and the development plans of public authorities in peripheral countries, as well as advising on the development of new private projects, particularly by SMEs, particularly in those regions;

Amendment 18 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E d (new)

E d. whereas the EIB should tackle unemployment by supporting direct pubic investment and providing the unemployed, particularly the young people, with skills and training, access to finance and employment;

Amendment 19 #

Motion for a resolution
Subheading 1

~~Achievements of the EIB over the past 60 year~~EU Investment and external lending activities

Amendment 2 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 a (new)

- having regard to the 15 December 2010 EIB Policy towards weakly regulated, non-transparent and uncooperative jurisdictions and the 8 |April 2014 addendum to the NCJ Policy;

Amendment 20 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Congratulates the EIB on 60 years of successful operations, during which it has invested EUR 1.1 trillion and financed 11 800 projects in 160 countries as the world’s biggest multilateral borrower and lender;deleted

Amendment 21 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Congratulates the EIB onwith its anniversary of 60 years of successful operations~~, dur~~ in 2018, ing which ithe EIB has invested EUR 1.1 trillion and financed 11 800 projects in 160 countries as, having turned into the world’s biggest multilateral borrower and lender, providing financing, leveraging additional investment through its blending activities and advising on sustainable investments across the globe;

Amendment 22 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Congratulates the EIB on 60 years of ~~successful~~ operations, during which it has invested EUR 1.1 trillion and financed 11 800 projects in 160 countries as the world’s biggest multilateral borrower and lender; urges the EIB and its stakeholders to reflect on reforms necessary to ensure democratisation of its governance, increased transparency and sustainability of its operations;

Amendment 23 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. considers that among the challenges facing the EIB, appriopriate supervision is crucial; believes, given the role and institutional set-up of the EIB, an ad-hoc supervisory structure is required which includes representatives of the ECB, EBA, ECA, national competent authorities and independent experts;

Amendment 24 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Stresses that the EIB is the only international financial institution involving only Member States and which is wholly guided in its areas of activity by EU policies and standards;

Amendment 25 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. ~~Highlights the importance of the EIB~~Urges the EIB to enhance furthermore its activities in laying the foundations for long-term and sustainable growth, which is demonstrated by the fact that~~, according to the EIB’s economist,~~ the EIB Group lending within the EU approved in the period 2015-2016 will support EUR 544 billion in investment, add 2.3 % to GDP and create 2.25 million jobs by 2020;

Amendment 26 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Highlights the importance of the EIB ~~in laying the foundations for~~contributing to long- term growth~~, which is demonstrated by the fact~~; notes that, according to the EIB’s economist, EIB Group lending within the EU approved in the period 2015-2016 will support EUR 544 billion in investment, add 2.3 % to GDP and create 2.25 million jobs by 2020;

Amendment 27 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Highlights the importance of the EIB in laying the foundations for long-term ~~growth, which is demonstrated by~~sustainable growth; notes the fact that, according to the EIB’s economist, EIB Group lending within the EU approved in the period 2015-2016 will support EUR 544 billion in investment, add 2.3 % to GDP and create 2.25 million jobs by 2020;

Amendment 28 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. Calls on the EIB to pay attention to third countries and regions outside the EU suffering from conflict and extreme poverty, the main goal being to reduce the development gap between the EU and those regions, with a special focus on the Southern Mediterranean and Eastern European Neighbourhood countries; calls for full respect for the legislation of the beneficiary countries; calls on the EIB to further increase the efficiency of the Results Measurement Framework (REM) for activities outside the EU; requests that the European Court of Auditors produce a special report on the performance and alignment with EU policies of EIB external lending activities;

Amendment 29 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. Stresses the importance of preserving the non-political character of investment decisions in the EIB’s success;

Amendment 3 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 a (new)

- having regard to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations,

Amendment 30 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Recognises the EIB’s ~~responsi~~capability to ~~intervene when there are specific market failures, such as the~~develop counter-initiatives to address underdevelopment and recession resulted from financial crisis and difficulties in accessing finance for SMEs and innovators; ~~applauds the success of~~Takes note of the results achieved by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), under which 898 operations have been approved and which is expected to trigger EUR 335 billion in investment across the 28 EU Member States; States that EFSI is designed to address the investment need created by the loss of investment volumes following the incomplete recovery from the 2008 crisis and the failure to match historic investment trends.

Amendment 31 #

Thierry CORNILLET, Petr JEŽEK, Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS, Nils TORVALDS, Lieve WIERINCK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. ~~Recognises the EIB’s responsibi~~Highlights the opportunities for the EIB to shape markets in line with EU politcy objectives and to intervene when there are specific market failures, such as the financial crisis and difficulties in accessing finance for SMEs and innovators; ~~applauds the success~~stresses that the eligibility and project criteria of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI)~~, under which 898 operations have been approved and which is expected to trigger EUR 335 billion in investment across the 28 EU Member Stat~~ and the future InvestEU programme should be tightened to ensure EIB projects systematically contribute to EU policy objectives;.

Amendment 32 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Recognises the EIB’s responsibility to intervene when there are specific market failures, such as the financial crisis and difficulties in accessing finance for SMEs and innovators; applauds the success of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), under which 898 operations have been approved and which is expected to trigger EUR 335 billion in investment across the 28 EU Member States; underlines the necessity to accelerate the work on building a Capital Markets Union thus enabling the EIB to really focus on filling the gaps where there are market failures or to provide financing for highly risky projects;

Amendment 33 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Recognises the EIB’s responsibility to intervene when there are specific market failures, such as the financial crisis and difficulties in accessing finance for SMEs and innovators; applauds the success of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), under which 898 operations have been approved and which is expected to trigger EUR 335 billion in investment across the 28 EU Member States, of which two thirds raised by private resources, outperforming the original goal of EUR 315 billion set in 2015; draws the attention to the decision of the European Council and the European Parliament to extend its duration and capacity to EUR 500 billion by end 2020;

Amendment 34 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

Amendment 35 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Acknowledges the EIB's contribution to restoring investment activity in the EU after the economic and financial crisis and the policies of excessive fiscal adjustment, that impacted negatively on investment; stresses that the EIB's activities should keep ensuring additionality while addressing underlying investment gaps in both public and private sectors;

Amendment 36 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3 b. Points out that additionality of EIB financing also consists in providing technical advice and capacity-building in order to help projects to become investment-ready and quick mobilization of resources, faster than in the private sector;

Amendment 37 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Stresses that 700 000 SMEs are set to benefit from improved access to finance, and notes that the EIB’s Economics Department and the Commission’s Joint Research Centre estimate that EFSI operations have alcready supported more than 750 000 jobs, with the figure set to rise to 1.4 million jobs by 2020, and that the Juncker Plan has already increased EU GDP by 0.6 % and is set to increase EU GDP by 1.3 % by 2020ted 115.000 permanent jobs and 500.000 temporary jobs and is expected to contribute 0.67% of GDP by 2020. Stresses however that the evaluation also points out that the recent acceleration of investment in the EU has not yet managed to bring investment rates up to historical averages and points to a lack of targeted policy focus;

Amendment 38 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Stresses that 700 000 SMEs are set to benefit from improved access to finance, and notes that the EIB’s Economics Department and the Commission’s Joint Research Centre estimate that EFSI operations have already supported more than 750 000 jobs, with the figure set to rise to 1.4 million jobs by 2020~~, and~~; Welcomes the fact that the Juncker Plan has already increased EU GDP by 0.6 % and is set to increase EU GDP by 1.3 % by 2020; Considers that EIB loans should increase in nominal and real terms every year, at least as far as the investment gap is not filled;

Amendment 39 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Calls on the EIB to bring its activities in line with the most recent UNCTAD recommendations, and to support the strengthening of own new industrial policies of developing countries by contributing to the creation of investment policy tools and focus on different sectors, economic activities, and mechanisms to maximise the contribution of investment to the development of industrial capabilities;

Amendment 4 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 b (new)

- having regard to the approval by the European Parliament of the ratification of the Paris Agreement by the European Union on 4 October 2016;

Amendment 40 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Welcomes the recent improvements in transparency standards, such as the publication of the minutes of its Board of Directors and the publication of the Scoreboard of indicators for projects supported by the EFSI guarantee; understands that a bank cannot disclose commercially sensitive information

Amendment 41 #

Thierry CORNILLET, Petr JEŽEK, Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS, Nils TORVALDS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Maintains that the EIB should ensure that local communities and citizens affected by its operations are properly consulted and have access to an independent, efficient complaint procedure;

Amendment 42 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Underlines the important role played by the EIB as the EU Bank, which is the only International Financial Institution that is entirely owned by EU Member States, guided fully by EU policies and standards;

Amendment 43 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Points out the fact that in 2017 alone, a record number of 901 projects have been approved of which more than EUR 78 billion for innovation, environment, infrastructure, and small and medium-sized enterprises;

Amendment 44 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4 b. Calls for the strengthening of the EIB’s advisory activities and, together with the Commission, Member States and national official promotional financial institutions, to address systemic shortcomings that prevent certain regions or countries from taking full advantage of the EIB’s financial activities;

Amendment 45 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4 b. Underlines the EIB activities in support of economic and social cohesion which consisted of financing of more than 200 billion euro for regions in the last 10 years;

Amendment 46 #

Motion for a resolution
Subheading 1 a (new)

General Remarks

Amendment 47 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4 b. Notes with concern the continued increase in general administrative expenses, primarily driven by the increase in staff-related costs; warns about the risk of a further increase in the cost-to-income ratio for the EIB’s capital base; asks the EIB to maintain cost discipline; asks EIB to keep its management structure lean and efficient and to prevent the evolution towards a top-heavy management structure;

Amendment 48 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 c (new)

4 c. Underlines the crucial role played by the EIB’s lending in support of the EU’s external policy objectives via instruments such as its External Lending Mandate; further welcomes the EIB’s management of the ACP Investment Facility which provides innovative financing instruments including equity, local currency risk-sharing and impact finance in ACP countries, based on the Cotonou agreement; believes that the EIB should to continue to play a leading role in setting-up future EU financing mechanisms to third countries, while ensuring that it is the interests of local entrepreneurs wishing to establish local, often micro and small, enterprises with the aim of contributing first and foremost to the local economy which are prioritised in EIB lending decisions;

Amendment 49 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 c (new)

4 c. Welcomes the steps the EIB has taken to better measure the impact of its investments compared to only the quantitative volumes of financing provided;

Amendment 5 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas the EIB’s primary purpose is to provide long-term finance and expertise for projects and to leverage additional investment to help achieve the EU’s objectives, for example lasting and sustainable economic growth, effective support for SMEs, and ambitious environmental and social policies;

Amendment 50 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 c (new)

4 c. Recalls the fact that the EIB has responded to the crisis by expanding its activities significantly; believes that the EIB has played a positive role in reducing the negative investment gap; urges the EIB to pay extra attention to the risk of crowding out private investment now that economic conditions are normalising;

Amendment 51 #

Thierry CORNILLET, Petr JEŽEK, Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS, Nils TORVALDS, Lieve WIERINCK

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 d (new)

4 d. Stresses that the EIB’s activities were key to address post-crisis recovery and investment levels, which are still uneven across member states and regions as well as sectors; calls on the EIB to further invest in EU countries in order to contribute to their economic recovery; particular emphasis should be given to financing in the innovation and infrastructure sectors where the investment gap is particularly severe;

Amendment 52 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 d (new)

4 d. Welcomes the progress made by the EIB in contributing to preventing tax fraud, tax evasion, tax avoidance, aggressive tax planning, money laundering and the financing of terrorism through the full application of EU policies and standards, for example the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes; underlines the absolute necessity for the EIB to remain constantly vigilant and to adapt its actions to the permanently evolving reality concerning those practices;

Amendment 53 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 d (new)

4 d. Notes that almost a third of EIB funding is dollar denominated, exposing the bank to potential U.S. sanctions; asks the EIB to start progressively reducing its funding in dollar;

Amendment 54 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 e (new)

4 e. Welcomes the fact that the EIB has further strengthened its tax due diligence framework and applies high standards with a view to preventing tax fraud, tax evasion, aggressive tax planning, money laundering and financing of terrorism; emphasises that the EIB, when implementing these standards, has to respect the existing legislative framework, for instance regarding the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes; notes positively that the EIB applies the said EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions in its operations;

Amendment 55 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 f (new)

4 f. Encourages the EIB to continue carrying out an enhanced due diligence on every operation with higher risk factors identified, such as a potential link to a Non-Compliant Jurisdiction (NCJ), tax risk indicators and operations with complex multi-jurisdictional structures irrespective of the existence of NCJ links;

Amendment 56 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 g (new)

4 g. Regrets the degradation of the relations between the European Commission and the EIB; suggests that the road to reconciliation lies in respecting the separation of tasks;

Amendment 57 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 h (new)

4 h. Notes that the EIB is annually audited by the European Court of Auditors; notes the debate on the possibility to introduce supervision of its lending operations by the ECB; warns that this could have a major impact on the nature, the functioning and the governance of the EIB;

Amendment 58 #

Pirkko RUOHONEN-LERNER

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Recognises that the EIB gives priority to innovation and skills in order to drive growth and ensure Europe’s long- term competitiveness, ~~with loans amounting to EUR 13.9 billion in 2017~~but hopes that this can also be confirmed in the findings of independent impact assessments and not merely by the fact of using money for, inter alia, ~~7.4 million~~ high-speed digital connections ~~and the installation of 36.8 million~~or smart meters;

Amendment 59 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Recognises that the EIB gives priority to innovation and skills in order to drive growth and ensure Europe’s long- term competitiveness, with loans amounting to EUR 13.9 billion in 2017 for, inter alia, 7.4 million high-speed digital connections and the installation of 36.8 million smart meters; stresses, however that innovative projects often fail to ensure additionality and are overly concentrated on large projects, rather than diffusing technological advancement through the economy;

Amendment 6 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)

A a. whereas the EIB is the only bank owned by and representing the interests of the European Union Member States;

Amendment 60 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5 a. Points out that strengthening of EU coherence, EU economic inclusive growth and quality employment depends also on an increase in public and private investments, especially in innovation, digitalisation, infrastructure and support of SMEs;

Amendment 61 #

Motion for a resolution
Subheading 3

Environment and Sustainability

Amendment 62 #

Motion for a resolution
Subheading 3 a (new)

Welcomes the EIB’s plan to create a Sustainability Awareness Bond, and encourages the Bank to adopt a key role in sustainable finance both in and outside Europe.; Calls on the EIB to prioritise supporting through its lending activities the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable development Goals by further unlocking investment in social, green and sustainable projects;

Amendment 63 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Welcomes the fact that in 2017, the EIB lent EUR 16.6 billion for projects supporting its environment policy goal in the area of environmental protection, renewable energy, energy efficiency, water and waste management, and sustainable transport; deplores however that the EIB continued to support fossil fuel projects thereby compromising its contribution to combatting climate change.

Amendment 64 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Welcomes the fact that in 2017, the EIB lent EUR 16.67 billion for projects supporting its environment policy goals financing projects in the area of environmental protection, renewable energy, energy efficiency, biodiversity, clean air, clean water, water and waste management, and sustainable transport;

Amendment 65 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a. Calls on the EIB to re-assess its support to gas infrastructure projects as new large-scale plans to build new pipelines and LNG terminals are emerging; expresses concern that the EIB investments in gas infrastructure could lock the EU into future fossil fuel dependency, lead to investments in stranded assets and compromise the EU’s climate objectives; criticises therefore the EIB and its shareholders for the decision to approve support to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline and the Trans Anatolian Pipeline;

Amendment 66 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a. Recommends EIB to adop energy strategy fully compatible with the Paris Agreement’s objective, taking into account the research evidence and recommendations from the IPCC report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty;

Amendment 67 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6a. Maintains that no support in any form should be granted for projects relating to highly polluting technologies and fossil fuels;

Amendment 68 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a. Welcomes that in 2017, the EIB committed to climate loans more than 25% of total lending across all its public policy areas;

Amendment 69 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)

6 b. Calls on the EIB to use the review of its energy lending policy to fully align its energy lending portfolio with the global average temperature increase target of 1.5° set in the Paris agreement i.e. by setting an minimum emission performance standard level at 200 g CO2/kWh; calls on the EIB to take stock of the support it gives to the fossil fuels sector and to publish related data; calls for a swift and complete phasing-out of the EIB support to fossil fuel projects including loans to companies for fossil economic activities.

Amendment 7 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)

B a. whereas the EIB is market and demand driven and its investments are selected based on financial, economic and technical merits;

Amendment 70 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)

6 b. Calls on the EIB to further enforce projects connected with climate change and environment protection, given that the EU is one of the signatories of the Paris Agreement, reminding the commitment made by the EU to reduce its emissions by at least 40% by 2030;

Amendment 71 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 c (new)

6 c. Stresses the importance of EIB financing in the developing of renewable energy capacity and the improvement of energy efficiency in sectors such as industry and transport;

Amendment 72 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 d (new)

6 d. Regrets the lack of sound and consistent criteria on Emission Performance Standards; calls for better stream-lining of the environmental dimension in the forthcoming revision of project criteria;

Amendment 73 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 e (new)

6 e. Calls on the EIB to increase the Human Rights dimension in its project planning, including by providing a Human Right Assessment and Evaluation;

Amendment 74 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Recognises the EIB’s status as the world’s largest issuer of green bonds; and that these Climate Awareness Bonds offer investors a transparent link to renewable energy and energy efficiency projects that benefit from the proceeds of the EIB’s green bond issues, being based on the EIB’s reporting system on the climate benefits of projects including impact indicators such as greenhouse gas emissions avoided, absolute emission levels, energy consumption saved and additional power generation installed; welcomes in this regard the EIB’s first issuance of Sustainability Awareness Bonds, amounting to EUR 500 million that will be dedicated to high impact projects in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals while ensuring the confidence of socially responsible investors through rigorous transparency and market standards;

Amendment 75 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Recognises the EIB’s status as the world’s largest issuer of green bonds and that these Climate Awareness Bonds offer investors a transparent link to renewable energy and energy efficiency projects; stresses the example-setting role EU institutions should play when it comes to making finance sustainable;

Amendment 76 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7 a. Recognizing the need for enhanced human rights defenders protection at the time when they face greater risk of retaliation and violence than ever before, calls on the EIB to establish relevant human rights strategy to ensure human rights due diligence to identify and address human rights risks in all of their activities and throughout the lifespan of a project and effective mechanisms whereby defenders can safely alert it about deteriorating environment or risks of conflict and reprisal;

Amendment 77 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7a. Welcomes the fact that in 2017, the EIB exceeded its obligation to set aside at least 25% of its investments for climate action by 3.2%. Last year it financed climate action measures to the tune of EUR 19.4 billion.

Amendment 78 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7a. Maintains that it is important that projects to be financed or co-financed by the EIB should be compatible with national climate targets linked to the implementation of COP 21;

Amendment 79 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7 a. Calls on the EIB to work with small market participants and community cooperatives to undertake bundling of small scale renewable energy projects to enable them to be eligible for EIB funding;

Amendment 8 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)

B b. whereas EIB's lending activities are mainly funded via bond issuance in the international capital markets; whereas its annual funding programme is around EUR 60 billion; whereas 33% (2017) and 37% (2016) of EIB bonds were issued in USD;

Amendment 80 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)

7 b. calls on the EIB to put an emphasis on the consultations with all interested stakeholders in particular the local communities, civil society and population affected by banks projects, being in full compliance with international, EU and national laws;

Amendment 81 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)

7 b. Calls on the EIB to develop an Action Plan on Human Rights, to conduct ex-ante Human Rights Assessments at project level, and develop tools to mitigate negative human right impacts;

Amendment 82 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 c (new)

7 c. Calls on the EIB to develop a methodology, in cooperation with the EEAS and DG DEVCO, in measuring the impact of its lending operations outside the EU on the overall EU development cooperation, specifically regarding the UN Agenda 2030 and the impact on human rights;

Amendment 83 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. ~~Highlights the EIB’s support for safe and efficient infrastructure for energy supply, transport and urban areas, signing~~Takes note of the EIB loans worth EUR 18 billion ~~to support its~~in the infrastructure ~~policy goal and providing~~sector and of the fact that more than EUR 22 billion in urban lending was provided in 2017;

Amendment 84 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8a. Points in this context to the importance of carrying out thorough ex- ante and ex-post assessments in order to ascertain that works are sustainable and will provide real added value in economic, social, and environmental terms;

Amendment 85 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8a. Calls on the EIB to maintain loans supporting European energy policy objectives;

Amendment 86 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8 a. Reminds that more than 90% of EU SMEs are microenterprises providing for almost 30% of employment in the private sector; microenterprises are more vulnerable to economic shocks than larger firms and may remain underserved in credit provision; believes that in the domain of access to finance, the EIB could emphasise bridging possible funding gaps for microenterprises through financial instruments and products such as microfinance facilities and guarantees;

Amendment 87 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)

8b. Points to the need to consult local people and stakeholders at every stage of infrastructure projects with a view to gauging the additionality of the projects and their potential impact on the areas concerned and the local communities;

Amendment 88 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Welcomes the strong support of the EIB Group for SMEs and mid-caps with a total investment of EUR 29.6 billion, which has had a positive impact on 287 000 companies employing 3.9 million people; stresses however that this is far from filling the financing gap suffered by SMEs on account of the deteriorated economic environment and the concentration of the private financial industry away from its traditional credit model;

Amendment 89 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)

9 a. Recalls that according to the EIB, large firms are twice as likely as SMEs to be innovators; and innovative young firms are 50%more likely than other firms to be credit-constrained; urges the EIB to support smaller companies with smaller loans, in order to have a bigger impact on a broader cross-section of the European economy;

Amendment 9 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B c (new)

B c. whereas EIB bonds are of the highest credit quality and EIB is rated triple-A by the main three credit rating agencies owing to among other things its Member State ownership and its conservative risk management resulting in a solid loan book, with only 0.3% non- performing loans;

Amendment 90 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)

9 a. Believes that the communication of the EIB Group, in cooperation with its relevant national partners, should be improved in order to raise the SMEs awareness of their financing possibilities and to better inform citizens of the local and concrete projects financed by the EIB;

Amendment 91 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)

9 a. Given the strategic role of the SMEs, believes the bank’s SMEs strategy should include the reinforcement of the administrative and advising capacities of the bank to provide information and technical support to SMEs in developing and applying for finance;

Amendment 92 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. ~~Welcomes~~Takes note of the ten standards set out in the EIB’s Environmental and Social Handbook, which s~~erve as a prerequisite for participation in~~hould guide the EIB’s lending operations, including in the areas of pollution prevention and abatement, biodiversity and ecosystems, climate- related standards, cultural heritage, involuntary resettlement, rights and interests of vulnerable groups, labour standards, occupational and public health, safety and security and stakeholder engagement; calls on the EIB to make stringent use of these standards in all its activities throughout the project cycle and to increase environmental and social awareness of its staff;

Amendment 93 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)

10 a. Calls for increased human resources for the environment, climate and social office of the EIB which currently includes only one human rights specialist; regrets that the EIB did not produce any Human Rights risk assessment in 2017;

Amendment 94 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)

10 a. Stresses the need to enhance further investment programmes towards small scale projects in order to ensure the participation of SMEs;

Amendment 95 #

Motion for a resolution
Subheading 6 a (new)

Enhancing democratic control and transparency

Amendment 96 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)

10 a. Calls on the EIB to further enhance transparency and access to information both internally, for the European Parliament and other institutions, as well as for the public, especially regarding the contracting and subcontracting system, the results of internal investigations and the selection, monitoring and evaluation of activities and programmes, on the basis of clear and measurable indicators, as well as the methodology and results of the ex ante impact assessment and ex post reporting for each project financed, provided that no sensitive business information is involved;

Amendment 97 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)

10 b. Urges the EIB to enforce the independence and efficiency of the Complaint Mechanism Office and to take further steps to reduce bureaucracy, increase its capacity for macroeconomic analysis and enhance gender representation in its senior positions; regrets the lack of diversity in the management committee, board of governors and board of directors of the EIB, in particular with regard to gender equality;

Amendment 98 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 c (new)

10 c. Calls on the EIB to increase transparency in all of its programming and undertakings and to publish in full length the results of its reviews into lending operation;

Amendment 99 #