17 Amendments of Andrey NOVAKOV related to 2016/2064(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Acknowledges the initial results of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) to mobilise private investments, which as of July 2016 totalled to 20.4 billion euros of EFSI financing that will trigger an expected 115.7 billion of euros in investments; recalls that the EFSI must also contribute to economic, social and territorial cohesion and that efforts are needed to enhance synergies and complementarity between the EFSI and European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIFs); underlines the importance of ensuring additionality of the EFSI with respect to other EIB initiatives and EU- funded programs by addressing market failures or suboptimal investment situations;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Acknowledges the initial results of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) to mobilise private investments; welcomes the alignment of political and economic agendas of both the European Commission and the European Parliament allowing fast start- up time; recalls that the EFSI must also contribute to economic, social and territorial cohesion and that efforts are needed to enhance synergies and complementarity between the EFSI and European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIFs); underlines the importance of ensuring additionality of the EFSI with respect to other EIB initiatives and EU- funded programs;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Welcomes the approved by the EIB Board of Directors investment projects revealing a pool if higher risk operations that would not have been financed by financial institutions or Cohesion Policy operations; notes, however, that many of the operations cover ESIF intervention and eligibility criteria, especially with regards to the ERDF; calls for a higher risk profile of approved investment projects to bring more value to economy and to cover market niches which will otherwise remain major investment gaps;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Calls on the Commission in collaboration with the EIB to provide a full-scale data and information on the progress of the SME window, including utilisation of financial products by SMEs. Such efforts are particularly important for a true mid-term review and could reveal drawbacks such as burdensome requirements that lessen the investment potential locally;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Welcomes the publication of the Commission’s new guidelines of 22 of February 2016 on combining ESIFs and the EFSI as well as the publication of the Commission's and EIB's of 18 of March on EFSI rules related to investment platforms; takes note, however, that the number of existing synergies between EFSI and ESIFs funds is still extremely low and calls on the Commission, the EIB, the national promotional banks and institutions (NPBI) and the managing authorities to accelerate the design and implementation of further synergies in order to ensure a wider geographical coverage of the EFSI;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Observes that Commission guidelines and action on achieving synergies do not go in-depth; notes that so far existing ESI Funds-EFSI combinations are bottom-up demand- driven by local authorities and actors;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Invites the Commission to provide comprehensive guidance to managing authorities on combining EFSI with shared and direct management instruments under the ESI Funds; notes that special focus should be placed on diverging funding rules, procedures and state aid provisions where a unified EU- wide approach has to be proposed by DG REGIO; believes that pilot projects for combining EFSI with ERDF and Horizon 2020 should be encouraged by the Commission by contributing to the overall ESI Funds performance score for Member States towards the end of the programming period;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Considers that the Commission, the EIB, the Committee of the Regions, and the managing authorities should better cooperate to ensure that more integrated ESIF-EFSI projects are put forward to boost territorial development and cohesion policies; notes that projects in the circular economy could provide an example of integrated ESIF-EFSI projects since they promote the role of local and regional authorities in enabling a transition to a sustainable, resource efficient and competitive economy, while fitting in the investment profile of EFSI fundable projects;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Considers that the Commission, the EIB, the Committee of the Regions, and the managing authorities should better cooperate to ensure that more integrated ESIF-EFSI projects are put forward to boost territorial development and cohesion policies;
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Considers that it is essential to ensure a geographical balance of EFSI projects, takingtake into account of the different economic development of the regions and the territorial diversity of the Member States recalling that EFSI was meant to address market failure or suboptimal investment situations; points to the success of the SME Window and urges the Commission to scale it up by enhancing communication especially in countries where the EFSI deal flow is slow; highlights the importance of also developing thematic or cross-border projects that could deliver a high European added value; encourages all Member States to nominate National Promotional Banks, which are essential in the establishment of investment platforms of either thematic or regional concentration;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the fact that EFSI is a demand-driven close-to-market instrument due to the focus on the private sector; Notes that geographically project operations indicate strong and weak regions in the EU - countries with many large projects and countries falling short of succeeding in the infrastructure and innovation window; Considers that it is essential to ensure a geographical balance of EFSI projects, taking account of the different economic development of the regions and the territorial diversity of the Member States; highlights the importance of also developing cross-border projects that could deliver a high European added value;
Amendment 60 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls on the Commission and the EIB to invest efforts in enabling non- participating regions through investment in on-the-ground technical assistance to induce regionally balanced project operations; Believes that creation of local investment platforms - a meeting point for public funds and private financing - should be accelerated;
Amendment 62 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Refers to experience drawn from Cohesion policy operations, showing that technical assistance to private and public beneficiaries is most needed at regional and local level; therefore, calls on the Commission and the EIB to involve financial intermediaries and umbrella organisations in a flexible and open way; believes that a rigorous communication campaign on EFSI investment projects should be undertaken in the weak performing EU regions;
Amendment 63 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
Amendment 71 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Believes that the selection of EFSI financing operations and the managing of projects should be more transparent, accountable, based on defined criteria and involve local and regional stakeholders at an early stage, where necessary; stresses that the European Investment Advisory Hub (EIAH) and the EFSI investment committee should use the expertise of local and regional authorities in order to promote integrated ESIF-EFSI projects; with a view to this, the EIAH should play an active role in enabling even more local and regional authorities to make the most of the EFSI by offering advice to all languages and with knowledge of the business environment in each Member State; encourages Member States as well as local and regional authorities to present projects that could be complementarily funded by EFSI and ESIF in the European Investment Project Portal in order to attract investments in their territory;
Amendment 88 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8