Activities of Davor ŠKRLEC related to 2017/2071(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the annual report on the financial activities of the European Investment Bank
Amendments (12)
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Is concerned that the increasing role of the EIB and financial instruments in cohesion policy might undermine its performance-based and result-oriented approach since, as a bank, the role of the EIB is primarily to absorb funds, leverage additional investments and ensure adequate return-on-investment;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls on the EIB to present an additional special chapter in its annual report dedicated to EIB activities aimed at the implementation of cohesion policy by Member States, and to include detailed information on the use of loans in cohesion policy projects and programmes and their effective contribution to cohesion policy objectives, including the EU2020 Strategy and horizontal principles of gender equality, sustainable development and climate change mitigation and adaptation;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Emphasises that the EIB, as an institution through which the EU finances projects aimed at fulfilling EU policies, should contribute to economic, social and territorial cohesion; notices however that, according to the geographical breakdown of lending by country in which projects are located, five Member States received 54.11 % of the total loans granted in 2016; urges the EIB and the Commission to examine the reasons of this uneven distribution as well as its effects on achieving cohesion policy objectives, and to report back to the European Parliament with their results before mid-2018;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Highlights that the EIB’s role in cohesion policy is increasing, especially due to the increased use of financial instruments; considers that this requires stronger involvement of the European Parliament, especially its Committee for Regional Development, in scrutinising the EIB's activities; emphasises that the level of use of financial instruments is still very low and that Member States point to the complexity of the procedures as one of the reasons for that; welcomes in that regard the set-up of the fi-compass platform as a one-stop shop for advisory services on financial instruments under cohesion policy;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Underlines that the use of financial instruments should remain at the discretion of managing authorities; opposes therefore any binding target for the use of financial instruments in the future cohesion policy as the need for and form of financial instruments largely depends on the sector and the market to be financed;
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Considers that, as the European Union's bank, the EIB should step up its efforts to ensure that financial intermediaries it engages with do not make use of or engage in tax avoidance structures, in particular aggressive tax planning schemes or practices not complying with tax good governance criteria as set out in EU legislation including Commission recommendations and communications; the EIB should also make sure that financial intermediaries are not involved in corruption, money laundering, organised crime or terrorism;
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4c. Recalls that ESI Funds and the EFSI are of a complementary nature, since the first ones aim at reducing economic, social and territorial inequalities while the latter one has been designed to overcome the current investment gap in the EU;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)
Paragraph 4 d (new)
4d. Is concerned by the proposal to facilitate the combination of ESI Funds with the EFSI by way of derogating to applicable requirements for financial instruments under the current Common Provisions Regulation; opposes the idea to allow ESI Funds to take a subordinated position to the EFSI;
Amendment 61 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Asks the EIB to adopt the OECD Rio climate markers used for tracking and monitoring climate expenditures from the ESI Funds in order to better take into the EIB activities related to cohesion policy in the assessment of the role of ESI Funds in tackling climate change;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Regrets the lack of data available on the role of the EIB at each stage of the implementation cycle of cohesion policy and the limited understanding of the ways in which EIB lending activities contribute to cohesion policy, including the real added value of its activities compared to more traditional forms of support such as grants.
Amendment 72 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Regrets that despite the EU's pledge to phasing out fossil fuel subsidies by 2020 as part of the EU2020 Strategy, the EIB alone has provided for 5.3 billion euros for fossil fuel projects in twelve Member States over the 2014-2016 period; believes that the EIB should take ambitious measures, in the context of the review of its energy policy foreseen for 2018, to phase-out fossil fuel projects and prioritise energy efficiency projects within its portfolio;
Amendment 75 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Welcomes the commitment of the EIB to support the implementation of the Paris Agreement, including by increasing its climate action lending activities above its 25% target; regrets however that those investments are almost exclusively concentrated in more developed regions; calls on the EIB to double its efforts so that transition and less developed regions can also benefit from the potentials of renewable energy, energy efficiency and circular economy in terms of job creation and sustainable development;