Activities of Alessia Maria MOSCA related to 2018/2151(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the annual report on the control of the financial activities of the EIB
Amendments (12)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes that according to its operational strategy, the EIB aims to (i) finance viable capital projects and (ii) borrow on the capital markesupport European strategic objectives, such as restoring EU competitiveness and long term economic growth and job creation, to facilitate the access to finance for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), to foster energy transition by financing climate adaptation and mitigation projects, to finance these projectaddress the jobs crisis facing the EU’s young generation, to support infrastructure projects, and to contribute to the mitigation of migration’s causes;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
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; underlines that the EIB is the financial arm of the European Union and as such it should facilitate the access to finance to those enterprises unable to raise funds through commercial banks; 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 and corporate social responsibility benchmarks in its project evaluations;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Underlines that EIB’s lending conditions should facilitate 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 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. 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 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that the European Union provides a guarantee to the EIB; warns that this may create moral hazard in lendingIB operates under a development mandate and therefore needs to work in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals; reiterates its firm opposition to the financement of projects linked to the consumption of fossil fuels;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. 4. Notes with satisfaction that the EIB has committed 25 % of its total financing to projects relating to climate change, rising to 35 % by 2020; urges the EIB to strongly reconsider this level of fundingwelcomes this contribution of the EIB to the EU’s efforts to address climate change and mitigate its consequences;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes that the EIB’s lending to Mediterranean Partner Countries will amount to EUR 15 billion over the next five years; cautions, however, that Transparency International considers these to be among the worst countries in the world for corruption; affirms that such lending should therefore cease until the appropriate auditing measures are in place; and therefore affirms the need for continued strict monitoring of potential risks related to corruption and fraud; demands 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; considers the lending activity in the Mediterranean region paramount for the achievement of the Union’s external and migration policies; therefore calls for an expansion of the external lending mandate (ELM) 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 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Considers that the EIB should increase its transparency, vis-à-vis not only the European Parliament, but also the parliaments of the Member States; believes that it is only right that democ; in this regard 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 contractic representatives have more information about the activities of the EIBng 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 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Emphasises that there will have to be special arrangements regarding the UK’s shareholding must preserve the EIB’s ability to achieve its policy objectives;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. 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; calls for the establishment of more pro-active SME and micro-enterprise policy requirements for intermediary banks disbursing EIB funds;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10b. 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;