34 Amendments of Johan VAN OVERTVELDT related to 2020/2124(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 3
Citation 3
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 18 a (new)
Citation 18 a (new)
— having regard to the European Court of Auditors (ECA) Special Report entitled ‘European Fund for Strategic Investments: Action needed to make EFSI a full success’, published on 29 January 2019
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
B a. Whereas the European Investment Bank operates independently.
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Expresses serious concerns about the severeNotes macroeconomic imbalances deriving from the COVID-19 crisis and their related impact on economic growth, investment, resilience, employment rates and socio-economic inequalities; encourages Member States to address emerging imbalances through reforms that enhance economic and social resilience;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Underlines the EIB’s crucial role in supporting the economic recovery in the short and medium term in conjunction with the Next Generation EU Recovery Instrument, the EU’s long-term budget, the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) and other European financial instruments; welcomnotes the EIB’s financial engagement in the EFSI as a way to help overcome the investment gap in the EU; welcomnotes, moreover, the EIB’s central role in supplying advisory support under the InvestEU Advisory Hub;
Amendment 36 #
2 a. Underlines that it is questionable whether EFSI solved the causes of the investment gap or if it merely shifted the risks that private lenders were not willing to take to all European taxpayers;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Acknowledges the risks of dead- weight loss and moral hazard of EFSI;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2 c. Reminds that ECA found that the methodology used to estimate the investment mobilised in some cases overstated the extent to which EFSI support actually induced additional investment in the economy; reminds that some EFSI support just replaced other financing from the EU and the European Investment Bank;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 d (new)
Paragraph 2 d (new)
2 d. Stresses ECA’s recommendation that for all the investment support instruments for the MFF 2021-2027, the Commission should define a set of indicators measuring the expected results of budgetary guarantees in a realistic manner that enables comparison with other EU financial instruments; in particular, if “investment mobilised” and the “multiplier effect” are used as indicators, the calculation methodology and reporting arrangements should appropriately reflect the extent to which EU budget guarantee support actually induces or mobilises the investment of others;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 e (new)
Paragraph 2 e (new)
2 e. Is concerned that the lack of comparable performance and monitoring indicators for all EU financial instruments and budgetary guarantees diminishes transparency and the ability to assess results;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 f (new)
Paragraph 2 f (new)
2 f. Reminds that the causes of the investment gap, such as record level of public debts, non-performing loans in the banking sector, and high bureaucratic, regulatory and tax burden, have not yet been properly addressed;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on proper discussion and data-driven analysis of the effectiveness of the possibility that the shareholders of the EIB to agree on a capital increase, both cash- in and callable in nature; emphasises that a capital increase should go hand in hand with greater transparency and democratic accountability;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Asks the EIB as the EU’s public bank to make the utmost concerted efforts to deliver strong, policy-driven financing activity which gives priority to efficient public purpose projects, in particular those that would not otherwise be ‘bankable’, both within and outside the EU, with a view to addressing the unprecedented global challenges of the decades to come;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Welcomes, in addition, the subsequent creation of the EUR 25 billion European Guarantee Fund (EGF) in response to the COVID-19 crisis, not least its positive impact in providing financial support to SMEs and the health sector; suggesttresses that the EGF should remain operational beyond 2021; deems it of the utmost importance to step up such initiatives to ensure that funds are reaching the real economyEGF was set up to be temporary in nature and will be able to guarantee loans provided until 31 December 2021;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. WelcomNotes the creation of a targeted financing initiative of up to EUR 5.2 billion in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in order to support countries outside the EU;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Underlines that in the light of the successive waves of COVID-19 infections, the efficiency of these instruments will need to be further strengthened and extended; asks the EIB to stand ready to launch new supportive financial initiativesscrutinized and enforced;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 3
Subheading 3
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. WelcomeQuestions the proposal to increase EIB financing for climate action and environmental sustainability, including renewable energies, from around 30 % to at least 50 % by 2025, which would unlock ; underlinvestment of more than EUR 1 trillion over the next decade the importance of accountability and transparency for bodies that receive and provide EU funding;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Notes, however, that the roadmap envisages the introduction of a transition period until the end of 2022, which would mean that the EIB will not be aligned with the objectives of the Paris Agreement until 2023 at the earliest;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Highlights the crucial role of the EIB in meeting the goals of the Just Transition Mechanism and asks for more commitment and concrete action in this respect, namely through structural programme loans, InvestEU and as a financing partner for the public sector loan facility;
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Stresses that principle of value for money should represent the cornerstone of all EU funded investments; points out that EU funding should be accompanied by measurable objectives and outputs including a quantifiable and comparable evaluation mechanism that will allow to compare and rank the efficiency of individual EU programmes;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Considers that efficient investment in innovation, infrastructure and skills are crucial elements to recover from the economic and social crisis, ensure sustainable growth and create high-quality jobs and long-term competitiveness;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17 a. Urges not to repeat mistakes of the past in response to the economic crisis and warns that boosting investment is not an alternative to productivity-enhancing reforms; emphasises that regulatory environment with predictable rules, a level playing field and reduced compliance costs attract private investments;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Calls on the EIB to play a role in assisting and financing the creation of innovation ecosystems and in promoting place-based industrial transformation, where universities, businesses, SMEs and start-ups can develop long-lasting partnerships for the common good; warns against the costs in a form of dead-weight loss, shifting of resources and moral hazard; calls the Commission to properly scrutinize the economic viability of the EIB programs;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Notes that during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, social welfare systems in the Member States have come under unprecedented strain; calls on the EIB to partner with the Commission and Member States to strengthen social welfare systems and increase investment in the social sector, including by establishing similar targets for social investment to those for digital and green investments;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Calls on the EIB to play an active role in helping Member States to deliver on the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, while standing ready to align with the forthcoming Commission action plan and the Social Summit in Porto; points to the importance of ex-ante and ex-post evaluations of the sustainability, economic, social and environmental impact of projects accompanied by measurable result indicators;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22 a. Highlights that public investments are limited as they represent scarce resources mostly funded by the taxpayers; calls on the EIB to prioritise the investments according to their efficiency in order to support economic growth;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. WelcomNotes the fact that the EIB is the largest multilateral lender in the world that strives to support EU external cooperation and development policies;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Calls for the EIB to prioritiserealise only an efficient investment in infrastructure that helps third countries to realise the UN Sustainable Development Goals and that delivers on social and environmental justice,deliver public services and fair economic opportunities for citizens;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. RecallNotes its request for an interinstitutional agreement between the EIB and Parliament in order to improve access to EIB documents and data and enhance democratic accountability;
Amendment 191 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
Amendment 222 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Welcomes the EIB’s Group Strategy onfor more Gender Equality and Gender Action Plan; regrets the fact that women are still not sufficiently represented in managerial and senior office positions; believes that more needs to be done in this regard during the implementation of the second phase of the Action Plan in 2021; stresses, however, that the strategy seeking greater gender equality must not be pursued at the expense of the substantive quality of management;
Amendment 227 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Welcomes the fact that the EIB will review its environmental and social standards and calls for a wide and inclusive public consultation on these issues; invites the EIB to take account of the do-no harm principle in its operations; calls on the EIB to take this opportunity to strengthen its human rights policy;