BETA

28 Amendments of Markus FERBER related to 2018/0178(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13

(13) A Union classification of environmentally sustainable economic activities should enable the development of ~~future Union policies, including~~ Union- wide standards for environmentally sustainable financial products and eventually the establishment of labels that formally recognise compliance with those standards across the Union. Uniform legal requirements for considering investments as environmentally sustainable investments, based on uniform criteria for environmentally sustainable economic activities, are necessary as a reference for future Union legislation aiming at enabling those investHowever, those standards for environmentally sustainable economic activities should not be the basis for prudential requirements such as own funds or capital requirements.

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 16

(16) To avoid harming consumer interests, fund managers and institutional investors offering financial products as environmentally sustainable, should disclose how and to what extent the criteria for environmentally sustainable economic activities are used to determine the environmental sustainability of the investments. The information disclosed should enable investors to understand the share of the investment funding environmentally sustainable economic activities as a percentage of all economic activities and thus the degree of environmental sustainability of the investment. The Commission should specify the information that needs to be disclosed for that purpose. That information should enable national competent authorities to verify compliance with the disclosure obligation easily, and to enforce that obligation in accordance with applicable national law.relevant information in line with the provisions outlined in the Regulation on disclosures relating to sustainable investments and sustainability risks and amending Directive (EU)2016/2341;

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Markus FERBER, Christophe HANSEN

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 17

(17) To avoid circumvention of the disclosure obligation, that obligation should also apply where financial products are offered as having similar characteristics as environmentally sustainable investments, including those having as their target environmental protection in a broad sense. Financial market participants should not be required to invest only in environmentally sustainable economic activities determined in accordance with the technical screening criteria set out in this Regulation. They should be encouraged to inform the Commission if they consider that an economic activity that does not meet the technical screening criteria, or for which such criteria have not been established yet, should be considered environmentally sustainable, to help the Commission to evaluate the appropriateness of complementing or updating the technical screening criteria.deleted

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Markus FERBER, Christophe HANSEN

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 20

(20) For each environmental objective, uniform criteria for considering economic activities to be substantially contributing to that objective should be laid down. One element of the uniform criteria should be to avoid significant harm to any of the environmental objectives set out in this Regulation. This is in order to avoid that investments are considered environmentally sustainable although the economic activities benefitting from those investments cause harm to the environment to an extent outweighing their contribution to an environmental objective. The conditions for substantial contribution and for not causing significant harm should enable investments into environmentally sustainable economic activities to make a real contribution to the environmental objectives. However, the establishment of the criterion to avoid significant harm to any of the environmental objectives should not lead to the creation of a black list or brown list.

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 21

(21) Recalling the joint commitment of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission to pursue the principles enshrined in the European Pillar of Social Rights in support of sustainable and inclusive growth and recognising the relevance of international minimum human and labour rights and standards, compliance with minimum safeguards should be a condition for economic activities to qualify as environmentally sustainable. For that reason economic activities should only qualify as environmentally sustainable where they are carried out observing the International Labour Organisation’s (‘ILO’) declaration on Fundamental Rights and Principles at Work and the eight ILO core conventions. The ILO core conventions define human and labour rights that companies are due to respect and therefore serve as a sufficient yardstick for sustainable economic activity. Several of these international standards are also enshrined the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, in particular the prohibition of slavery and forced labour and the principle of non-discrimination. Those minimum safeguards are without prejudice to the application of more stringent requirements on environment, health and safety and social sustainability set out in Union law, where applicable.

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 24

(24) An economic activity should not be considered environmentally sustainable if it causes more harm to the environment than the benefits it brings. The technical screening criteria should identify the minimum requirements necessary to avoid a significant harm to other objectives. When establishing and updating the technical screening criteria, the Commission should ensure that those criteria are reasonable, proportionate and based on available scientific evidence and are updated regularly. Where scientific evaluation does not allow for the risk to be determined with sufficient certainty, the precautionary principle should apply, in line with Article 191 TFEU.

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Markus FERBER, Christophe HANSEN

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 27

(27) To avoid distorting competition when raising financing for environmentally sustainable economic activities, the technical screening criteria should ensure that all relevant economic activities within a specific sector can qualify as environmentally sustainable and are treated equally if they contribute equally towards one or more of the environmental objectives laid out in this Regulation. The potential capacity to contribute towards those environmental objectives may however vary across sectors, which should be reflected in the criteria. Therefore, the screening criteria should not result in the creation of a black list or brown list. However, within each sector, those criteria should not unfairly disadvantage certain economic activities over others if the former contribute towards the environmental objectives to the same extent as the latter.

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 32

(32) It is of particular importance that the Commission when preparing the development of the technical screening criteria, carry out appropriate consultations in line with Better Regulation requirements. The process for the establishment and the update of the technical screening criteria should also involve relevant stakeholders and build on the advice of experts with proven knowledge and experience in the relevant areas. For that purpose, the Commission should set up a Platform on sustainable finance. This Platform should be composed of experts representing both the public and the private sector. Public sector representatives should include experts from the European Environmental Agency, the European Supervisory Authorities and the European Investment Bank. Private sector experts sh~~ould~~all include representatives of relevant stakeholders, including financial market actors, representatives of the real economy representing a wide range of industries, universities, research institutes, associations and organisations. The Platform should advise the Commission on the development, analysis and review of technical screening criteria, including their potential impact on the valuation of assets that until the adoption of the technical screening criteria were considered as green assets under existing market practices. The Platform should also advise the Commission on whether the technical screening criteria are suitable for further uses in future Union policy initiatives aimed at facilitating sustainable investment.

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1

1. This Regulation establishes the criteria for determining the degree of environmental impact and sustainability of an economic activity and thereby whether an economic activity is environmentally sustainable for the purposes of establishing the degree of environmental sustainability of an investment made within the European Union.

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 a (new)

Article 1 a Exclusions This Regulation shall not apply to: - financial instruments or financial products that are not marketed as environmentally sustainable; - loan origination; - investments made outside the European Union; - financial market participants that do not offer financial products that are marketed as sustainable or having similar characteristics; - credit institutions; - investment decisions made prior to the date of application of this regulation;

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 2

2. Financial market participants offering financial products as environmentally sustainable investments, or as investments having similar characteristics, shall disclose information on how and to what extent the criteria for environmentally sustainable economic activities set out in Article 3 are used to determine the environmental sustainability of the investment. Where financial market participants consider that an economic activity which does not comply with the technical screening criteria set out in accordance with this Regulation or for which those technical screening criteria have not been established yet, should be considered environmentally sustainable, they may inform the Commission.deleted

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 3

~~3. The Commission shall adopt~~ delegated acts in accordance with Article 16 to supplement paragraph 2 to specify the information required to comply with that paragraph, taking into account the technical screening criteria set out in accordance with this Regulation. That information shall enable investors to identify: (a) the percentage of holdings pertaining to companies carrying out environmentally sustainable economic activities; (b) the share of the investment funding environmentally sustainable economic activities as a percentage of all economic activities.

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 4

~~4. The Commission shall adopt the~~ delegated act in accordance with paragraph 3 by 31 December 2019 with a view to ensure its entry into application on 1 July 2020. The Commission may amend that delegated act, in particular in the light of amendments to the delegated acts adopted in accordance with Article 6(2), Article 7(2), Article 8(2), Article 9(2), Article 10(2) and Article 11(2).

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 12

Significant harm to environmental For the purposes of Article 3(b), an economic activity shall be considered as significantly harming: (a) climate change mitigation, where that activity leads to significant greenhouse gas emissions; (b) climate change adaptation, where that activity leads to increased negative effect of current and expected climate, for and beyond the natural and built environment within which that activity takes place; (c) sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, where that activity is detrimental to a significant extent to good status of Union waters, including freshwater, transitional waters and coastal waters, or to good environmental status of marine waters of the Union; (d) circular economy and waste prevention and recycling, where that activity leads to significant inefficiencies in the use of materials in one or more stages of the life-cycle of products, including in terms of durability, reparability, upgradability, reusability or recyclability of products; or where that activity leads to a significant increase in the generation, incineration or disposal of waste; (e) pollution prevention and control where that activity leads to significant increase in emissions of pollutants to air, water and land, as compared to the situation before this activity started; (f) healthy ecosystems, where that activity is detrimental to a significant extent to the good condition of ecosystems.Article 12 deleted objectives

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 – paragraph 1

The minimum safeguards referred to in Article 3(c) shall be procedures implemented by the undertaking that is carrying out an economic activity to ensure that the principles and rights set out in the eight fundamental conventions identified in the International Labour Organisation’s declaration on Fundamental Rights and Principles at Work, namely: the right not to be subjected to forced labour, the freedom of association, workers' right to organise, the right to collective bargaining, equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value, non- discrimination in opportunity and treatment with respect to employment and occupation, as well as the right not to be subjected to child labour, are observed. Those standards shall serve as a sufficient yardstick to whether an economic activity can be considered sustainable.

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 1 – point f

(f) take into account the environmental impacts of the economic activity itself, as well as of the products and services provided by that economic activity, notably by considering their production, use, recycling and end-of-life;

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 1 – point j a (new)

(j a) are easy to apply and are not too burdensome from a compliance perspective.

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 4

~~4. The Commission shall regularly review the screening criteria referred to in paragraph 1 and, if appropriate, amend the~~ delegated ~~acts adopted in accordance with this Regulation in line with scientific and technological developments.~~

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Markus FERBER, Christophe HANSEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. The technical screening criteria shall not result in setting up a black list or brown list of economic activity.

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – point b

(b) experts representing relevant private stakeholders from the financial sector as well as from the real economy representing a broad set of relevant industries;

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 2 – point d

~~(d) advise the Commission on the suitability of the technical screening criteria for possible further uses;~~deleted

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 2 – point f

~~(f) advise the Commission on the possible need to amend this Regulation.~~deleted

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 4

4. Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making. and provide an impact assessment of the proposed policy options;

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 – paragraph 1 – introductory part

1. By 31 December 20213, and subsequently every three years thereafter, the Commission shall publish a report on the application of this Regulation. That report shall evaluate the following:

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 – paragraph 2

2. The report shall be sent to the European Parliament and to the Council. The Commission shall make accompanying legislative proposals ~~where~~if appropriate.

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 18 – paragraph 2 – point a

(a) in respect of the environmental objectives referred to in points (1) and (2) of Article 5, from 1 July 20202;

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 18 – paragraph 2 – point b

(b) in respect of the environmental objectives referred to in points (4) and (5) of Article 5, from 31 December 20213;

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 18 – paragraph 2 – point c

(c) in respect of the environmental objectives referred to in points (3) and (6) of Article 5, from 31 December 20224.

2018/12/17
Committee: ECON ENVI