50 Amendments of Othmar KARAS related to 2018/0229(COD)
Amendment 165 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) The InvestEU Fund should contribute to improving the competitiveness of the Union, including in the field of innovation and digitisation, the sustainability of the Union's economic growth, the social resilience and inclusiveness and the integration of the Union capital markets, including solutions addressing their fragmentation and diversifying sources of financing for the Union enterprises. To that end, it should support the dual value of cultural and creative sectors, projects that are technically and economically viable by providing a framework for the use of debt, risk sharing and equity instruments underpinned by a guarantee from the Union's budget and by contributions from implementing partners as relevant. It should be demand-driven while support under the InvestEU Fund should at the same time focus on contributing to meeting policy objectives of the Union as outlined in Article 3.
Amendment 187 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 9
Recital 9
(9) Reflecting the importance of tackling climate change in line with the Union's commitments to implement the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the InvestEU Programme will contribute to mainstream climate actions and to the achievement of an overall target of 2530 % of the Union budget expenditures supporting climate objectives. Actions under the InvestEU Programme are expected to contribute at least 30 % of the overall financial envelope of the InvestEU Programme to climate objectives, while recognising the demand-driven nature of the InvestEU Fund. Financing for SMEs and small midcap companies should not be included in that computation. Relevant actions will be identified during the InvestEU Programme's preparation and implementation and reassessed in the context of the relevant evaluations and review processes.
Amendment 199 #
(12) Investment projects receiving substantial Union support, notably in the area of infrastructure, should be subject to sustainability proofing in accordance with guidanceinvestment guidelines that should be developed by the Commission in close cooperation with the implementing partners under the InvestEU Programme after conducting open public consultations and, using in an appropriate way the criteria established by [Regulation on establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment] for determining whether an economic activity is environmentally sustainable and coherently with the guidanceinvestment guidelines developed for other programmes of the Union. Such guidance should include adequate provisions to avoid undue administrative burdenIn line with the principle of proportionality such investment guidelines should include adequate provisions to avoid undue administrative burden and projects below a certain size defined in the investment guidelines should be excluded from the proofing.
Amendment 205 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) Low infrastructure investment rates in the Union during the financial crisis undermined the Union's ability to boost sustainable growth, competitiveness and convergence. Sizeable investments in the European infrastructure are, including interconnections and energy efficiency, is fundamental to meet the Union's sustainability targets, including the 2030 energy and climate targets. Accordingly, support from the InvestEU Fund should target investments into transport in transport, including the maintenance or upgrade of existing infrastructure assets with particular focus on safety and security assets, energy, including energy efficiency, energy interconnection and renewable energy, environmental, climate action, including renewable materials, maritime and digital infrastructure. To maximise the impact and the value added of Union financing support, it is appropriate to promote a streamlined investment process enabling visibility of the project pipeline and consistency across relevant Union programmes. Bearing in mind security threats and risk prevention, investment projects receiving Union support should take into account principles for the protection of citizens in public spaces. This should be complementary to the efforts made by other Union funds such as the European Regional Development Fund providing support for security components of investments in public spaces, transport, energy and other critical infrastructure.
Amendment 232 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 19
Recital 19
(19) Each policy window should be composed of two compartments, that is to say an EU compartment and a Member State compartment. The EU compartment should address Union-wide market failures or sub-optimal investment situations in an effective and proportionate manner; supported actions should have a clear European added value. The Member State compartment should give Member States the possibility to contribute a share of their resources of Funds under shared management to the provisioning of the EU guarantee to use the EU guarantee for financing or investment operations to address Member State specific market failures or sub-optimal investment situations in their own territory, including in vulnerable and remote areas such as the outermost regions of the Union, to deliver objectives of the Fund under shared management. Actions supported from the InvestEU Fund through either EU or Member State compartments should noteither duplicate or crowd out private financing nor distort competition in the internal market. The EU and Member State compartments should be used, where appropriate, in a complementary manner to support a financing or investment operation, including by combining support from both compartments.
Amendment 253 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 24
Recital 24
(24) The EU guarantee underpinning the InvestEU Fund should be implemented indirectly by the Commission relying on implementing partners with outreach to financial intermediaries, where applicable, and final recipients. A guarantee agreement allocating guarantee capacity from the InvestEU Fund should be concluded by the Commission with each implementing partner, to support its financing and investment operations meeting the InvestEU Fund objectives and eligibility criteria. The InvestEU Fund should be provided with a specific governance structure to ensure the appropriate use of the EU guarantee.
Amendment 261 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 24 a (new)
Recital 24 a (new)
(24a) The InvestEU Fund should be provided with an appropriate governance structure the function of which should be commensurate with its sole purpose of ensuring the appropriate use of the EU guarantee, while ensuring political independence of investment decisions and being in line with the market-driven nature of the InvestEU Fund. That governance structure should be composed of a Steering Board, an Advisory Board and a fully independent Investment Committee.
Amendment 267 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 26
Recital 26
(26) The Commission should assess the compatibility of investment and financing operations submitted bySteering Board should set the strategic orientation of the InvestEU Fund, the operating policies and procedures necessary for the functioning of the InvestEU Fund and the rules applicable to the operations with investment platforms. The Steering Board should comprise six members as follows: three members appointed by the Commission; one member appointed by the European Investment Bank; one member appointed by the Advisory Board from amongst the representatives of the implementing partners, with Union law and policies whereas the decisions on financing and investment operations should ultimately be taken by an implementing partnerhich should not be a representative of the EIB and one expert appointed by the European Parliament, which should not seek or take instructions from Union institutions, bodies, offices or agencies, from any Member State government or from any other public or private body and should act in full independence as well as perform his or her duties impartially and in the interest of the InvestEU Fund. Detailed minutes of Steering Board meetings should be published as soon as they have been approved by the Steering Board and the European Parliament should be immediately notified of their publication.
Amendment 277 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 27
Recital 27
(27) A Project Team consisting of experts put at the disposal of the Commission by the implementing partners in order to provide professional expertise in financial and technical assessment of proposed financing and investment operations should score those submitted by the implementing partners to be assessed by the Investment Committeesecretariat should be provided to assist the Investment Committee and the Steering Board in secretarial and administrative duties. The Steering Board should adopt the rules of procedure and establish arrangements for the management of the secretariat.
Amendment 285 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 29
Recital 29
(29) In selecting implementing partners for the deployment of the InvestEU Fund, the Commission should consider the counterpart's capacity to fulfil the objectives of the InvestEU Fund and its contribute its own resourcesion as defined in point 2 a (new) of paragraph 1 of Article 2 of this Regulation, in order to ensure adequate geographical coverage and diversification, to crowd-in private investors and to provide sufficient risk diversification as well as new solutions to address market failures and sub-optimal investment situations. Given its role under the Treaties, its capacity to operate in all Member States and the existing experience under the current financial instruments and the EFSI, the European Investment Bank (‘EIB’) Group should remain a privileged implementing partner under the InvestEU Fund's EU compartment and the Commission should closely cooperate with the EIB Group, and where appropriate coordinate with the other implementing partners, in the management of the InvestEU Advisory Hub in order to ensure efficiency, synergies and an effective geographic support coverage across the Union while taking due account of existing structures and work in this regard, such as the European Investment Advisory Hub (EIAH). In addition to the EIB Group, national, regional and local promotional banks or institutions, where they are implementing partners, should be able to offer a complementary financial product range given that their experience and capabilities at regional level could be beneficial for the maximisation of the impact of public funds on the territory of the Union. The rules on the participation of national, regional or local promotional banks or institutions in the program should take into account the principle of proportionality with regard to complexity, size and risk of the implementing partners concerned to ensure a level-playing field for smaller and younger promotional banks or institutions. Moreover, it should be possible to have other international financial institutions as implementing partners, in particular when they present a comparative advantage in terms of specific expertise and experience in certain Member States. It should also be possible for other entities fulfilling the criteria laid down in the Financial Regulation to act as implementing partners.
Amendment 309 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 35
Recital 35
(35) The InvestEU Advisory Hub should support the development of a robust pipeline of investment projects in each policy window, while taking due account of the expertise and local capacity of the implementing partners. In addition, a cross- sectoral component under the InvestEU Programme should be foreseen to ensure a single-entry point and cross-policy project development assistance for centrally managed Union programmes.
Amendment 310 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 36
Recital 36
(36) In order to ensure a wide geographic outreach of the advisory services across the Union and to successfully leverage local knowledge about the InvestEU Fund, a local presence of the InvestEU Advisory Hub should be ensured, where needed, taking into accountcomplementing existing support schemes and the presence of local partners, with a view to provide tangible, proactive, tailor- made assistance on the ground. In order to facilitate the provision of advisory support at local level, the InvestEU Advisory Hub should cooperate with national, regional or local promotional banks or institutions, and the managing authorities of the European Structural and Investment Funds, as well as benefit from and make use of their expertise. In Member States where national, regional or local promotional banks or institutions do not exist, the InvestEU Advisory Hub should provide, where appropriate, and at the request of the Member State concerned, proactive advisory support on the establishment of such bank or institution.
Amendment 314 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 36 a (new)
Recital 36 a (new)
(36a) The InvestEU Advisory Hub should provide advisory support to small projects and projects for start-ups, for example when start-ups seek to protect their research and innovation investments by obtaining intellectual property (IP) titles, such as patents.
Amendment 318 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 40
Recital 40
(40) A solid monitoring framework, based on output, outcome and impact indicators should be implemented to track progress towards the Union's objectives. In order to ensure accountability to European citizens, the Commission and the Steering Board should report annually to the European Parliament and the Council on the progress, impact and operations of the InvestEU Programme.
Amendment 321 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 46
Recital 46
(46) In order to supplement the non- essential elements of this Regulation with investment guidelines, which should be developed by the Commission in close cooperation with the implementing partners under the InvestEU Programme after conducting open public consultations, with which financing and investment operations should comply, to facilitate a prompt and flexible adaptation of the performance indicators and to adjust of the provisioning rate, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the TFEU should be delegated to the Commission in respect of drawing-up the investment guidelines for the financing and investment operations under different policy windows, the amendment of Annex III to this Regulation to review or complement the indicators and the adjustment of the provisioning rate. In line with the principle of proportionality such investment guidelines should include adequate provisions to avoid undue administrative burden. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate open public consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making of 13 April 2016. In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States' experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.
Amendment 329 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 1 a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 1 a (new)
(1a) 'EIB Group' means the European Investment Bank and its subsidiaries;
Amendment 330 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 1 b (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 1 b (new)
(1b) 'additionality' means additionality in investment decisions as defined in Article 7a.
Amendment 331 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 2 a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 2 a (new)
(2a) 'financial contribution' means a contribution from an implementing partner in the form of own risk taking capacity and/or financial support to an operation covered by this Regulation;
Amendment 345 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 10 a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 10 a (new)
(10a) 'Investment guidelines' means the set of criteria, based on the principles established by this Regulation with regard to general objectives, eligibility criteria and eligible instruments, used by the Investment Committee to decide in a transparent and independent manner on the use of the EU guarantee and developed by the Commission in close cooperation with the implementing partners under the InvestEU Programme after conducting open public consultations;
Amendment 347 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 10 b (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 10 b (new)
(10b) 'investment platforms' means special purpose vehicles, managed accounts, contract-based co-financing or risk-sharing arrangements or arrangements established by any other means by which entities channel a financial contribution in order to finance a number of investment projects, and which may include: (a) national or sub-national platforms that group together several investment projects on the territory of a given Member State; (b) multi-country or regional platforms that group together partners from several Member States or third countries interested in projects in a given geographic area; (c) thematic platforms that group together investment projects in a given sector; Investment platforms shall, where appropriate, bring together co-investors, public authorities, experts, education, training and research institutions, the relevant social partners and representatives of the civil society and other relevant actors at Union, national and regional levels.
Amendment 350 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 13
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 13
(13) 'national promotional banks or institutions' (NBPI) means legal entities carrying out financial activities on a professional basis which are given a mandate by a Member State or a Member State's entity at central, regional or local level, to carry out development or promotional activities;
Amendment 400 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 6 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Blending operations combining support under this Regulation shall be as seamless as possible.
Amendment 403 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. The InvestEU Fund shall operate through the following four policy windows that shall address market failures and/or sub- optimal investment situations within their specific scope:
Amendment 422 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1
Article 7 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1
Financing and investment operations under the sustainable infrastructure policy window referred to in point (a) of paragraph (1) shall be subject to climate, environmental and social sustainability proofing with a view to minimise detrimental impacts and maximise benefits on climate, environment and social dimension. For that purpose, promoters requesting financing shall provide adequate information based on guidanceinvestment guidelines to be developed by the Commission. P in close cooperation with the implementing partners under the InvestEU Programme after conducting open public consultations. In line with the principle of proportionality, such investment guidelines shall include adequate provisions to avoid undue administrative burden and projects below a certain size defined in the guidanceinvestment guidelines shall be excluded from the proofing.
Amendment 446 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 a (new)
Article 7 a (new)
Article 7a Additionality For the purposes of this Regulation, 'additionality' means support by the InvestEU Fund for operations which address market failures or sub-optimal investment situations and which could not have been carried out during the period in which the EU guarantee can be used, or not the same extent, by implementing partners without InvestEU Fund support. The InvestEU Fund shall support the objectives laid down in Article 3, shall strive to create employment and sustainable growth and shall typically have a higher risk profile than projects supported by normal operations of the implementing partners. Overall, the InvestEU Fund portfolio shall ideally have a higher risk profile than the portfolio of investments supported by the implementing partners under their normal investment policies before the entry into force of this Regulation.
Amendment 452 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. EachThe policy windows referred to in Article 7(1) shall each consist of two compartments addressing specific market failures or sub-optimal investment situations as follows:
Amendment 468 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 2
Article 8 – paragraph 2
2. The compartments referred to in paragraph 1 mayshall be used, where appropriate, in a complementary manner to support a financing or investment operation, including by combining support from both compartments.
Amendment 499 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 1
Article 10 – paragraph 1
1. The EU guarantee under the InvestEU Fund shall be granted to the implementing partners in accordance with [Article 219(1)] of the [Financial Regulation] and managed in accordance with [Title X] of the [Financial Regulation]. The EU guarantee shall be irrevocable, unconditional and provided on first demand to eligible counterparts for the financing and investment operations covered by this Regulation.
Amendment 507 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 10 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. The EU guarantee under the EU compartment shall be allocated to implementing partners. At least 75% of the EU guarantee under the EU compartment shall be allocated to the EIB Group while in principal 25% of the EU guarantee shall be made available to other implementing partners. In the event that other implementing partners than the EIB Group cannot fully use their share of the guarantee and following a debate in the Steering Board, specific amounts exceeding 75% of the EU guarantee may be made available to the EIB Group. National promotional banks or institutions may fully benefit from the EU guarantee also in case they decide to access to it through the EIB or the European Investment Fund.
Amendment 574 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 – paragraph 1
Article 17 – paragraph 1
1. The Commission and the Steering Board shall be advised by an advisory board which shall have two configurations, namelycomprise of one representatives of each implementing partners and, one representatives of each Member States, one representative of the EIB, one representative of the Commission and one expert for each policy window, appointed by the European Economic and Social Committee.
Amendment 595 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 a (new)
Article 17 a (new)
Article 17a Risk Assessment Criteria The Commission shall, in close cooperation with the EIB Group as main implementing partner and in coordination with the other implementing partners, supplement this Regulation by establishing risk assessment criteria to contribute to programme consistency and an effective analysis and comparison of the operations under the InvestEU Fund.
Amendment 596 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 b (new)
Article 17 b (new)
Amendment 602 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 18
Article 18
Amendment 638 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 19 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. An fully independent Investment Committee shall be established. It shall
Amendment 640 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 19 – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) verify their compliance with this Regulation and the relevant investment guidelines, giving particular attention to the additionality requirement referred to in [Article 209(2)(b)] of the [Financial7a of this Regulation] and to the requirement to crowd in private investment referred to in [Article 209(2)(d)] of the [Financial Regulation]; and
Amendment 646 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
Article 19 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
Each configuration of the Investment Committee shall be composed of six remunerated external experts. The experts shall be selected in accordance with [Article 237] of the [Financial Regulation] and be appointed by the Commission for a fixed term of up to four years. Their term shall be renewable but shall not exceed seven years in total. The CommissionSteering Board may decide to renew the term of office of an incumbent member of the Investment Committee without availing itself of the procedure laid down in this paragraph.
Amendment 650 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 5
Article 19 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 5
Four members shall be permanent members of all four configurations of the Investment Committee. In addition, the four configurations shall each have two experts with experience in investment in sectors covered by that policy window. At least one of the permanent members shall have expertise in sustainable investment. The CommissionSteering Board shall assign the Investment Committee members to its appropriate configuration or configurations. The Investment Committee shall elect a chairperson from among its permanent members.
Amendment 653 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 6
Article 19 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 6
Amendment 658 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 2
Article 19 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 2
CVs and declarations of interest of each member of the Investment Committee shall be made public and constantly updated. Each member of the Investment Committee shall communicate without delay to the Commission and to the Steering Board all information needed to check on an ongoing basis the absence of any conflict of interest.
Amendment 660 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 3
Article 19 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 3
The CommissionSteering Board may remove a member from his or her functions if he or she does not respect the requirements laid down in this paragraph or for other duly justified reasons.
Amendment 683 #
The InvestEU Advisory Hub shall be managed by the Commission in close cooperation with the EIB Group as main implementing partner and, where appropriate, in coordination with the other implementing partners, in order to ensure efficiency, synergies and an effective geographic support coverage across the Union while taking due account of existing structures and work in this regard.
Amendment 694 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 20 – paragraph 2 – point e
Article 20 – paragraph 2 – point e
(e) providing proactive, advisory support, where necessary by means of local presence, on the establishment of investment platforms, in particular cross- border and macro regional investment platforms involving several Member States; and/or regions;
Amendment 697 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 20 – paragraph 2 – point f a (new)
Article 20 – paragraph 2 – point f a (new)
(fa) providing proactive advisory support for start-ups, for example when seeking to protect their research and innovation investments by obtaining intellectual property titles, such as patents.
Amendment 703 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 20 – paragraph 5
Article 20 – paragraph 5
5. In order to achieve the objective referred to in paragraph 1 and to facilitate the provision of advisory support, the InvestEU Advisory Hub shall build upon the expertise of the Commission, the EIB Group and the other implementing partners.
Amendment 717 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 22 – paragraph 5
Article 22 – paragraph 5
5. In addition, each implementing partner shall submit every six months a report to the Commission and the European Parliament on the financing and investment operations covered by this Regulation, broken down by the EU compartment and the Member State compartment by Member State, as appropriate. The report shall include an assessment of compliance with the requirements on the use of the EU guarantee and with the key performance indicators laid down in Annex III to this Regulation. The report shall also include operational, statistical, financial and accounting data, to the largest extent possible while protecting the confidentiality of private and commercially sensitive information, on each financing and investment operation and at the compartment, policy window and the InvestEU Fund level. One of those reports shall contain the information the implementing partners shall provide in accordance with [Article 155(1)(a)] of the [Financial Regulation].
Amendment 730 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 2
Article 23 – paragraph 2
2. By 30 September 20254, the Commission shall carry out an interim evaluation on the InvestEU Programme, in particular on the use of the EU guarantee.
Amendment 737 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 3
Article 23 – paragraph 3
3. At the end of the implementation of the InvestEU Programme, but no later than fourtwo years after the end of the period specified in Article 1, the Commission shall carry out a final evaluation of the InvestEU Programme, in particular on the use of the EU guarantee.
Amendment 742 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 26 – paragraph 1
Article 26 – paragraph 1
1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article. Delegated acts concerning activities carried out by, or involving, the implementing partners, shall be prepared in close dialogue with those implementing partners and after conducting public consultations.
Amendment 799 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex II – paragraph 1 – point 7 – point a
Annex II – paragraph 1 – point 7 – point a
(a) provision of working capital and investment throughout the life cycle of a company;
Amendment 801 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex II – paragraph 1 – point 7 – point b a (new)
Annex II – paragraph 1 – point 7 – point b a (new)
(ba) provision of financing for leasing transactions.