Activities of Ramón JÁUREGUI ATONDO related to 2017/2071(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the Annual Report on the Financial Activities of the European Investment Bank
Amendments (42)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Acknowledges the EIB’s contribution to restoring investment activity in the EU after the economic and financial crisesis and the policies of excessive fiscal adjustment, that had a negative impact on investment; stresses that the EIB’s activities during the current period of recovery and credit availability in some countries and sectors must be carefully directed towards products and projects, thereby ensuring additionality, while addressing underlying investment gaps in both public and private sectors;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Welcomes that, according to the 28 September 2017 EIB Economics Departments brief, the cumulative investments approved by the EIB Group in 2015 and 2016 will add 2.3 % to the EU GDP by 2020 and will add 2.25 million jobs, which shows the substantial macroeconomic impact of the EIB;
Amendment 9 #
1b. Encourages the EIB further expand its macroeconomic analysis capability, including research regarding the macroeconomic impact of its activities, as well as its general analytical work and sectoral studies, and the range of empirical papers and publications, thereby becoming as well a "knowledge bank";
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Calls on the EIB to continue improving the assessment of projects, by using richer, more precise and refined impact indicators;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1d. In order to keep bioeconomy investments in Europe, demonstration and flagship investment project proposals that have been positively evaluated by the Bio- Based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) but could not be funded under the BBI JU program because of a lack of available budget, shall be eligible for ‘fast-track’ simplified procedure for EIB funding that would be limited to a financial assessment;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses the need to minimise the risk of crowding out the private sector by focusing on long-term financing otherwise unavailable on time to EIB clients on the markets, or by greater risk-taking, namely by supporting the financing of projects that would not get financed otherwise; further points out that additionality of EIB financing also consists in providing technical advice and capacity-building in order to help projects to become investment-ready and quick mobilization of resources, often faster than the private sector;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Considers that EIB loans should increase in nominal and real terms every year, at least as far as the investment gap caused by the financial and economic crisis and the policies of fiscal adjustment is not filled;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Notes that the EIB maintained solid a financial stance, according to the forecast for 2016, with a net annual surplus of EUR 2,8 billion; calls for a share of this profit to be used for financing EU aid programmes;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2c. Notes that the Parliament resolution of 22 November 2016 on the Green Paper on Retail Financial Services, in its paragraph 47, calls on ‘the Commission to put forward a proposal on the creation of an “EU savings account” in order to unlock long-term financing and support ecological transition in Europe'; suggests therefore that the EIB undertakes an study on the viability of creating the said EU savings account, in order to channel individual savings to the EIB for the financing of the circular economy and the ecological transition, bio-based industries and sustainable development;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 d (new)
Paragraph 2 d (new)
2d. Considers that the EIB should continue to prioritise investments in the fight against climate, the circular economy, and bio-economy, and in particular in the recycling industry, renewable energy, sustainable and last generation biofuels that do not crowd out food supply, non-fossil fuel-based alternative transport methods, bio-based industries and biomass, green building, biotechnologies, bioplastics and organic farming;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 e (new)
Paragraph 2 e (new)
2e. Encourages the EIB to, in particular, increase financing to the bio- economy sector, including bio-based industries, biotechnology and the efficient management of natural resources, particularly in crisis-affected Member States and Regions, in partnership with Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU), the €3.7 billion Public-Private Partnership on Bio-based Industries between the European Commission and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC);
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 f (new)
Paragraph 2 f (new)
2f. Notes with concern that many biotechnological starts ups that exploit EU-financed science move to the United States for lack of private finance and venture capital in Europe; calls on the EIB to offer suitable financing alternatives to the said start-ups;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Believes that instead of playing a partly anti-cyclical role, the key priorityies for the EIB should be to focus on areas where markets fail;bridging investments gaps, develop technical capacity, address market failures, and on providing financing support for the EU´s economic and social cohesion objectives.
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Believes that instead of playing a partly anti-cyclical role, the key priority for the EIB should be to focus on areas where markets fail;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Calls on the EIB to help Member States to identify fundable projects whenever they call for financial assistance;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Reminds that more than 90% of EU SMEs are microenterprises providing almost 30% of employment in the private sector; microenterprises are more vulnerable to economic shocks than larger firms and may remain underserved in credit provision; believes that in the domain of access to finance, the EIB could emphasise bridging possible funding gaps for microenterprises through financial instruments and products such as microfinance facilities and guarantees;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Emphasises that the EIB can play a positive role in reducing the negative public investment gap, but that its activities should not come into conflict with fiscal rules, as fiscal stability is a key precondition for stable and sustainable economic growth;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Emphasises that the EIB canplayed and continues to play a positive role in reducing the negative public investment gap, but thand private its activities should not come into conflict with fiscal rules, as fiscal stability is a key precondition for stable and sustainable economic growthnvestment gap;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls on the EIB, taking into account the insufficient project generation capacity in the public and private sectors and the lower borrowing capacity in some Member States, and with a view to reducing the investment shortfall in the EU, to consider an approach whereby contributions made on a one-off basis to EIB-funded projects by Member States, whether by a Member State as such or by national promotional banks classified in the general government sector or acting on behalf of a Member State, would qualify as one-off measures within the meaning of Article 5 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1466/971 a and Article 3 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1467/971 b; _________________ 1a Council Regulation (EC) No 1466/97 of 7 July 1997 on the strengthening of the surveillance of budgetary positions and the surveillance and coordination of economic policies 1b Council Regulation (EC) No 1467/97 of 7 July 1997 on speeding up and clarifying the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Considers that the EIB should move towards the development bank model by establishing, among other plans, programme strategies agreed with the Member States and within the framework of the national reform programmes and country-specific recommendations;
Amendment 49 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Points out that it is important to fund projects that intensively use labour to maximise the impact in terms of job creation; Calls on the EIB to provide detailed information on the direct and indirect jobs created by every project funded;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Calls on the EIB to draw up a strategy for remedying the fact that SMEs, when they are based in a country in which the economic and banking context is unfavourable, have difficulties in gaining access to project financing;
Amendment 52 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Recalls the high degree of urgency of clarifying the impact of Brexit on the EIB in order for the bankinstitution to continue to be able to perform its role, and the need to deliver a study on the matter; calls for Member States to make sure that the departure of the United Kingdom does not result in a loss of capital for the EIB; suggest Member States to, on the contrary, seize this opportunity to increase the EIB capital;
Amendment 62 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
Amendment 66 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Reminds that the EIB should play a fundamental role in the implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy through the Horizon 2020 instrument;
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses the need for the EIB to prioritise external operations so that its activities especially focus on areas of high importance for the EU; highlights the great potential for EIB operations to improve the economic situation in Ukraine, which is facing great economic stress and instability due to the ongoing armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine, with the direct and indirect participation of Russian military and security servicesregions of key geopolitical relevance, such as in Eastern Europe, in particular in Ukraine, the Middle East and North Africa, Sub- Saharan Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean;
Amendment 76 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Welcomes the Council conclusions of October 10th 2017 on climate finance1a; highlights the importance of scaling up the availability of capital for green and sustainable investments; believes the EIB should make it a top priority; _________________ 1ahttp://www.consilium.europa.eu/press- releases-pdf/2017/10/47244665508_en.pdf
Amendment 77 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls for an increase in financial assistance for projects that have a positive impact on refugees and other migrants, and that are located in Member States that receive the largest flows of refugees and migrants;
Amendment 78 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Believes the EIB should support the timely implementation of the Paris Agreement along with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;
Amendment 79 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Amendment 80 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 d (new)
Paragraph 7 d (new)
7d. Recalls that the EU list of non- cooperative jurisdictions in taxation matters will be release by the end of 2017; believes that as soon as a country appears on this list, the EIB should freeze its cooperation with it;
Amendment 81 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 e (new)
Paragraph 7 e (new)
7e. Highlights the EU list of high risk third countries in the field of money laundering; believes that as soon as a country appears on this list, the EIB should freeze its cooperation with it;
Amendment 82 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 f (new)
Paragraph 7 f (new)
7f. Calls on the EIB to take into account the local context when investing in third countries; recalls that investing in third countries cannot be based only on a profit maximisation approach but also aim at generating long-term private sector-led sustainable economic growth and reduce poverty through job creations and improved access to productive resources; believes that the choice of financial intermediaries should be stricter in this regard;
Amendment 83 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 g (new)
Paragraph 7 g (new)
Amendment 84 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 h (new)
Paragraph 7 h (new)
7h. Notes that out of 120 cases reported to the Fraud Investigations Division of the Inspectorate General (IG/IN) in 2016, 53% were referred by EIB Group staff; welcomes the fact that the fraud reporting mechanism on the EIB’s website is now available in 30 languages1a; believes that the EIB should follow carefully the ongoing work on the protection of whistle-blowers at EU level and consequently further improve its reporting possibilities; _________________ 1a http://www.eib.org/attachments/general/re ports/ig_fraud_investigations_activity_rep ort_2016_en.pdf
Amendment 89 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Acknowledges that access to finance is still a core barrier for the growth of the cultural creative industries (CCIs); stresses the urgent need for funding initiatives to strengthen such industries; emphasises the potential from the EIB and the EFSI to support the creative sector, mainly through the financing of SMEs; Calls on the EIB to address the lack of EFSI funding to CCIs by investigating possible interactions with Creative Europe;
Amendment 90 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Suggests that the EIB facilitates the direct purchase of EIB bonds by EU citizens and residents, through the opening of an online sale system in its website, and/or through its commercialization by Member States NCBs, postal services and other suitable providers;
Amendment 91 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. Notes that, even though most EU citizens are unaware, EIB bonds are the only example of Union debt issuances;
Amendment 96 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Asks the EIB to promote gender equality and corporate social responsibility through its financing offers; believes that any company requiring an EU financing should first demonstrate that it has clear measures in place in this regard;
Amendment 97 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Calls for more comprehensive, frequent and proper parliamentary accountability of EIB, following the model of the ECB´s monetary dialogues;
Amendment 99 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Believes the communication of the EIB group, in cooperation with its relevant national partners, should be improved in order to raise the SMEs awareness of their financing possibilities and to better inform the citizens of the local and concrete projects financed by the EU;
Amendment 100 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 c (new)
Paragraph 9 c (new)
9c. Deplores the conditions of the reappointment of the President of the EIB in July 2017 without any clear mandate nor any proper democratic debate; believes that the European Parliament should be involved in this process;