European Parliament 2019-2024

Committee on Development

2020/2124(INI)

3.2.2021

AMENDMENTS 1 - 43

Draft opinion Charles Goerens (PE661.776v01-00)

Financial Activities of the European Investment Bank - annual report 2020 (2020/2124(INI))

AM\1223385EN.docx PE680.767v01-00

EN United in diversityEN AM_Com_NonLegOpinion

PE680.767v01-00 2/23 AM\1223385EN.docx EN Amendment 1 Dominique Bilde

Draft opinion Recital A

Draft opinion Amendment

A. whereas in 2019 the European A. whereas in 2019 the European Investment Bank (EIB) approved loans Investment Bank (EIB) approved loans worth EUR 7.8 billion for projects outside worth EUR 7.8 billion for projects outside the Union, including EUR 1.1 billion in the Union, including EUR 1.1 billion in least developed countries (LDCs) and least developed countries (LDCs) and fragile states; fragile states, but in the past the bulk of that assistance has nevertheless concerned middle-income countries;

Or. fr

Amendment 2 Erik Marquardt on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group

Draft opinion Recital A a (new)

Draft opinion Amendment

A a. whereas the High-Level Group of Wise Persons (HLGWP) on the European financial architecture for development released its final report on 7th October 2019 with 3 possible options to build the future European Climate and Sustainable Development Bank, as follow: a) building on the EBRD and the external financing activities of the EIB; b) pulling together the external activities of the current EU financial institutions in a new financial institution with mixed ownership; c) transferring all external activities of the EIB into an EIB subsidiary with significant other shareholders; whereas Council Conclusions of December 2019 indicated that only option a) and c) should be explored; whereas the results of feasibility studies on each options which

AM\1223385EN.docx 3/23 PE680.767v01-00 EN were supposed to be delivered in Autumn 2020 are still expected;

Or. en

Amendment 3 Marlene Mortler

Draft opinion Recital A a (new)

Draft opinion Amendment

A a. whereas in 2020 the EIB´s financing for countries outside the Union was EUR 10.2 billion and lending to African countries alone was EUR 4.7 billion;

Or. en

Amendment 4 Miguel Urbán Crespo on behalf of the The Left Group

Draft opinion Recital A a (new)

Draft opinion Amendment

A a. whereas recent studies cast doubts on the effectiveness of blending finance in pursuing development objectives

Or. en

Amendment 5 Erik Marquardt on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group

Draft opinion Paragraph 1

PE680.767v01-00 4/23 AM\1223385EN.docx EN Draft opinion Amendment

1. Recognises the important role that 1. Recognises the important role the EIB, the world’s largest multilateral of the EIB, the world’s largest multilateral lender, can play in contributing to the lender; notes that despite dedicating only Union’s development policy objectives, around 10% of its overall annual and in particular its potential to promote disbursements for activities outside the climate action and to support the recovery European Union, it can still improve its from shocks such as COVID-19; role in contributing to the Union’s development policy objectives, and in particular its potential to promote climate action, social and human rights, and to support the recovery from shocks such as COVID-19;

Or. en

Amendment 6 Marlene Mortler

Draft opinion Paragraph 1

Draft opinion Amendment

1. Recognises the important role that 1. Recognises the important role that the EIB, the world’s largest multilateral the EIB, the world’s largest multilateral lender, can play in contributing to the lender, can play in contributing to the Union’s development policy objectives, Union’s development policy objectives, and in particular its potential to promote and in particular its contribution to tackle climate action and to support the recovery poverty and food crisis, to promote climate from shocks such as COVID-19; action, development and the achievement of the SDGs as wells as to support the recovery from shocks such as COVID-19;

Or. en

Amendment 7 Beata Kempa, Ryszard Czarnecki on behalf of the ECR Group

Draft opinion Paragraph 1

Draft opinion Amendment

AM\1223385EN.docx 5/23 PE680.767v01-00 EN 1. Recognises the important role that 1. Recognises the important role that the EIB, the world’s largest multilateral the EIB, the world’s largest multilateral lender, can play in contributing to the lender, can play in contributing to the Union’s development policy objectives, Union’s development policy objectives, and in particular its potential to promote and in particular its potential to promote climate action and to support the recovery environmental sustainability and to from shocks such as COVID-19; support the recovery from shocks such as COVID-19;

Or. en

Amendment 8 Erik Marquardt on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group

Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new)

Draft opinion Amendment

1 a. Stresses that as the main focus of the EIB is not development policies, strengthening its role in this field would require considerable reshuffling of business and managerial practices, and a shifted approach to risk-taking, where development outcomes take precedence over profitability; stresses that the HLGWP reports that creating a dedicated subsidiary of the EIB for development purpose would be the quickest and technically simplest option to pursue, but also the one with the highest risk of ineffectiveness and uncertainty as to the development impact;

Or. en

Amendment 9 Dominique Bilde

Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new)

Draft opinion Amendment

PE680.767v01-00 6/23 AM\1223385EN.docx EN 1a. Welcomes the EIB’s plans for green and sustainable urban planning in sub-Saharan Africa and its cooperation with UN-Habitat, given the scale of the challenge posed by the rapid urbanisation of Africa, and particularly the demand for housing, as well as the emerging health emergencies there exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic;1 a ______1 a https://www.eib.org/attachments/general/r eports/eib_activity_report_en.pdf

Or. fr

Amendment 10 Miguel Urbán Crespo on behalf of the The Left Group

Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new)

Draft opinion Amendment

1 a. Believes that the projects financed by the EIB in developing countries must be coherent with EU Policy Coherence for Development, in particular with the achievement of the SDGs, the commitments of the Paris agreement and the green deal and respect the ILO core conventions;

Or. en

Amendment 11 Erik Marquardt on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group

Draft opinion Paragraph 2

Draft opinion Amendment

AM\1223385EN.docx 7/23 PE680.767v01-00 EN 2. Stresses the ‘policy first’ principle 2. Stresses the ‘policy first’ principle underpinning the European Fund for and the notion of ‘open architecture’ Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+), underpinning the European Fund for which should enhance coherence and Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+) - coordination among the EIB, the External Action Guarantee(EAG), which Commission and Member States in should enhance coherence and identifying investment operations that can coordination among the EIB, EBRD, contribute to sustainable development; European Development Finance institutions (DFIs), national development agencies, the Commission and Member States in identifying investment operations that can contribute to sustainable development; is concerned about the use of EU development funds for de-risking private investment given the lack of evidence as to the capacity of this financial modality to demonstrate additionality and fulfil development objectives, as recently reported per the final review of EFSD as well as the opinion of the European Court of Auditors (No 7/2020); stresses the need for donors to prioritise grant-based financing as the default option, especially to LDCs, and not favour blending, guarantee or any loans over grants, that fall short of SDGs and could increase the burden of debt;

Or. en

Amendment 12 Antoni Comín i Oliveres

Draft opinion Paragraph 2

Draft opinion Amendment

2. Stresses the ‘policy first’ principle 2. Stresses the ‘policy first’ principle underpinning the European Fund for underpinning the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+), Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+), which should enhance coherence and which should enhance coherence and coordination among the EIB, the coordination among the EIB, the Commission and Member States in Commission and Member States in identifying investment operations that can identifying investment operations that can contribute to sustainable development; contribute to sustainable development; is of the opinion that the EIB should avoid

PE680.767v01-00 8/23 AM\1223385EN.docx EN excessive overreliance on projects implemented by transnational companies and financial intermediaries that do not prioritize development projects, such as private equity funds;

Or. en

Amendment 13 Beata Kempa, Ryszard Czarnecki on behalf of the ECR Group

Draft opinion Paragraph 2

Draft opinion Amendment

2. Stresses the ‘policy first’ principle 2. Stresses the ‘policy first’ principle underpinning the European Fund for underpinning the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+), Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+), which should enhance coherence and which should enhance coherence and coordination among the EIB, the coordination among the EIB, the Commission and Member States in Commission and Member States in identifying investment operations that can identifying investment operations that can contribute to sustainable development; contribute to sustainable development and respond to increasing challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic;

Or. en

Amendment 14 Barry Andrews

Draft opinion Paragraph 2

Draft opinion Amendment

2. Stresses the ‘policy first’ principle 2. Stresses the ‘policy first’ principle underpinning the European Fund for underpinning the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+), Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+), which should enhance coherence and which should enhance coherence and coordination among the EIB, the coordination among the EIB, the Commission and Member States in Commission and Member States in identifying investment operations that can identifying and implementing investment contribute to sustainable development; operations that can contribute to

AM\1223385EN.docx 9/23 PE680.767v01-00 EN sustainable development;

Or. en

Amendment 15 Marlene Mortler

Draft opinion Paragraph 2

Draft opinion Amendment

2. Stresses the ‘policy first’ principle 2. Stresses the ‘policy first’ principle underpinning the European Fund for underpinning the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+), Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+), which should enhance coherence and which should further enhance coherence coordination among the EIB, the and coordination among the EIB, the Commission and Member States in Commission and Member States in identifying investment operations that can identifying investment operations that can contribute to sustainable development; contribute to sustainable development;

Or. en

Amendment 16 Antoni Comín i Oliveres

Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new)

Draft opinion Amendment

2 a. Welcomes the commitments made by the EIB towards countering tax evasion of beneficiary companies for development projects; calls on the EIB to prevent companies controlled by entities located in countries listed on the EU blacklist of prohibited jurisdictions from accessing EIB financing; calls on the EIB to require potential beneficiary companies to disclose information about their tax payments in each country in which they operate as a precondition for accessing EIB financing;

Or. en

PE680.767v01-00 10/23 AM\1223385EN.docx EN Amendment 17 Erik Marquardt on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group

Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new)

Draft opinion Amendment

2 a. As all EIB shareholders are committed to the G20 commitment to suspend the debt of 77 countries following the debt crisis linked to the COVID-19 outbreak, calls on the EIB to apply a suspension to its pending loans, to carefully assess the debt impact of its future operations, and to express public support to the creation of a multilateral debt workout mechanism to address both the impact of the crisis and the financing requirements of the Agenda 2030;

Or. en

Amendment 18 Miguel Urbán Crespo on behalf of the The Left Group

Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new)

Draft opinion Amendment

2 a. Believes that the primary objective for EIB interventions in developing countries should be supporting local development and actors, projects aiming to reduce inequalities and poverty , climate change mitigation, strengthening public services and supporting domestic resource mobilization;

Or. en

AM\1223385EN.docx 11/23 PE680.767v01-00 EN Amendment 19 Dominique Bilde

Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new)

Draft opinion Amendment

2a. Expresses concern, however, at the risks associated with ‘greenwashing’ and calls for appropriate criteria defining sustainable investments to be introduced so as to arrest that tendency;

Or. fr

Amendment 20 Erik Marquardt on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group

Draft opinion Paragraph 2 b (new)

Draft opinion Amendment

2 b. reiterates its longstanding demands that the European Court of Auditors be empowered to audit all EIB operations, and that these audits be made public;

Or. en

Amendment 21 Miguel Urbán Crespo on behalf of the The Left Group

Draft opinion Paragraph 2 b (new)

Draft opinion Amendment

2 b. calls the EIB to avoid supporting speculative funds, such as private equity funds, whose purposes are not those of development support

PE680.767v01-00 12/23 AM\1223385EN.docx EN Or. en

Amendment 22 Erik Marquardt on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group

Draft opinion Paragraph 3

Draft opinion Amendment

3. Calls on the EIB to maximise 3. Calls on the EIB to ensure additionality and the development impact additionality and the development impact of its operations outside the Union by of its operations outside the Union by increasing its engagement in LDCs, increasing its engagement in LDCs, enhancing the transparency of operations enhancing the transparency of operations carried out by financial intermediaries, carried out by financial intermediaries cooperating with EU delegations, and notably thanks to the disclosure of the increasing its presence on the ground name of the final beneficiary, the amount where necessary; received, the type of project and related environmental information, cooperating with EU delegations, and increasing its presence on the ground with additional staff focusing on development issues;

Or. en

Amendment 23 Miguel Urbán Crespo on behalf of the The Left Group

Draft opinion Paragraph 3

Draft opinion Amendment

3. Calls on the EIB to maximise 3. Calls on the EIB to maximise additionality and the development impact additionality and the development impact of its operations outside the Union by of its operations outside the Union by increasing its engagement in LDCs, increasing its engagement in LDCs, enhancing the transparency of operations enhancing the transparency of operations carried out by financial intermediaries, carried out by financial intermediaries, cooperating with EU delegations, and cooperating with EU delegations, and increasing its presence on the ground increasing its presence on the ground where necessary; where necessary; The EIB should only finance clients that demonstrate

AM\1223385EN.docx 13/23 PE680.767v01-00 EN willingness and experience in positive sustainable development impacts, and refrain supporting those primarily seeking profit maximisation, such as investment funds.

Or. en

Amendment 24 Barry Andrews

Draft opinion Paragraph 3

Draft opinion Amendment

3. Calls on the EIB to maximise 3. Calls on the EIB to maximise additionality and the development impact additionality and the development impact of its operations outside the Union by of its operations outside the Union by increasing its engagement in LDCs, increasing its engagement in LDCs, enhancing the transparency of operations enhancing the transparency of operations carried out by financial intermediaries, carried out by financial intermediaries, cooperating with EU delegations, and cooperating with EU delegations, and increasing its presence on the ground increasing its presence on the ground where necessary; where necessary; notes that private sector investment will be essential to fill the funding gap for the SDGs; recalls the crucial role of the EIB in de-risking private investment, particularly in fragile contexts;

Or. en

Amendment 25 Dominique Bilde

Draft opinion Paragraph 3

Draft opinion Amendment

3. Calls on the EIB to maximise 3. Calls on the EIB to maximise additionality and the development impact additionality and the development impact of its operations outside the Union by of its operations outside the Union by increasing its engagement in LDCs, increasing its engagement in LDCs, and enhancing the transparency of operations particularly very fragile states, by

PE680.767v01-00 14/23 AM\1223385EN.docx EN carried out by financial intermediaries, enhancing the transparency of operations cooperating with EU delegations, and carried out by financial intermediaries, increasing its presence on the ground cooperating with EU delegations, and where necessary; increasing its presence on the ground where necessary, and by targeting small and medium-sized enterprises in so far as this is possible;

Or. fr

Amendment 26 Beata Kempa, Ryszard Czarnecki on behalf of the ECR Group

Draft opinion Paragraph 3

Draft opinion Amendment

3. Calls on the EIB to maximise 3. Calls on the EIB to maximise additionality and the development impact additionality and the development impact of its operations outside the Union by of its operations outside the Union by increasing its engagement in LDCs, increasing its engagement in LDCs, enhancing the transparency of operations enhancing the transparency of operations carried out by financial intermediaries, carried out by financial intermediaries, cooperating with EU delegations, and cooperating with EU delegations, and increasing its presence on the ground increasing its presence on the ground where necessary; where necessary in partnership with local institutions, authorities and initiatives and responding adequately to local needs;

Or. en

Amendment 27 Antoni Comín i Oliveres

Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new)

Draft opinion Amendment

3 a. Notes that the European Ombudsman has opened three inquiries on the EIB concerning the disclosure of information about projects it finances directly, the information about projects

AM\1223385EN.docx 15/23 PE680.767v01-00 EN administered by national banks or financial institutions, and the access to minutes of the meetings of its Management Committee; calls on the EIB to disclose this information in order to enhance its transparency and accountability;

Or. en

Amendment 28 Marlene Mortler

Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new)

Draft opinion Amendment

3 a. Stresses the importance to further enhance the existing monitoring framework of the EIB to better assess and track the inputs and outputs of different projects, to monitor technical assistance activities and results, to facilitate financing as well as to strengthen technical advice operations;

Or. en

Amendment 29 Dominique Bilde

Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new)

Draft opinion Amendment

3a. Calls on the EIB to focus on local partners when it comes to technical assistance, particularly for the setting-up of projects, not least in the case of projects involving least developed and vulnerable countries;

Or. fr

PE680.767v01-00 16/23 AM\1223385EN.docx EN Amendment 30 Udo Bullmann

Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new)

Draft opinion Amendment

3 a. Expects the EIB to further develop its analytical and operational tools in order to support the UN 2030 sustainability agenda. Stresses the need to ex-ante as well as ex-post analyse the impact of our external co-operation in this respect.

Or. en

Amendment 31 Marlene Mortler

Draft opinion Paragraph 3 b (new)

Draft opinion Amendment

3 b. Points out that the agriculture, food, forestry and fisheries sectors are key players for growth and development in rural areas; calls the EIB to boost its investment and to support innovation in these relevant sectors, which can significantly contribute to food security, heathy diets as well as sustainability and resilience of global food systems; recalls the need for cooperation in the framework of the UN Food System Summit to achieve more progress on all 17 SDGs;

Or. en

Amendment 32 Dominique Bilde

AM\1223385EN.docx 17/23 PE680.767v01-00 EN Draft opinion Paragraph 3 b (new)

Draft opinion Amendment

3b. Laments the fact that in the past the bulk of assistance has been allocated to middle-income countries and stresses that priority should be given to least developed countries and particularly, tying in with the political priorities of certain Member States such as France, the Sahel countries, which moreover have considerable needs in terms of energy infrastructure and the energy transition;

Or. fr

Amendment 33 Udo Bullmann

Draft opinion Paragraph 3 b (new)

Draft opinion Amendment

3 b. Underlines the priority to support our partner countries in their post pandemic recovery by strengthening education and health systems and public infrastructure focussing on the fight against growing inequalities and enabling especially the lower 40% of the population to participate and contribute to a decent and future oriented process of re-building their communities.

Or. en

Amendment 34 Antoni Comín i Oliveres

Draft opinion Paragraph 3 b (new)

PE680.767v01-00 18/23 AM\1223385EN.docx EN Draft opinion Amendment

3 b. Calls on the Commission to regularly disclose the rationale behind its opinions on the projects financed by the EIB, given that making such information public would clarify the decision-making process for EIB operations covered by the EU guarantee and the contribution of such operations to the Union’s development policy objectives;

Or. en

Amendment 35 Marlene Mortler

Draft opinion Paragraph 3 c (new)

Draft opinion Amendment

3 c. Calls the EIB to continue supporting specific investments to guarantee an equal access to education, employment and financial services of women and girls, which are more vulnerable to the effects of poverty, food and economic crises;

Or. en

Amendment 36 Erik Marquardt on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group

Draft opinion Paragraph 4

Draft opinion Amendment

4. Recalls the need for robust ex ante 4. Recalls the need for robust and impact assessments to mitigate the risks of publicly available ex ante impact EIB operations on human rights and on assessments to mitigate the risks of EIB environmental, labour and social standards, operations on human rights and on and the need for meaningful consultations environmental, labour and social standards,

AM\1223385EN.docx 19/23 PE680.767v01-00 EN with stakeholders, including civil society and the need for regular and meaningful organisations; stresses that the EIB needs consultations with stakeholders, including to deal with complaints in a transparent and civil society organisations; stresses that the effective manner; EIB needs to deal with complaints in a transparent and effective manner ensuring that local communities have access to independent entities such as a reinforced EIB complaint mechanism with effective redress and the European Ombudsman; calls on the revision of the EIB's environmental and social standards in 2021 to address these major issues;

Or. en

Amendment 37 Antoni Comín i Oliveres

Draft opinion Paragraph 4

Draft opinion Amendment

4. Recalls the need for robust ex ante 4. Recalls the need for robust ex ante impact assessments to mitigate the risks of impact assessments to mitigate the risks of EIB operations on human rights and on EIB operations on human rights and on environmental, labour and social standards, environmental, labour and social standards, and the need for meaningful consultations and the need for meaningful consultations with stakeholders, including civil society with stakeholders, including civil society organisations; stresses that the EIB needs organisations; believes that ex ante impact to deal with complaints in a transparent and assessments on human rights should be effective manner; carried out for every project funded by the EIB, especially when implemented by financial intermediaries, and that continuous monitoring of operations on the ground should be ensured; stresses that the EIB needs to deal with complaints in a transparent and effective manner;

Or. en

Amendment 38 Miguel Urbán Crespo on behalf of the The Left Group

Draft opinion

PE680.767v01-00 20/23 AM\1223385EN.docx EN Paragraph 4

Draft opinion Amendment

4. Recalls the need for robust ex ante 4. Recalls the need for robust ex ante impact assessments to mitigate the risks of impact assessments to mitigate the risks of EIB operations on human rights and on EIB operations on human rights and on environmental, labour and social standards, environmental, labour and social standards, and the need for meaningful consultations and the need for meaningful consultations with stakeholders, including civil society with stakeholders, including civil society organisations; stresses that the EIB needs organisations; stresses that the EIB needs to deal with complaints in a transparent and to deal with complaints in a transparent and effective manner; effective manner; insists on the EIB making astringent use of its Non- Cooperative Jurisdiction Policy so that its operations do not contribute to tax evasion or avoidance;

Or. en

Amendment 39 Dominique Bilde

Draft opinion Paragraph 4

Draft opinion Amendment

4. Recalls the need for robust ex ante 4. Recalls the need for robust ex ante impact assessments to mitigate the risks of impact assessments to mitigate the risks of EIB operations on human rights and on EIB operations on human rights and on environmental, labour and social standards, environmental, labour and social standards, and the need for meaningful consultations and rules on transparency and fraud, and with stakeholders, including civil society the need for meaningful consultations with organisations; stresses that the EIB needs stakeholders, including civil society to deal with complaints in a transparent and organisations; stresses that the EIB needs effective manner; to deal with complaints in a transparent and effective manner and that it must work in cooperation with local authorities in partner countries to combat fraud;

Or. fr

Amendment 40 Dominique Bilde

AM\1223385EN.docx 21/23 PE680.767v01-00 EN Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new)

Draft opinion Amendment

4a. Emphasises that the EIB must continuously strengthen and adapt its means of combating fraud, not least through increased vigilance in respect of any transactions involving non- cooperative jurisdictions or states appearing on the FATF list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring, in particular as regards money laundering;

Or. fr

Amendment 41 Dominique Bilde

Draft opinion Paragraph 4 b (new)

Draft opinion Amendment

4b. Emphasises that the EIB must, where appropriate, apply suspensory clauses when it comes to respect for transparency, and especially labour law, paying particular attention to compliance with these conditions;

Or. fr

Amendment 42 Erik Marquardt on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group

Draft opinion Paragraph 5

Draft opinion Amendment

5. Calls on the EIB to engage in closer 5. Calls on the EIB to engage in closer dialogue with the European Parliament, and transparent dialogue with the

PE680.767v01-00 22/23 AM\1223385EN.docx EN notably in the context of the EFSD+ and European Parliament, notably in the the ongoing discussions on the future context of the EFSD+ and the ongoing European financial architecture for discussions on the future European development. financial architecture for development, the future Development and climate Bank and as to the role of the EIB in this new framework;

Or. en

Amendment 43 Dominique Bilde

Draft opinion Paragraph 5

Draft opinion Amendment

5. Calls on the EIB to engage in closer 5. Calls on the EIB to engage in closer dialogue with the European Parliament, dialogue with the European Parliament, notably in the context of the EFSD+ and notably in the context of the EFSD+ and the ongoing discussions on the future the ongoing discussions on the future European financial architecture for European financial architecture for development. development, and to give regular reports on its activities.

Or. fr

AM\1223385EN.docx 23/23 PE680.767v01-00 EN