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P8_TA(2017)0198

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Il-Ħamis, 27 ta' April 2017 - Brussell Edizzjoni riveduta

3. Rapport Annwali dwar il-kontroll tal-attivitajiet finanzjarji tal-Bank Ewropew tal-Investiment għall-2015 - Rapport Annwali dwar l-attivitajiet finanzjarji tal-Bank Ewropew tal-Investiment (dibattitu)
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  Elnök asszony. – A következő napirendi pont közös vita a következő jelentésekről:

– a Georgios Kyrtsos által a Gazdasági és Monetáris Bizottság nevében készített jelentés az Európai Beruházási Bank pénzügyi tevékenységeiről szóló éves jelentésről (2016/20099(INI)) - (A8-0121/2017) ,

valamint

– a Nedzhmi Ali által a Költségvetési Ellenőrző Bizottság nevében készített jelentés az Európai Beruházási Bank pénzügyi tevékenységeinek ellenőrzéséről szóló 2015. évi éves jelentésről (2016/2098(INI)) - (A8-0161/2017)

 
  
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  Georgios Kyrtsos, rapporteur. – Madam President, I would first like to welcome President Hoyer and, of course, Commissioner Moscovici. I would like to underline that President Hoyer shows an active interest in informing the European Parliament on the activities of the EIB. I would also like to underline the contribution of the shadow rapporteurs, numerous MEPs and the experts from the secretariat for the drafting of this report. We started with a rather brief report of almost 4 pages and we ended up with a report that contains 12 pages of evaluations and proposals. I tried to take into account most of my colleagues proposals because I do believe that they contribute to strengthening the role of the EIB and developing the institutional cooperation between the EIB and the European Parliament.

The report also incorporates parts of, and is supplemented by, the opinion of four parliamentary committees. I would like to contribute to the interesting discussion that will follow by underlining five major successes of the EIB in 2015 and emphasising five other points concerning its activities that could be strengthened or ameliorated. First, in 2015 the EIB played a major role in reducing the investment gap that characterises the European Union. Second, I am impressed by the support given by the EIB to countries like Greece that face major structural problems that have caused the collapse in investment. Third, I am encouraged by the fact that the EIB devoted 37% of the new lending granted in 2015 to the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises which altogether constitute the major collective employer in the European Union.

Fourth, I also welcome, along with my colleagues, who have approved the draft report of the ECON Committee, the strong and increasing EIB lending to innovative projects. Finally, I believe that the EIB acted as a catalyst in the fast and effective implementation of the EFSI.

Positive developments in 2015 go hand in hand with some other aspects of the activities of the EIB that have been underlined by the majority of my colleagues and could be strengthened or improved. First, we feel that the EIB group should try harder to adhere to the Commission stance on aggressive tax avoidance structures and we call on the EIB to end cooperation with intermediary countries and jurisdictions that are not following the rules on the market.

Second, we take the view that the EIB should develop its support for micro finance and go beyond the first successful steps in this direction. In this regard, we also think the EIB should devise a strategy to increase the financing of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises in countries with unfavourable economic and banking environments.

Third, we also invite the EIB to further strengthen its investment in social housing projects and increase its social housing project lending in order to cope with the arrival of a large number of refugees in EU Member States.

Fourth, we encourage better coordination between the EIB and the Commission as far as the external lending of the bank is concerned so that projects financed by the EIB and third countries are in line with EU policies.

Finally, we reiterate our call for the signing of an interinstitutional agreement between the EIB and the European Parliament on the exchange of information, including the possibility for Members to address written questions to the President of the EIB. I believe that the economic, financial and investment environment in the EU is much better today than it was in 2015 and that part of the credit for that considerable improvement belongs to the EIB and its policies.

 
  
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  Nedzhmi Ali, rapporteur. – Madam President, first of all I would like to thank the shadow rapporteurs from all political groups for their constructive attitude and valuable contribution during the preparation of this report. The European Investment Bank is a long—standing financing partner of the EU institutions, contributing to EU integration, economic and social cohesion and regional development through dedicated investment instruments. The European Investment Fund and the European Fund for Strategic Investments play a key role in complementing the EIB’s interventions. The cathartic effect of the EIB’s fund raising is a key element in defining EU debt added value and ensuring that Europe remains a leading player worldwide in terms of competitiveness, innovation, infrastructure and attractiveness.

Based on the above—mentioned, the main elements of the report are as follows: firstly, enhancing the sustainability of the EIB’s investment policy. In 2015 there was EUR 77.5 billion worth of operations out of which EUR 69.7 billion went to EU Member States and EUR 7.8 billion went outside the EU. The consistency of the EIB’s finance activities with the EU’s general strategy and political priority areas is of indisputable importance.

The EIB is a core actor needed to revitalise the EU economy and maximise the effectiveness and value for money of available financial resources. It is necessary for the EIB to systematically pay attention to mid— and long—term effects when defining investment actions and its funding decisions and to investing in projects of systematic importance in the long term.

While there is a need to speed up economic recovery and to help certain economic sectors in geographic areas catch up, it is important to have a balanced strategy with a dynamic and transparent geographic distribution of projects and investments amongst EU Member States. Also, it is important that corresponding banks in the Member States, in order to facilitate small and medium—sized businesses, should act so as not to complicate the criteria and the rules.

Secondly, monitoring the EIB’s impact in the implementation of key public policy areas, and the report on the results and impact of EIB operations inside the EU in 2015 reveals that the investments are in the following key areas: innovation and skills, small and medium—sized enterprises and mid-cap companies, infrastructure and environment. The EIB should continue to define its monitoring indicators, in particular with regard to supporting EU policies. With this comes also the importance of the EIB’s contribution to the management of global issues.

Thirdly, monitoring of the EFSI’s added value and additionality: thus EFSI aims at leveraging through the EIB a total of EUR 350 billion in extra investment, in new projects, and the EIB group is developing various new products that will allow for higher risk-takings. In this regard, result-driven investment should be regularly assessed through the scoreboard of indicators by the investment committee. The goal is to identify well— targeted projects in terms of their contribution to growth and jobs and to have an objective overview of their additionality, added value and consistency with EU policies.

Fourthly, deepening the EIB’s transparency, accountability and international control is a prerequisite for better corporate governance. The EIB’s operations must be accompanied by a greater transparency and deepened accountability so as to ensure genuine public scrutiny of its activities, project selection and funding priorities. Transparency in the implementation of EU policy leads to strengthening the EIB’s overall corporate accountability and credibility. It also contributes to enhancing the effectiveness and sustainability of the funded projects, alongside the zero-tolerance approach to fraud and corruption in its loan portfolio.

It is important for the EIB to pursue its fight against tax evasion, tax fraud and avoidance, irregular activities and money laundering. Bearing in mind the role of the EIB to finance a broad spectrum of activities inside and outside the EU, and the significance of this financing for economic growth, it is important that this institution fulfil its activities to the highest possible standards. Finally, regarding the previous recommendations of Parliament, the EIB should report on their state of play and status, especially with respect to the impact of its lending activities.

 
  
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  Pierre Moscovici, membre de la Commission. – Madame la Présidente, Monsieur le Président, cher Werner Hoyer, Mesdames et Messieurs les députés, Messieurs les rapporteurs, je suis heureux d’être aujourd’hui parmi vous pour un débat utile et même important sur les activités de la Banque européenne d’investissement.

La Commission salue les deux rapports du Parlement qui nous intéressent ce matin et je remercie tout particulièrement pour leur contribution les deux rapporteurs, M. Georgios Kyrtsos, pour la commission des affaires économiques et monétaires, et M. Nedzhmi Ali pour la commission du contrôle budgétaire.

Évidemment, je suis là ce matin pour dire à quel point le partenariat entre la Commission et la BEI est, pour nous, essentiel et particulièrement stratégique. Il est la clé de la mise en œuvre de politiques qui sont devenues majeures dans l’Union, particulièrement dans les domaines mis en avant par vos rapports.

Je pense par exemple au financement des infrastructures, au soutien aux PME, à l’emploi, à la lutte contre le réchauffement climatique, au soutien aux transports durables ou encore aux politiques externes de l’Union. Tout cela dit à quel point cette banque, qui est notre banque, a pris une ampleur, une extension importante.

Ses réalisations dans chacun de ces domaines sont, en réalité, des preuves que l’Europe est utile et qu’elle répond aux besoins de nos concitoyens ainsi qu’à leurs préoccupations. C’est l’Europe du concret qui se construit. Je me rends régulièrement dans nos territoires en Europe pour les mettre en lumière et pour dire ce que l’Europe fait et là où elle avance. À chaque fois la BEI est présente. Cela est particulièrement important dans le contexte difficile de la montée du populisme que nous connaissons. Voilà pourquoi je partage le point de vue de vos rapports.

La BEI doit poursuivre ses efforts pour soutenir les investissements dans l’Union et nous sommes à ses côtés. Cela passe d’abord, sans doute, par encore plus de soutien en direction des PME. Nous reconnaissons pleinement la nécessité de renforcer le soutien du groupe BEI aux PME, en particulier pour le financement de micro-entreprises. Une prise de risque plus importante pourra s’avérer nécessaire de la part du groupe BEI afin de financer les plus petites entreprises.

La Commission partage le point de vue du Parlement sur l’importance des programmes mis en œuvre dans le cadre de l’instrument européen de microfinancement Progress, qui doivent servir de base pour la conception des futurs instruments dans le cadre du programme de l’Union européenne pour l’emploi et l’innovation sociale.

Cela passe aussi par notre coopération. La Commission soutient la recommandation selon laquelle la BEI, la Commission, les autorités nationales, régionales et locales, avec les banques nationales de développement, dont le rôle doit également être salué, doivent renforcer leur coopération afin de créer encore davantage de synergies entre les Fonds structurels et les autres instruments financiers de la BEI. Les Fonds structurels peuvent particulièrement contribuer à la réalisation des objectifs du plan d’investissement pour l’Europe, à savoir le plan Juncker, et être complémentaires au soutien du Fonds européen pour les investissements stratégiques.

Nous rappelons également que la BEI, en étroite coopération avec la Commission, a mis en œuvre d’importantes initiatives en faveur de l’emploi des jeunes et on sait à quel point c’est un sujet prioritaire pour nos populations. Le programme «Compétences et emplois – Investir pour la jeunesse» permet ainsi de couvrir un nombre important de projets d’entreprise tant publics que privés.

Enfin, la Commission soutient – et nous y avons beaucoup travaillé ensemble dans le cadre de l’approche des accords de Paris – l’ambitieuse stratégie climatique de la BEI, qui est conforme aux objectifs des accords COP21 de Paris, à la fois en ce qui concerne l’énergie et le climat. L’accent doit être mis sur des activités, des secteurs et des produits qui ont un impact important pour parvenir à ces objectifs. Nous devons promouvoir des instruments financiers nouveaux, innovants, qui nous permettront de lever des financements privés, en particulier à travers les obligations vertes, les fameux green bonds (obligations vertes).

Nous travaillons étroitement avec la BEI et les autres acteurs en vue de mettre en place de nouveaux instruments financiers qui faciliteront une mobilité durable. À titre d’exemple, pour développer ce marché, pour diminuer le recours aux énergies fossiles, la Commission et la BEI ont lancé en décembre 2016, ensemble, le programme pour des transports plus propres.

En ce qui concerne les actions extérieures, la décision actuelle sur le mandat extérieur de la BEI souligne la nécessité d’une forte cohérence entre les activités de la banque hors Union et les politiques, programmes et instruments de l’Union.

Dans le contexte que nous connaissons, de l’afflux de réfugiés et des migrations, l’initiative de résilience économique (IRE), la BEI doit être complémentaire avec la nouvelle initiative de la Commission de mettre en œuvre un plan d’investissement extérieur. Par conséquent, les initiatives convergent. L’initiative IRE permet à la BEI, grâce au mandat extérieur, d’accroître sa capacité d’intervention dans les États du voisinage méditerranéen et des Balkans occidentaux.

Le nouveau Fonds européen pour le développement durable, le FEDD, quant à lui, s’appuie sur des financements mixtes. Il vise l’Afrique subsaharienne, les pays du voisinage de l’Union. L’ambition de la nouvelle garantie du fonds FEDD est clairement d’aller au-delà des instruments existants en soutenant des modèles innovants de financement par le secteur privé, développés par des institutions financières partenaires.

La Commission n’a qu’à se féliciter de la coopération de plus en plus étroite avec une BEI qui couvre des champs de plus en plus larges, parce qu’elle est à la hauteur de nos ambitions, qui sont des ambitions partagées, pour plus d’investissement en Europe et des investissements qui sont capables de préparer notre futur dans ses différentes dimensions.

Le soutien du Parlement, votre travail quotidien, est utile – je pense que Werner Hoyer partagera mon point de vue – dans la promotion du rôle de la BEI dans le cadre de la poursuite des objectifs de l’Union, notamment en matière fiscale.

 
  
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  Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank. – Madam President, Members of the European Parliament, Commissioner Moscovici, it is a great pleasure and honour for me to be here today to talk about the 16th Annual European Parliament debate on EIB activities, particularly as this year two reports have been drafted on the financial activities of the EIB in 2015. I would like to thank the rapporteurs Mr Kyrtsos and Mr Ali, as well as their colleagues for their thorough work.

I notably appreciate the explicit support of both reports for the EIB’s work as a catalyst for financing solid, sound public and private long-term investments, as well as the acknowledgment of the bank’s important role outside the European Union. But issues raised in the reports are also relevant for the future so, if you agree, I will not limit myself only to 2015.

Investment is recovering in the European Union, but large differences in regional and sectoral investment performance remain, and we need additional initiatives and projects in order to address this investment gap. Taking into consideration the current political and economic climate, it is unlikely that in the future we will have more, or even the same amount of resources available not only to support investment, but in fact for EU priorities in general. In addition, public funding and traditional instruments such as grants will not be able to solve all the existing and new challenges Europe faces. We must therefore find intelligent ways to maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of available public resources, namely by crowding in private investors and making full use of the capacity of financial institutions, consequently leveraging public money and making more funds available for the real economy. I insist on the wording ‘the real economy’, because this is where we work. We are not a monetary institution, we are a real economy institution, and this is why I believe our work matters.

I am firmly convinced that this calls for a further use of financial instruments. The EIB group, as the EU’s Bank, stands ready to identify the areas where financial instruments can complement and probably release EU grants and to continue to implement such instruments for the benefit of the entire EU. Consequently, we vest our hopes in the ongoing revision of the Financial Regulation and 15 sectoral legislative acts, the so called ‘Omnibus’, which aims inter alia at simplifying and streamlining the implementation of financial instruments and budgetary guarantees.

To give you one concrete example, once adopted the Omnibus will facilitate the essential combination of EFSI with European structural and investment funds, which might simultaneously improve the absorption of ESI funds and bring more EFSI financing to some countries.

As highlighted in the reports, the EIB’s activities have contributed to sustainable growth and employment in Europe and to stability in our neighbourhood. I am particularly proud that the EU bank continues to be the world leader in climate-related finance, as well as of the effect our financing has on young people. In 2016 alone, we financed 46 education projects to the tune of EUR 3.7 billion, improving conditions for 890 000 students. Also last year, EIB group financing sustained 4.4 million jobs in SMEs, which is where most young people find work, and since its launch in 2013 the EIB’s skills and jobs ‘Investing for Youth’ programme has provided more than EUR 37 billion towards projects that support jobs and better skills for young people. I strongly support what Commissioner Moscovici has just said about the need to continue our engaged work in the fight against youth unemployment.

These concrete results show the impact of our work on Europe’s future. Allow me to give you another concrete example where our innovative and financing products make an impact, in this case in a country hit by the financial crisis. Two weeks ago we activated the Trade Fund Facility 2.0 that will benefit Greek SMEs and mid-cap companies? This facility will enable Greek banks to provide trade and export finance services to Greek SMEs and mid-cap companies at a time when no commercial lines with private banks are available. Through this facility the EIB acts as a secure bridge between international and domestic banks, supporting trade and export finance and therefore having a direct concrete impact on the business of SMEs and, as such, in the real economy.

Talking of innovative instruments and in view of the forthcoming parliamentary reports on EFSI Implementation and EFSI 2.0, I would like to take the opportunity to mention EFSI and how it can finance investment, trigger growth and the creation of jobs. EFSI has been a success so far. To date, we can be proud that almost EUR 184 billion in total investments have been mobilised – that is to say 58% of EFSI’s initial target of EUR 315 billion. We are very well on track.

Over 4 000 SMEs are to benefit from enhanced access to finance thanks to EFSI support and we have already approved 22 investment platforms, most of them being the result of a very fruitful cooperation with national promotional banks. Let me emphasise that in quantitative terms EFSI is not business as usual for the EIB. As a matter of fact it has changed our DNA. Two out of three promoters of projects which benefit from EFSI are new clients to the bank, and this clearly demonstrates how much EFSI has changed the EIB group.

I am aware that additionality, as we have just heard, is central to EFSI and that we need to do more to communicate and demonstrate it better, based on concrete examples of projects. Eligible projects rest on market failures or sub-optimal investment situations. They are only selected if they would not have been financed by the EIB group in the same period or to the same extent without EFSI support, as specified in the EFSI Regulation.

Another important aspect is geographical balance and the latest breakdown shows that EFSI favours many smaller EU countries and those hit hard by the economic crisis. I sometimes still read statistics from the very first beginning of the EFSI implementation which show a different direction, but nowadays it can be clearly said that EFSI projects are particularly where EFSI projects are needed most, and we are very proud of that. In any case I can assure you that we continue to work on this, working with a regional and local focus to facilitate EFSI support across the EU.

The central role we play in EFSI does not mean that we retreat from the rest of the world. On the contrary, out of the EUR 84 billion of EIB group financing in 2015, over EUR 8 billion went outside the Union, directly contributing to the implementation of EU policies and standards. In recent years, the world has become more integrated and more challenging than ever before. Those external challenges and the EU’s objectives beyond its borders are best met through a stronger and more integrated EU response, ensured by enhanced coordination and joint action between the European Commission, the Member States and the EU bank. The EIB’s external lending mandate is indisputably the most effective and efficient EU financing instrument and a powerful multiplier of EU external action. Its Guarantee Fund and portfolio structure allow the EU bank to support investment of around 30 to 40 times the EU budget demand provisions for the guarantee, thereby delivering concrete results and impact in third countries at minimal cost to the EU budget.

We are very grateful for the open and cooperative attitude of Parliament on this issue, especially for ensuring that sufficient resources are attributed to this instrument, which will allow the EU bank to continue its global level activities on behalf of the Union.

Also looking to the future, we should establish a clear complementarity and harmonisation of the different instruments that the European Union employs externally, namely: the External Investment Plan the Commissioner just mentioned; the External Lending Mandate of the ECB; the Resilience Initiative for countries affected by migration, and even the G20 initiative for Africa. Overlaps should be avoided and coordination should be demonstrated.

In relation to the EIB’s Economic Resilience Initiative which comes on top of our normal lending to Africa and the neighbouring countries, a brief reference, to let you know, is that this is already there on the ground and is delivering results.

Both reports stress the importance that the EIB continues to be a financial institution of good practice. I can assure you that we put very strong emphasis on being a leading financial institution when it comes to issues such as due diligence, compliance, good governance, transparency and accountability. We are continuously in contact with other international financial institutions, NGOs and relevant authorities to ensure that we apply best banking practice.

Europe’s citizens expect and deserve parliamentary oversight for their bank, and I say this with pleasure as a former parliamentarian. Last year I had the opportunity to address the plenary, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Committee on Budgetary Control. There were also numerous hearings with other members of the Bank’s management committee and services. We are ready to even expand our close cooperation with the European Parliament. In preparation for this plenary debate we also sent a state of play on the recommendations tabled in the previous report to the rapporteur, Mr Pirinski, the respective committee secretariats and the MEPs who were closely involved in the drafting process. The reports we are discussing today suggests that this oversight consists of a more structured exchange, and although in principle I have no objection to discussing the idea I believe we must discuss how future arrangements might work. We are ready to engage in this dialogue.

Let me therefore conclude by assuring you that the EIB stands ready to live up to its institutional responsibilities, both operationally and in terms of reporting, and we welcome our regular exchange with this Parliament on our activities and their impact on the ground. Thank you very much, and I am looking forward to the debate.

 
  
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  Eider Gardiazabal Rubial, ponente de opinión de la Comisión de Presupuestos. – Señora presidenta, comisario Moscovici, presidente Hoyer, desde la Comisión de Presupuestos consideramos que el BEI juega un papel clave en la aplicación de un número cada vez mayor de instrumentos financieros. Se ha visto: el Fondo Europeo de Inversiones es una de nuestras herramientas fundamentales y confiamos en que continúe la colaboración del Banco, de la Comisión y de los Estados miembros para que este apoyo pueda llegar a todos los países y a todas las regiones.

Queremos insistir también, y lo ha hecho usted presidente Hoyer y el comisario, en la importancia de coordinar y complementar todas las acciones que estamos poniendo en marcha, sobre todo lo que tiene que ver con la acción exterior de la Unión: la iniciativa de resiliencia, el plan europeo de inversiones exteriores y la revisión del mandato exterior del BEI, que actualmente ya estamos negociando.

Pero hay un ámbito en el que me gustaría hacer hincapié y es en la necesidad de dotarse de una política fiscal responsable, que incorpore los requisitos de buena gobernanza, mejore la calidad de información de los beneficiarios últimos y excluya las transacciones con intermediarios con un historial negativo en transparencia, fraude o corrupción o que estén registrados en paraísos fiscales. Estamos convencidos de que gracias a su experiencia y a su posición única el BEI es un socio estratégico para lograr los objetivos de la Unión.

 
  
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  Bernd Lucke, Verfasser der Stellungnahme des mitberatenden Entwicklungsausschusses. – Frau Präsidentin, meine Damen und Herren! Die EIB leistet gute und wichtige Arbeit im Entwicklungshilfebereich durch die Förderung von Investitionen, durch die Bekämpfung von Armut, durch die Förderung von Wachstum und Infrastrukturen. Das muss man insbesondere dann anerkennen, wenn man sieht, dass das Europäische Parlament der EIB natürlich auch noch jede Menge an Nebenbedingungen in Form von anderen politischen Zielen auferlegt, die die EIB getreulich bemüht ist, umzusetzen. Also dafür großes Lob. Gleichwohl ist es so, dass in der Arbeit der Europäischen Investitionsbank im Entwicklungshilfebereich sicherlich noch mehr an Fokus möglich ist.

Es gibt unterschiedliche Förderungswege, die unterschiedlich effektiv sind. Wir haben in unserer Stellungnahme darauf hingewiesen, dass insbesondere die Finanzierung durch Mikrokredite besonders hohe Wirkung in Form von Arbeitsplätzen hat erzielen können.

Wir schlagen vor, dass diese Mikrokredite weiter verstärkt werden. Es wäre mir auch ein wichtiges Anliegen, dass ein stärkerer geografischer Fokus im Bereich der Arbeit der EIB festgelegt werden könnte. Wir müssen, glaube ich, insbesondere aus der Perspektive der EU unsere südlichen und östlichen Mittelmeernachbarn stärken, fördern und stabilisieren. Da stehen wir großen Herausforderungen gegenüber. Dort mehr Mittel einzusetzen und mehr Förderwege zu erschließen, wäre sicherlich im Interesse dieses Parlaments.

 
  
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  Bogusław Liberadzki, autor projektu opinii Komisji Transportu i Turystyki. – Pani Przewodnicząca! Panie Komisarzu Moscovici! Panie Prezesie Hoyer! Komisja Transportu bardzo pozytywnie ocenia sprawozdanie. Komisja Transportu bardzo pozytywnie także ocenia dotychczasowe osiągnięcia Europejskiego Banku Inwestycyjnego w tym sektorze, zwłaszcza w dziedzinie infrastruktury, w dziedzinie kreowania nowych technologii transportowych, efektywnego wykorzystania transportu, a także promowania publiczno-prywatnego partnerstwa w dziedzinie infrastruktury. Jest to właśnie bardzo ciekawa forma.

Co natomiast rzuca się w oczy? Europejski Bank Inwestycyjny, Europejski Fundusz Inwestycji Strategicznych i nierównowaga geograficzna, duża koncentracja, przewaga państw starej Unii Europejskiej – zaledwie 8% środków wydatkowanych w latach 2013–2016 to były państwa nowe. Co to rodzi? Zwiększenie dystansu. To rodzi także polityczne niezadowolenie w nowych państwach. To jest po prostu niebezpieczne. Natomiast chcemy bardzo wyraźnie podkreślić zalety: mając Europejski Bank Inwestycyjny, możemy dywersyfikować źródła finansowania, wprowadzać nowe instrumenty finansowe, a zatem środki Europejskiego Banku Inwestycyjnego, Funduszu Inwestycji Strategicznych, instrumenty gwarantowania razem pozwalają optymalizować finansowanie ważnych projektów.

 
  
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  Ivan Jakovčić, izvjestitelj za mišljenje Odbora za regionalni razvoj. – Gospođo predsjednice, dozvolite mi da i ja u ime Odbora za regionalni razvoj iskažem svoju podršku ovome izvještaju o radu Europske investicijske banke i nema nikakve dvojbe da bi bez Europske investicijske banke ukupni financijski sektor u Europskoj uniji bio daleko siromašniji.

Ulaganja koja vidimo u srednja i mala poduzeća, u infrastrukturu, inovacije, sve ono što Europska banka čini zaista je iznimno pozitivno i ima našu kompletnu podršku. Ono na što želim ipak upozoriti je da očekujemo još bolju geografsku uravnoteženost, očekujemo i veća ulaganja u ruralna područja jer to je naprosto neophodno. Ruralna područja nemaju drugačijih kvalitetnih izvora nego što je to Europska investicijska banka.

Očekujemo ulaganja u tehničku pomoć, očekujemo dopunjavanje kohezijske politike i europskih strukturnih i investicijskih fondova, više sinergije s lokalnim i regionalnim vlastima, više sinergije svih zajedno i više sinergije s privatnim sektorom. I na kraju, također pozivam na agresivniju politiku preuzimanja rizika Europske investicijske banke.

 
  
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  Dariusz Rosati, on behalf of the PPE Group. – Madam President, Commissioner, President Hoyer, we are discussing the report on the Annual Report of the EIB for 2015, and let me say from the outset that this has been another successful year for the European Investment Bank.

In my opinion, the bank has been particularly successful and efficient in two areas. First, the implementation of the European Fund for Strategic Investment: as you said, after a difficult start, this has indeed been a success story. The second area is microfinance, which, indeed, with limited funds has been able to sustain a large number of jobs in the European Union. The focus of our report here in this discussion is how to increase investment, because investment is something which is very much needed in Europe.

In this context, let me raise two points. The first is that more attention should probably be paid to private-public partnerships. I think this is an important instrument to mobilise more resources, and is certainly a promising avenue to increase investment across Europe. The second point I would like to raise is geographical distribution, which I find still imbalanced. Much more money goes to the ‘old’ Member States, whereas the ‘new’ Member States account for less than 13% of total funding in 2015. I think we need a more balanced approach, especially as new Member States offer attractive investment opportunities in the Union, and that can be financed.

 
  
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  Cătălin Sorin Ivan, în numele grupului S&D. – Doamnă președintă, Banca Europeană de Investiții joacă un rol foarte important, pentru că în acest moment în Europa investițiile sunt cele care lipsesc și nevoia de investiții este cea despre care discutăm în fiecare zi. Faptul că sub 10 % din aceste investiții susținute de Banca Europeană de Investiții se duc către țările abia intrate în Uniunea Europeană arată foarte clar că avem de-a face cu un dezechilibru geografic. Este foarte important ca eforturile Băncii Europene de Investiții să se adreseze către țările, zonele care nu au expertiză suficientă în a gândi și a finanța proiecte foarte mari, de a construi mixuri financiare și a gândi modalități inovative de a finanța proiecte mult mai mari de infrastructură. De asemenea, rolul Băncii Europene de Investiții ar trebui să fie și acela de a sprijini eforturile Uniunii Europene în lupta împotriva paradisurilor fiscale, a evaziunii fiscale și eu cred că Banca Europeană de Investiții ar trebui să refuze finanțarea proiectelor către companii care au activități offshore sau care lucrează cu intermediari având activități offshore.

De asemenea, vreau să salut decizia Băncii Europene de Investiții de a lucra mult mai aproape cu Parlamentul European. Eu cred că o comunicare mult mai apropiată între Parlament și Bancă este foarte importantă și prezența dumneavoastră, domnule președinte, mai des în Parlamentul European la Comisia ECON ar fi foarte utilă, cum, de asemenea, ar fi foarte utile evaluări din partea Băncii legate de sugestiile pe care Parlamentul le-a făcut în 2013, în 2014. Ne-ar interesa foarte mult poziția Băncii în urma acelor evaluări.

 
  
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  Nils Torvalds, on behalf of the ALDE Group. – Madam President, I was the shadow rapporteur for the report by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. The original draft report had some issues, but that is pretty normal in this House. I am sorry to say that, unfortunately, the discussions in the shadow group did not improve it very much. Instead, it turned into the usual Christmas tree, and I have one point of information for the honourable Members of Parliament: we have eight months to go to Christmas. We also have some formulations in this report which are unfortunate, and information point number two is that the European Investment Bank (EIB) is a bank, not a charity.

By filing a report which is skewed in very many respects, and thus putting into the report things that actually should not be there, we did not actually help the EIB. Therefore, the ALDE Group decided to vote against this report, because we need to have an actual and more effective way of dealing with reports like this. That does not mean that we withdraw our acknowledgement of the good work in the EIB, but we need to have some order in this House.

 
  
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  Luke Ming Flanagan, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group. – Madam President, I tabled a number of amendments to this report on the basis that it was allowed, to then be informed by the services that it was not allowed, to then be informed again that it was allowed, to then being finally informed yet again that no, it would not be allowed, the nature of the beast here now, under the rules.

My concerns are based in a number of areas. First, there was a crossover of investment into the defence area. I am totally against this; Ireland is a neutral country, and we intend to stay so. I was also worried that in the area of new investments, and especially in PPS and in securitisation, the European Investment Bank (EIB) is not guarding against the added risks of socialising losses while privatising profits. I wanted cast-iron guarantees against conflicts of interest, especially in the area of disbarment policy, where the EIB falls well short of the standards set by the World Bank. On transparency also, the EIB falls well short of what I would like to see. Because of these and other concerns, I cannot recommend the discharge.

 
  
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  Bas Eickhout, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, I would like first of all to thank the rapporteur for the collaboration on this report, and I especially want to thank President Hoyer for being here and for reacting to our report.

I would like to focus on one crucial thing, and that is how we, as Europe, are going to reach the Paris Agreement. It is true that the European Investment Bank (EIB) in 2015 published a communication on climate change action, but after Paris we now know that decarbonisation is the aim. If we then look at the lending of the EIB, there is still a lot of fossil fuel lending – in 2013, at the level of EUR 2 billion; at 2015, at the level of EUR 2.5 billion – going up. In 2016 it was lower, but we know that two big gas pipeline projects are pending to the value of EUR 3 billion. That is big expenditure, and the issue is that investments in those infrastructures are there for decades. If we want to achieve zero emissions by half—time this century, then any investment in fossil fuel infrastructure should be considered very, very, very carefully. Especially as regards gas, which has always been promoted as a transitionary energy source, we know that if we take energy efficiency seriously, European gas demand will hardly increase. Why, then, do we continue to increase infrastructure? We know that every pipeline that you build is a lock—in. It is not a transition; it is a lock-in, and this is something the EIB should really pay attention to. It is why, in the report, we are asking the EIB to come up with a serious plan for phase-out fossil fuel lending, and I would very much like to hear the President responding to that. Hopefully we can work on such a plan, because what the EIB is doing in the end is instrumental for our future infrastructure, which should be fossil—free.

 
  
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  Marco Valli, a nome del gruppo EFDD. – Signora Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, signor Presidente Hoyer, abbiamo presentato diversi emendamenti a queste risoluzioni sulla BEI, innanzitutto per aumentare i finanziamenti alle micro e piccole imprese, che riteniamo essere il tessuto di imprese fondamentale per il rilancio dell'economia dell'Unione europea, lavorare sulla trasparenza ed eliminare il conflitto di interessi negli organi di governo, nonché evitare che ci siano collusioni tra organi di governo della Banca europea per gli investimenti e mercato, in modo evidente come ci sono in alcuni progetti.

Siamo inoltre preoccupati per i progetti infrastrutturali finanziati dalla BEI e dall'EFSI. Chiediamo su questi trasparenza assoluta su appalti e subappalti, di non finanziare progetti sotto indagine per frode fiscale e corruzione – uno su tutti abbiamo il passante di Mestre in Italia –, e di effettuare valutazioni ex ante ed ex post indipendenti che certifichino il comprovato valore aggiunto sociale, economico ed ambientale. Infine, la BEI dovrebbe prestare ancora più attenzione alla rete di intermediari finanziari e verificare che non siano coinvolti in pratiche di elusione, evasione, corruzione e riciclaggio.

 
  
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  Barbara Kappel, im Namen der ENF-Fraktion. – Frau Präsidentin, Herr Kommissar Moscovici, Herr Präsident Hoyer! Ich möchte den Berichterstattern für ihre konstruktive Arbeit danken. Es konnten eine Reihe von guten Kompromissen in diesen Berichten erzielt werden.

Aus meiner Sicht ist besonders das Augenmerk hervorzuheben, das die EIB auf die Finanzierung von Klein- und Mittelbetrieben legt, denn diese sind das Rückgrat der europäischen Wirtschaft. Mit einer Bilanzsumme von über 600 Milliarden EUR ist die EIB einer der wichtigsten Geldgeber von KMU, aber auch von Mikrounternehmen. Allein 2015 wurden 37 % oder 28,4 Milliarden EUR für Neudarlehen an KMU vergeben.

Zu begrüßen ist auch die Bedeutung, die die EIB Forschung und Entwicklung, dem Klimaschutz, Innovation und Wettbewerbsfähigkeit und der Bekämpfung der Jugendarbeitslosigkeit beimisst; 2015 wurde rund die Hälfte aller neuen Projekte dem Klimaschutzbereich gewidmet. Und, Präsident Hoyer sagte es, die EIB ist weltführend im Bereich des Klimaschutzes. Die EIB investiert 90 %in Europa. In diesem Zusammenhang findet sich im Kyrtsos-Bericht ein klares Bekenntnis für ein verstärktes Engagement in Investitionen zur Bewältigung der Migrations- und Flüchtlingsströme, also ein verstärktes Engagement in Nachbarregionen im Nahen Osten und in Nordafrika; die Resilienz-Initiative wurde angesprochen.

Eine neuerliche Kapitalerhöhung der EIB, wie im Kyrtsos-Bericht angesprochen, erscheint also als besonders zielführend, und das nicht nur im Kontext nachhaltiger Entwicklungszusammenarbeit, sondern zur Schließung der Investitionslücke in der EU. Denn es muss mehr in der EU investiert werden – öffentlich wie privat oder am besten gemeinsam. Die EIB, die Bank der Europäischen Union, kann etwas Wichtiges dazu beitragen.

 
  
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  Diane James (NI). – Madam President, this report includes two very fundamental proposals. One is for the EIB to demand more capital from shareholders – that’s Member States – with that wedge entailing another big bill coming down the line for the United Kingdom, regardless of the Brexit vote. The second proposal is to increase the budget for external lending. Well, neither is justifiable given the EIB’s performance to date. And let me remind you that the EIB lent almost EUR 80 billion last year in order that the EU can broaden and deepen its control. And, astonishingly, the Committee on Budgetary Control stated that the soundness of funded projects should not be assessed only in terms of economic relevance, confirming both the political nature of the EIB and that the EU does not have a grip on the realities of the market. Lending taxpayers’ money without judging solely upon their economic viability is folly of the first order. And let us not forget the billions in soft loans doled out by the EIB to the car companies who cheated the system and polluted our air – hence why we’ve got the air quality problem. But thank you, Madam President, for allowing me to speak this morning.

 
  
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  Georgi Pirinski (S&D). – Madam President, may I first join in expressing my very sincere appreciation at the participation of President Hoyer in this morning’s debate and at his general commitment to a very substantive ongoing relationship with Parliament.

One issue that you mentioned at the beginning of your intervention this morning, President Hoyer, has to do with the continuing significant differences as to regional gaps, having to do with the investment gap, and this clearly is a central challenge for the Union as such, since we face the existential over-arching challenge of increasing divergences. So we come to the subject of cohesion, and I have raised this issue in previous part—sessions. In this regard, I would like to express my appreciation for the information which you mentioned also coming from the Bank on issues raised in previous sessions. Regarding cohesion, I have received information which recognises that the 30% horizontal goal for cohesion investments has not been reached over the past two years. In 2015, it was 26.5% and in in 2016 it was 27%. Clearly there is awareness of the importance of this objective. However, I would invite you to consider whether enough practical steps have been taken to better manage cohesion objectives because it is not only a question of better reporting, but of very carefully looking into the way of actually interacting with the Commission, if you like, to devise the proper policy responses. Thank you for letting me make this point, I very much look forward to the ongoing discussion.

(The speaker agreed to take a blue-card question under Rule 162(8))

 
  
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  Doru-Claudian Frunzulică (S&D), blue-card question. – Dear colleague, both of us come from countries in Central/Eastern Europe. How do you explain the low number of projects funded by the EIB in Central/Eastern Europe recently, and the lack of transparency, particularly in the selection of projects?

 
  
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  Georgi Pirinski (S&D), blue-card answer. – Thank you for this question. You raise the issue of transparency, and I would extend it to include conflict of interests. In this regard, I would like to draw attention to two paragraphs in Mr Ali’s report – paragraphs 75 and 76. One deals with the concerns of the European Ombudsman about the shortcomings in mechanisms to prevent possible conflicts of interest in the EIB, and the other (paragraph 76) makes the point that there should be a revision of the make—up of the Vice—Presidents, because they come from only some of the Member States.

 
  
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  Anneli Jäätteenmäki (ALDE). – Arvoisa puhemies, Euroopan investointipankki on merkittävä eurooppalainen rahoittaja ja sen päätöksillä suunnataan sekä alueellista kehitystä että Euroopan sisällöllistä kehitystä. On hyvä asia, että investointipankki on rahoittanut ilmastonmuutoksen torjuntaan tähtääviä projekteja. Tässä se olisi voinut olla vielä aktiivisempi, mutta on erinomainen asia, että nyt tulevina vuosina investointipankki on ottanut tavoitteeseen 35 prosentin osuuden ilmastonmuutoksen torjuntaan liittyvissä rahoituksissa vuoteen 2020 mennessä.

Toinen asia, jonka haluan nostaa esille on se, että tähän saakka investointipankin rahoituksesta pääosa on suuntautunut liikenneinvestointeihin. Nyt yhteinen haaste on se, että investointipankki suuntaa rahoitusta sellaisiin liikenneratkaisuihin, jotka eivät nojaudu fossiilisiin polttoaineisiin. Täytyy korostaa tässä investointipankin roolia, miten se rahansa suuntaa ja minkälaisiin projekteihin se rahaa antaa. Lisäksi peräänkuulutan investointien lisäämistä energiatehokkuuteen, uusiutuvan energian hankkeisiin sekä kiertotalouteen. Näissä on suuri potentiaali EU:n kilpailukyvyn parantamiseksi ja näillä hankkeilla vaikutetaan myös ilmastonmuutoksen torjuntaan.

 
  
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  Paloma López Bermejo (GUE/NGL). – Señora presidenta, me ha resultado difícil prepararme para este debate, porque la posición del Parlamento afirma una cosa y su contraria.

Dicen: «Debemos evitar la socialización de las pérdidas y la privatización de los beneficios». Y, sin embargo, se anima al Banco Europeo de Inversiones a invertir en nuevos productos financieros especulativos.

Dicen: «El Banco Europeo de Inversiones debe respetar la Carta de los Derechos Fundamentales en sus proyectos en el exterior». Y, luego, queremos que refuerce la política europea de migración, que pretende convertir a Turquía y a Libia en cárceles para refugiados.

Dicen: «El BEI debe seguir expandiéndose». Pero luego resulta que el crédito está estancado y que incluso el Tribunal de Cuentas duda de que iniciativas como el Plan Juncker hayan contribuido a financiar alguna inversión adicional.

Creo que tenemos claros cuáles son los principios que deben regir el BEI. Sin embargo, su realidad es otra. No lo olvidemos si queremos construir, realmente, un banco público que necesitan la Unión Europea y sus ciudadanos.

 
  
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  David Coburn (EFDD). – Madam President, when the President of the European Investment Bank came to the ECON Committee a few weeks ago, I asked him how the UK could repatriate the reported EUR 9 billion it has invested in the EIB. I suggested that an in specie distribution of some of the bank’s UK loan book into a UK sovereign fund might be an idea. He didn’t answer. It is crucial for the EIB to take Brexit into account when engaging in long-term commitments. For example, the EIB should not expect the UK to guarantee EIB bond issues. The existing contingent joint and several liabilities run to the order of some EUR 500 billion. That’s a worrying sum when one considers the political motivations behind it. The EIB is propping up economies which are structurally unsound as a result of their membership of the euro – in Greece the EIB has invested 10% of Greek GDP – but worse, this report suggests the EIB should call for even more capital, and demand even more from the British taxpayer. This is a dangerous fantasy economic nonsense and for that reason we cannot support this report.

 
  
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  Theodor Dumitru Stolojan (PPE). – Doamnă președintă, ambele rapoarte arată activitatea bună a Băncii Europene de Investiții, iar rolul acestei bănci în lansarea proiectului Juncker a fost remarcabil. Susțin recomandările din ambele rapoarte, ca Banca să acționeze mai mult pentru accelerarea convergenței între statele membre și între regiunile din aceste state membre. În acest sens, consider că Banca trebuie să acorde mai multe resurse pentru asistența tehnică de care au nevoie statele membre mai puțin dezvoltate în pregătirea proiectelor de investiții strategice complexe, state membre printre care se află și țara mea, România.

 
  
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  Jonás Fernández (S&D). – Señora presidenta, en primer lugar me gustaría agradecer el trabajo del señor Kyrtsos, el ponente sobre el informe del BEI, porque yo creo que hace dos recomendaciones oportunas que el propio BEI debe tomar en consideración: mejorar la transparencia de la institución —pidiendo que este Parlamento pueda hacer preguntas escritas al propio BEI— y, por supuesto, evitar actividades financieras del BEI en paraísos fiscales.

Aun así hay terreno por delante que podemos acometer y es verdad que el BEI está en una buena dirección, pero Europa sigue teniendo un déficit muy importante de inversión. Y a ese déficit tan importante de inversión necesitamos darle una respuesta más activa, más contundente desde el BEI.

Necesitamos mejorar claramente las actividades de adicionalidad del plan Juncker. Necesitamos, de verdad, tener un enfoque territorial y sectorial más concreto, más directo, porque es verdad que se están financiando proyectos en algunos sectores o en algunos territorios, pero necesitamos una visión algo más holística.

Y necesitamos que la colaboración público-privada sea más eficiente. Las plataformas que permiten deducir las inversiones del sector público dentro del Pacto de Estabilidad y Crecimiento tienen que tener una mayor asistencia técnica por parte del BEI y, por supuesto, tenemos que dar un paso adelante en ese deseo de convertir al BEI en un auténtico banco de desarrollo preocupado fundamentalmente, como digo, por activar la inversión en Europa para mejorar el empleo, el empleo juvenil, y aportar a todos los territorios de la Unión.

 
  
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  Petri Sarvamaa (PPE). – Madam President, for the European Investment Bank to be able to perform its mandate successfully it needs guidance and control from the EU budgetary authorities. We have to aim to provide the EIB with the best solutions to achieve its policy objectives, to accelerate innovation and economic recovery and to promote employment, social, economic and environmental sustainability. We want the EIB to stand on firm and strong financial ground. The EIB should have a strong mandate with a strong investment portfolio, especially in the framework of the European Fund for Strategic Investments. This strong mandate requires strong monitoring. While the EIB should be mostly independent in its expertise to select the most appropriate beneficiaries, it also has to follow strict rules and guidelines monitored by the budgetary authority and the public in general.

There is always room for improvement and we hope that the relations between the European Parliament and the EIB will further deepen to ensure the strong mandate and effective activity of the Investment Bank. Enhancing the monitoring of the EIB’s performance would be an important step towards a more accountable and effective Investment Bank.

 
  
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  Gabriel Mato (PPE). – Señora Presidenta. Gracias, señor Hoyer, por estar hoy aquí.

Todos somos conscientes de cómo los niveles de inversión, tanto pública como privada, se redujeron especialmente en los países de la periferia durante la crisis. Usted lo ha destacado y yo lo reafirmo como elemento clave: la financiación a las pymes —37 % de nuevos préstamos concedidos— que son, además, la columna vertebral de nuestra economía. Crean el 85 % de los nuevos puestos de trabajo, y, por tanto, esto es fundamental.

Por otra parte, la inversión en infraestructuras, en proyectos innovadores, sostenibilidad, y, lo más importante, empleo, deben ser asimismo áreas de atención para el BEI. Y no se olviden de fomentar las mejores prácticas sobre transparencia fiscal y fiscalidad efectiva, asegurando que las jurisdicciones no cooperadoras no puedan beneficiarse del proyecto de inversión del BEI.

Usted se ha referido al FEIE. Lo comparto y destaco que hay que garantizar la adicionalidad y una mayor transparencia en la selección de proyectos. Y termino animándole a que el BEI tenga una mayor colaboración con los bancos nacionales de promoción.

 
  
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  Thomas Mann (PPE). – Frau Präsidentin! Lieber Herr Hoyer, Sie erhalten heute ausgesprochen viel Lob, bis auf wenige Ausnahmen, und ich finde, völlig zu Recht.

Die EIB ist weltweit der bedeutendste multilaterale Darlehensgeber und hat sich markant entwickelt, weil sie praxisorientiert ist. Im Vorjahr hatte ich Gelegenheit, im ECON-Ausschuss für die EVP eine Stellungnahme mitzuverfassen, und kann heute weitere positive Tendenzen konstatieren.

Ich denke, das Wichtige dabei ist, dass Sie in schwierigen wirtschaftlichen Situationen, in Schwächephasen, eine Schlüsselinstitution sind bei der Vergabe von Krediten. Neben dem Investitionsvolumen und den Renditen wird auch ein Zukunftsszenario der Kunden entwickelt, und zwar sehr präzise. Ich plädiere erneut dafür, dass insbesondere die wettbewerbsfähigen und die dynamischen KMU mit Ambition gefördert werden. Sie machen das schon. Aber ich denke, da müssen Schwerpunkte gesetzt werden. Dafür sollten aus meiner Sicht die Kooperationen mit den regionalen Institutionen weiter optimiert werden. Diese Vorgehensweise ist aus meiner Sicht eine Stärkung des wirtschaftlichen und des sozialen Zusammenhalts in der EU.

 
  
 

„Catch the eye” eljárás

 
  
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  Franc Bogovič (PPE). – Tudi sam pozdravljam obe poročili, kakor tudi delo Evropske investicijske banke. Mislim, da ste pomembna inštitucija, ki je orodje, pravzaprav, politiki izvajanja, na eni strani Komisija, Parlament, Evropska investicijska banka pa na terenu.

Moja prošnja ali na nek način priporočilo gre v tej smeri, da se usmerite še bolj na države, ki smo kasneje pristopile v Evropsko unijo. Prihajam iz Slovenije in sem trdno prepričan, da država, kot je naša, zelo potrebuje know-how, ki ga vaša inštitucija obvlada.

Poznam in kot župan sem sodeloval v projektih, ki so bili financirani iz evropskih sredstev, pregledani s strani Jaspersa, in tudi sedaj je zelo pomembno v okviru evropskega investicijskega sklada EFSI, da vaše inštitucije spodbudijo to miselnost partnerstva v vzhodnoevropskih državah, državah, ki smo se kasneje pridružile.

Mislim, da če se bodo te države bolje organizirale, na primer kot je v Sloveniji projekt Drugi tir, bomo tudi več sredstev iz Evropske investicijske banke porabili in imeli Evropo enakomerneje razvito.

 
  
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  Maria Grapini (S&D). – Doamnă președintă, domnule comisar, sunt rapoarte foarte importante. Evident că BEI este un actor principal pentru realizarea agendei noastre 2030. Dacă vreți, toată strategia Uniunii Europene depinde de investiții, vrem conectivitate, vrem eficientizare energetică, vrem susținerea IMM-urilor.

Personal, fac parte din Comisia IMCO și sunt o susținătoare a IMM-urilor, nu cred că este suficient procentul de 38 % dacă ne gândim că avem 99 % la sută IMM-uri. Și apoi, aș recomanda BEI-ului niște linii roșii: în primul rând, zonele sărace, zonele care au nevoie de investiții dacă vrem coeziune socială, dacă vrem să nu mai fie un exod de creiere dintr-o parte în alta și să sărăcim și mai mult anumite zone.

Apoi, altă linie roșie: conectivitatea. Există infrastructură deficitară în foarte multe zone. Cum să vorbim de conectivitate în Europa dacă avem zone în care nu avem autostrăzi, nu avem cale ferată? Și, nu în ultimul rând, așa cum spuneam, IMM-urile, care sunt structura de bază a Uniunii Europene.

 
  
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  Νότης Μαριάς ( ECR). – Κυρία Πρόεδρε, κύριε Hoyer, κύριε Πρόεδρε της Ευρωπαϊκής Τράπεζας Επενδύσεων, αναφερθήκατε στην Ελλάδα, αλλά ξεχάσατε να μας πείτε ότι η Ευρωπαϊκή Τράπεζα Επενδύσεων έδωσε δάνειο 280 εκατομμύρια ευρώ στη γερμανική κρατική εταιρεία Fraport, προκειμένου να αρπάξει τα 14 περιφερειακά αεροδρόμια της Ελλάδας για 40 χρόνια. Ξεχάσατε να μας πείτε ότι η Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος, στο πλαίσιο της ποσοτικής χαλάρωσης, αγόρασε ήδη ομόλογα της ΕΤΕΠ. Αλήθεια, μήπως με τα χρήματα που πήρατε από την Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος τελικά δώσατε το δάνειο των 280 εκατομμυρίων ευρώ στη Fraport; Πρόσφατα δώσατε 100 εκατομμύρια ευρώ σε ελληνική τράπεζα η οποία λίγες μέρες πιο πριν, δήθεν εντελώς τυχαία, είχε δώσει δάνειο 284,7 εκατομμύρια ευρώ, επίσης στη Fraport. Μήπως τελικά χρηματοδοτήσατε και την International Financial Cooperation Βank και την EBRD, που επίσης έδωσαν 250 εκατομμύρια ευρώ στη Fraport;

 
  
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  Jean-Luc Schaffhauser (ENF). – Monsieur le Président, Monsieur Hoyer, avec Philippe Maystadt, en 2012, on s’était posé la question: comment faire des transferts entre le Nord et le Sud, alors que ces transferts n’existent plus, ou à l’époque étaient mal faits? Nous avions pensé que la Banque centrale européenne pouvait jouer un rôle – elle le fait –, mais surtout la BEI.

Se pose donc la question d’une part du financement de la BEI. N’y aurait-il pas intérêt à aller directement à la Banque centrale et à ne pas aller sur le marché? Actuellement, la Banque centrale achète de la dette, il serait plus intelligent qu’elle investisse dans des projets.

Deuxièmement, est-ce que la Banque européenne d’investissement est adaptée au risque, c’est-à-dire à l’investissement dans le Sud?

Troisièmement, est-ce qu’elle peut particulièrement monter des projets de A à Z, quand il n’y a plus de marché et lorsqu’il faut faire une politique d’aménagement du territoire? Ne faut-il pas constituer au sein de la BEI une agence d’investissement particulièrement entre le Nord et le Sud?

 
  
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  Nicola Caputo (S&D). – Signora Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, la crisi economica ha indebolito notevolmente la crescita economica europea e uno dei fattori principali è rappresentato proprio dal calo degli investimenti. Nei paesi più colpiti dalla crisi, il calo degli investimenti pubblici e privati, come dimostrano le conclusioni di Eurostat, ha raggiunto livelli allarmanti e i tassi di disoccupazione restano elevati.

La BEI deve contribuire a superare le disuguaglianze regionali, fornendo consulenza allo sviluppo di progettualità private ed individuando modalità più efficaci per sostenere lo sviluppo economico dei paesi in programma di stabilizzazione. L'accesso ai finanziamenti rappresenta il vero problema delle piccole e medie imprese. È indispensabile l'elaborazione di una nuova strategia che favorisca l'accesso ai finanziamenti per le PMI, anche attraverso programmi ed iniziative di facilitazione degli scambi, quali ad esempio lo strumento europeo Progress di microfinanza. Alla luce del ruolo strategico delle microimprese e delle PMI, la BEI dovrebbe innanzitutto sostenere le imprese dei paesi caratterizzati da un contesto economico e bancario sfavorevole. Ahimè, ciò sicuramente non accade nel modo più efficace.

 
  
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  Pirkko Ruohonen-Lerner (ECR). – Arvoisa puhemies, komissaari Moscovici on tänään kiinnittänyt huomiota myös kansalaisten tarpeisiin ja huolenaiheisiin, joten kerron Teille yhden tuoreen esimerkin Suomesta, jossa on keskusteltu Euroopan investointipankin johtajien suurista palkkioista ja korvauksista. Palkan lisäksi maksettavat korvaukset voivat nousta jopa satoihin tuhansiin euroihin. Niitä maksetaan myös kompensaationa tuottoisan työn jättämisestä, jos johtaja päättääkin vaihtaa työnantajaa sellaiseen työnantajaan, joka maksaa huonompaa palkkaa. Kyse ei ole edes välttämättä kultaisesta kädenpuristuksesta johtajan vaihdoksen sujuvoittamiseksi, vaan korvauksia maksetaan täysin oma-aloitteisesti lähteville johtajille.

Nämä oikeustajua haastavat korvaukset eivät ole rajoittuneet vain Euroopan investointipankkiin, vaan koskevat monia muitakin, kuten komissaareja. Pidättekö näitä piiloon rakennettuja korvauksia kohtuullisina? Eivätkö ne anteliaisuudessaan lähesty järjestelmän sisäänrakennettua korruptiota?

 
  
 

(A „catch the eye” eljárás vége.)

 
  
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  Pierre Moscovici, membre de la Commission. – Madame la Présidente, mesdames et messieurs les députés, je voudrais d'abord remercier chacune et chacun pour le débat fructueux que nous avons eu aujourd'hui. Je tiens à souligner à nouveau le travail réalisé par vos commissions et en particulier par vos deux rapporteurs.

Nous accueillons très favorablement le nouveau cadre de ce débat, avec la contribution de deux rapports parlementaires au contenu très riche, dont l'un porte sur le contrôle des activités financières de la BEI. C'est la conséquence du rôle économique croissant de la BEI et de ses capacités d'investissement renforcées, que la Commission européenne a souhaité et soutient.

La situation économique et financière de l'Europe exige une action politique très déterminée. Nous sommes convaincus que les activités de la BEI sont une composante cruciale des efforts de l'Union européenne pour rétablir une croissance durable et un meilleur niveau d'emploi en Europe, en particulier à travers le partenariat entre la Commission et la BEI dans la mise en oeuvre du plan d'investissement pour l'Europe. Nous n'avons qu'à nous réjouir de cette relation entre nous. La confiance que nous accordons à la BEI est tout à fait bien placée.

Je suis convaincu que l'avis du Parlement sur les activités de la BEI sera, l’année prochaine, aussi encourageant que celui qu'il a élaboré sur le rapport 2015 de la BEI et puis il prendra aussi en compte de nouveaux apports de cette banque, qui est notre banque.

Dans ce contexte, je me réjouis que se poursuive, sous le regard attentif et vigilant du Parlement européen, une coopération très étroite et très fructueuse entre la Commission européenne et la BEI pour le bien des Européens, pour plus d'investissements et plus d'emplois.

C'est vraiment le vœu que je forme.

 
  
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  Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank. – Madam President, this was such a wide spectrum of interventions and opinions and issues that I certainly cannot respond to each and every one of them in the very limited time, so I promise to every Member of the European Parliament who has posed a question or made a remark that we will come back individually to those issues which I cannot immediately address.

I think a couple of issues are really of key importance for me now, because I heard the words ‘focus’ and ‘coordination’ again and again, and I can report to you that in the context of the economic resilience initiative for the Southern Neighbourhood and the Western Balkans, in connection then with the external investment plan of the European Union, and the G20 initiative on Africa, it is very evident that more and better coordination is absolutely urgent if we do not want to confuse our partners in the political and economic world.

Second point, I thank you very much for your remarks on the external activities of the European Investment Bank. It is only roughly 10% of what we are doing, but it is gaining importance because it becomes more and more evident that the European Union is sometimes serving its interests best if it looks beyond its own borders and takes activities outside the Union, and the EU bank is ready to support that. I believe in the future there will be more.

There is one big issue that has been the focus of the discussions in Washington last weekend, and that is climate change and sustainability, and I can tell you that the wind is not necessarily getting any more favourable to these issues. We have insisted also in the discussions with the other multilateral development banks and international financial institutions that we must not lower our ambitions on climate change mitigation and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals which we subscribed to so happily only three years ago. I think it is a question of credibility also of the financial institutions that we do not forget what we subscribed to in New York two years ago and in Paris one-and-a-half years ago. The EIB is in the vanguard in this respect among the financial institutions.

There is one big issue within the European Union that we have to address and we will address it now with the New York Regulation for EFSI II, and that is cohesion. I think it has been a mistake in the original legislation, and you have something to do with that legislation by the way, for EFSI, because the combination of the ESIF and EFSI was very difficult in the old regulation and with the new one that is now on your desks, I think this will get better. I think we can be better on cohesion in the next couple of years. However, I want to get away from the impression that comes back in reports and questions again and again that we, so to speak, favour the old, big, strong Member States of the European to the detriment of the small ones. I shall read out the EIB’s 2016 signatures as a percentage of GDP, and I shall just mention the list in the order of magnitude of the Member States. So investments per GDP: Estonia: 1; Malta, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Poland, Slovakia, Finland, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Italy, Lithuania – these are the first countries on that list and I think that reflects the needs and the fact that probably roughly three times as much per capita goes into a country like Spain, and that in comparison to my own country shows that the European Union and the European Investment Bank are aware of our special responsibilities vis-à-vis those countries which are either relatively new in the Union or are in difficulties, and Spain is a wonderful example where the EIB could make a substantial contribution to a thorough improvement of the situation, and we are proud of that.

Then there has been a lot of worry about microcredit. I fully share that. We have lots of experience with microcredit outside the European Union and I think it is gaining in importance within it as well. I have heard well that you encourage us to take more risk. I agree with that as well. This is a cultural issue for a bank which invests, but it must not be overlooked that this bank is capital-market based. We are proud to say, and sometimes politicians are proud to say, the EU bank is the biggest multilateral lender in the world. It is. But we are also the biggest multilateral borrower in the world because we refinance by going to the capital markets for EUR 70-100 billion per year through the sale of EIB bonds, so we have an accumulated debt also of more than EUR half a trillion, and that means we have to be very serious when we talk about sustainability. That is a principle that goes beyond economics, of course, but also when it comes to the principle of economic viability and the concentration of social and environmental standards which we observe closely.

Finally, I know that questions of accountability are always of utmost importance and so are questions of transparency. Everything can get better, but if I compare this bank to its peers then I would like to say that we are second to none, and if the biggest one is second to none, then I think we are not completely on the wrong track.

 
  
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  Georgios Kyrtsos, rapporteur. – Madam President, the discussion we have had was very interesting. A lot of issues were raised, in almost all cases in a constructive way.

I would like to complete my contribution to the discussion with a positive assessment of the future activities of the EIB and its institutional relations with Parliament. First, the EIB is functioning in a more favourable economic environment than in previous years. The eurozone economy grew in 2016 at a rate of 1.7%, which surpasses the USA’s 1.6%. The economic dynamics are even better in the European Union of the 28 Member States. Public debt was reduced as a percentage of GDP in the eurozone and in the European Union as a whole. In addition, the budget deficit in the eurozone was reduced to 1.5% of GDP in 2016, much lower than the 3% limit. That means that the EIB is in a better position to collaborate with the Commission, the Member States, and the private sector to boost its investment activity. Second, Parliament has developed its constructive criticism concerning the activities of the EIB, and I am certain that President Hoyer and his collaborators will respond in a positive way. They have the managerial skills to further improve the operation of the EIB and President Hoyer, as a former parliamentarian, can grasp the political and social dimension of our criticism. Third, we have to be optimistic, because economic pessimism is usually proven to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

 
  
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  Nedzhmi Ali, rapporteur. – Madam President, I would like first of all to thank all the colleagues who took part in the discussion today for their contribution, and I would also like to thank all the colleagues who will take part during the whole process of work on the report, including the discussions in the meetings of the Committee on Budgetary Control, providing amendment suggestions that will be very useful for the finalisation of the report.

We have seen today during the debate that all the issues which had been raised by colleagues have taken their places in the in the report. I think that is why it was very useful.

I would like also to express my appreciation to the leadership of the European Investment Bank for the responsiveness of its representatives, who took part in the meetings and promptly provided, in detail, all the necessary information that was requested for the preparation of this report. Having in mind our enormous common goals, the shared level of cooperation between the European Parliament and the European Investment Bank should be increased, as has been stated by Mr Hoyer.

Thank you once more, and this cooperation will be beneficial to all European citizens.

 
  
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  Elnök asszony. – A vitát lezárom.

A szavazásra 2017. április 27-én, csütörtökön kerül sor.

 
  
  

Írásbeli nyilatkozatok (162. cikk)

 
  
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  Karol Karski (ECR), na piśmie. – Szanowni Państwo! Grupa EKR akceptuje sprawozdanie z działalności finansowej Europejskiego Banku Inwestycyjnego, doceniając jego rolę zwłaszcza w zakresie akcji kredytowej i finansowania łączonego dla małych i średnich przedsiębiorstw. Dostrzegam jednak dwa aspekty działalności EBI wymagające szczególnej uwagi.

Pierwszym jest konieczność zwiększenia zaangażowania w finansowanie inwestycji typu greenfield na terenach krajów tzw. nowej Unii – terenach z dużym udziałem ziemi rolnej i nieużytków. Jednym z liderów wykorzystywania środków z tej puli jest Polska, w której liczba inwestycji typu greenfield rosła w ostatnich latach w średnim rocznym tempie 9 %. Jednakże za wzrostem takiego zaangażowania EBI powinno iść również ogólne zwiększenie zasięgu geograficznego projektów realizowanych w ramach Europejskiego Funduszu Inwestycji Strategicznych oraz stałe szkolenia eksperckie dla jego potencjalnych beneficjentów.

Przedsiębiorstwa z państw tzw. nowej Unii borykają się często ze stosunkowo niskim poziomem know-how w zakresie pozyskiwania dostępnych funduszy inwestycyjnych i nie mogą konkurować ze swoimi bardziej doświadczonymi zachodnimi sąsiadami, przykładowo z Wielką Brytanią – największym beneficjentem ostatnich inwestycji w ramach EFIS.

Jestem głęboko przekonany, że właśnie połączenie większego zaangażowania w inwestycje od podstaw w krajach nowej Unii z intensyfikacją szkoleń eksperckich w zakresie ich pozyskiwania będzie miało niebagatelne znaczenie dla skuteczności unijnej polityki spójności i wyrównywania szans rozwojowych pomiędzy państwami członkowskimi.

 
  
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  Vladimír Maňka (S&D), písomne. – V kontexte EÚ je Európska investičná banka zásadným finančným nástrojom a inštitúciou na udržanie verejných a súkromných investícií v Únii. V roku 2015 dosiahla EIB prebytok 2,8 miliardy EUR. Len v oblasti dopravných projektov bolo investovaných 14 miliárd EUR. Aj do budúcnosti pokladám za dôležité, aby pomoc a podpora z EIB bola sústreďovaná na životaschopné projekty s vysokou pridanou hodnotou, ktoré pozitívne ovplyvnia rast zamestnanosti, podporia inovatívne projekty a využívanie domácich zdrojov energií a surovín. Pozornosť treba sústrediť na malé a stredné podniky a to aj v odľahlejších regiónoch, ktoré môžu rozhýbať ekonomiku, hospodárstvo a riešiť problém nezamestnanosti predovšetkým mladých ľudí. Zároveň EIB musí zodpovednou daňovou politikou a kvalitnými a dostatočnými informáciami o konečných prijímateľoch pomoci prispievať k zvyšovaniu daňovej disciplíny a predchádzaniu a odhaľovaniu podvodov.

 
  
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  Marian-Jean Marinescu (PPE), în scris. – BEI trebuie să investească în proiecte care să realizeze o creștere sustenabilă în toate statele membre, iar în ce privește instrumentul FEIS - Fondul european pentru investiții strategice, trebuie să se analizeze cu atenție adiționalitatea proiectelor finanțate, dată fiind capacitatea suplimentară de asumare a riscurilor.

FEI și FEIS vor trebui să joace un rol crucial în materie de capital de risc și garanții pentru a completa activitățile BEI, în special în ceea ce privește sprijinirea IMM-urilor, dar și coeziunea economică.

Obiectivul efectului multiplicator al fondurilor de garantare trebuie să fie dublat de stimularea sectoarelor economice în declin și de recuperarea decalajelor din regiunile europene mai puțin dezvoltate. Nu este normal ca 73 % dintre împrumuturile acordate de BEI în 2015 să fie concentrate în doar șase state membre.

Simplificarea accesului la finanțare și combinarea granturilor cu creditele și instrumentele financiare sunt alte aspecte care trebuie realizate.

Cer BEI să țină cont mai mult de nevoia de consiliere în mod direct a beneficiarilor și de consolidare a cooperării cu băncile naționale de promovare sau instituțiile relevante.

Sper ca Inițiativa pentru IMM-uri demarată și în România să beneficieze de rezultatele scontate și cer FEI să prezinte în deplină transparență reușitele și eșecurile programului.

 
  
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  Claude Rolin (PPE), par écrit. – Je vous invite à soutenir ce rapport. Car le texte soumis au vote encourage la BEI à poursuivre ses efforts en vue de surmonter le déficit d’investissement, les failles du marché et les lacunes sectorielles et à investir dans des projets et des opérations qui ont une réelle valeur ajoutée afin de parvenir à une cohésion européenne renforcée sur les plans économique, social et territorial, à un climat plus favorable aux investissements, à un taux d’emploi plus élevé et au rétablissement d’une croissance durable dans toute l’Union.

Il vient également rappeler - qui plus est - que le soutien à la reprise économique, à la croissance durable et au renforcement de la cohésion est un objectif primordial et que la BEI doit mieux anticiper les défis structurels, notamment ceux qui concernent la réindustrialisation de l’Europe et l’économie numérique fondée sur le savoir, afin de générer de nouvelles possibilités économiques et l’innovation et d’encourager le développement d’une économie circulaire et une meilleure utilisation des énergies renouvelables, conformément aux objectifs en matière d’environnement, de climat et d’énergie.

 
  
  

PRESIDENZA DELL'ON. ANTONIO TAJANI
Presidente

 
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