Verbatim report of proceedings

Tuesday, 15 January 2019 - Strasbourg

16. Establishing the InvestEU Programme (debate)

  Der Präsident. – Als nächster Punkt der Tagesordnung folgt die Aussprache über den Bericht von José Manuel Fernandes und Roberto Gualtieri im Namen des Haushaltsausschusses und des Ausschusses für Wirtschaft und Währung über den Vorschlag für eine Verordnung des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates zur Aufstellung des Programms „InvestEU“ (COM(2018)0439 – C8-0257/2018 – 2018/0229(COD)) (A8-0482/2018).

  José Manuel Fernandes, Relator. – Senhor Presidente, queria cumprimentá-lo, queria saudar todos os meus colegas e dizer-lhes que em boa hora avançámos para este InvestEU que junta treze instrumentos financeiros. Dará simplificação e permitirá colmatar falhas do mercado. Este InvestEU tem quatro janelas, na área das infraestruturas, da investigação e da inovação, das pequenas e médias empresas e também na área social.

É uma continuação a que se adicionam outros instrumentos financeiros do plano Juncker, do Fundo Europeu para Investimentos Estratégicos. Alguns tinham dúvidas, mas hoje está provado que é um programa que ajudou a que cerca de 1,2 milhões de empregos existissem na União Europeia e já apoiou mais de oitocentas mil pequenas e médias empresas.

Um programa que ajuda ao crescimento económico, um programa que ajuda às pequenas e médias empresas este que está em curso. Com o InvestEU, a nossa ambição não pode diminuir e deveremos ter o mesmo montante da garantia que temos neste momento, pelo menos, para os três instrumentos financeiros e, por isso, nós propomos o reforço da garantia para ficarmos com esse objetivo que é a manutenção. Temos uma pequena diferença em relação à Comissão e aproveito para saudar também o vice-presidente e todo o trabalho que tem sido realizado neste domínio. A Comissão propõe 650 mil milhões de euros, nós propomos 700 mil milhões de euros. Para além disso, nós consideramos que, como é evidente, as políticas da União devem estar absolutamente garantidas e os objetivos na área do clima, na área também daquilo que é a estratégia que queremos para a sustentabilidade, mas também para o crescimento e para a inclusão.

O Banco Europeu de Investimentos, nós damos segurança jurídica para que, no mínimo, tenha 75% da garantia e depois todos os outros bancos de promoção nacional e outras instituições financeiras deverão ter acesso aos outros 25%. É extremamente importante que este programa contribua também para a coesão social, para a coesão territorial, para a coesão económica da União Europeia e, por isso, o equilíbrio geográfico é extremamente importante e tem aqui um ponto que é a Advisory Hub - a plataforma para aconselhamento ao investimento -, que deverá ser reforçada e que deverá permitir que os projetos das regiões, os projetos de cidades mais recônditas da União Europeia possam ter acesso a este programa e daí a preocupação com os projetos mais pequenos. A necessidade de continuarmos a poder ter plataformas de investimento é essencial. Que este Advisory Hub tenha uma presença mais ativa, uma postura mais pró-ativa.

Na nossa proposta simplificámos também a governação. Para além disso, naquilo que diz respeito à adicionalidade, queremos que se mantenha, obviamente, adaptada àquilo que é a nova realidade e os três instrumentos financeiros não podendo haver uma definição de adicional que impeça, por exemplo, o investimento social.

Aproveito para terminar e agradecer a todos os meus colegas relatores e, nomeadamente, ao relator que é o relator do partido socialista, o relator Gualtieri, pelo trabalho que nós efetuamos em conjunto. Também a Othmar Karas, pelo excelente contributo que deu e todos os relatores e shadows, todos os relatores-sombra que participaram neste InvestEU. Muito obrigado, demos um grande contributo para o crescimento económico na União Europeia.

  Roberto Gualtieri, Relatore. – Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, anch'io vorrei ringraziare il collega Fernandes e tutti i relatori ombra per l'eccellente collaborazione.

La crisi del 2008 ha provocato una caduta senza precedenti degli investimenti, sia pubblici che privati, in tutta l'Unione europea. Negli ultimi anni le condizioni di investimento in Europa sono migliorate grazie a una situazione economica più favorevole, alla flessibilità nell'interpretazione del patto di stabilità, a nuove iniziative come quella del Fondo europeo per gli investimenti strategici, ma il volume degli investimenti in Europa resta ancora al di sotto del livello medio raggiunto nel decennio antecedente la crisi, e nuovi e più importanti gap si sono inoltre aperti nei settori legati all'innovazione, alle infrastrutture fisiche e sociali, ai cambiamenti climatici.

Questa situazione preoccupa per il futuro della competitività e della coesione sociale dell'Europa, per la sua crescita a lungo termine e per la creazione di nuova occupazione. Per questo è positivo che la Commissione, proponendo l'istituzione del programma InvestEU, abbia voluto non solo rinnovare ma anche intensificare il sostegno agli investimenti.

InvestEU non è però soltanto uno strumento che prosegue la positiva esperienza del FEIS e degli altri progetti sviluppati in questi anni. Oltre a rafforzare ulteriormente il sostegno alle piccole e medie imprese, alla ricerca, all'innovazione, alle infrastrutture sostenibili, questo programma si propone infatti di iniziare ad affrontare l'enorme gap di infrastrutture sociali, denunciato dal rapporto della task force sugli investimenti in infrastrutture sociali nel gennaio scorso, garantendo la realizzabilità di progetti nel campo dell'educazione, della salute, dell'edilizia sociale.

InvestEU si pone come obiettivo primario quello di colmare il gap di investimenti nei settori e nelle aree geografiche dove c'è più bisogno, e per farlo il Parlamento è intervenuto con una serie di modifiche migliorative al testo della Commissione.

In primo luogo, abbiamo stabilito che il costo della garanzia per i promotori dell'investimento dovrà essere esclusivamente legato alle caratteristiche e al profilo di rischio delle operazioni sottostanti, e che condizioni più favorevoli potranno essere applicate per promuovere la costruzione di piattaforme di investimento, per favorire gli investimenti nelle aree dove il gap di investimenti è più elevato, o per incoraggiare interventi in quei settori dove la necessità di investimenti è più pronunciata.

In secondo luogo, oltre ad aver ribadito che la BEI continuerà ad essere il partner finanziario principale della Commissione nel quadro di InvestEU, abbiamo valorizzato l'importante ruolo delle banche di promozione nazionale nel finanziamento dei progetti di investimento. Le banche di promozione nazionale potranno avere accesso diretto alla garanzia europea, e questo consentirà una maggiore flessibilità e quindi maggiori possibilità di finanziamento dei progetti, con positive ricadute sul livello di investimenti e sulla creazione di nuovi posti di lavoro.

Infine, abbiamo stabilito che gli Stati membri avranno non soltanto la possibilità di convogliare parte delle loro risorse assegnate nel quadro dei fondi per la politica di coesione, ma potranno anche contribuire con risorse aggiuntive che andranno, in linea di principio, considerate come contributi one-off rispetto al calcolo del deficit strutturale ai fini del patto di stabilità e di crescita.

Il testo che ci apprestiamo a votare è nel complesso equilibrato, compresa la parte che impone che almeno il 65 % degli investimenti sotto la finestra delle infrastrutture sostenibili contribuisca a raggiungere gli obiettivi previsti dagli accordi di Parigi sul clima e l'ambiente. Quindi chiedo di mantenere il testo votato della commissione ECON per quanto riguarda questo tetto del 65 %.

Con questo testo, credo, noi diamo una risposta concreta a quanti chiedono che l'Europa faccia di più per gli investimenti, la crescita e il lavoro.

  Seán Kelly, rapporteur for the opinion of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. – Mr President, InvestEU is one of the flagship programmes of the new EU budget 2021-2027 and will mobilise over EUR 650 billion of additional investment in the EU. We have only to look at the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI) to see the potential. It enables us to get more investment for less cost to the taxpayer.

Over the last two years I have been holding regular public meetings on the investment plan around my constituency, in collaboration with the European Investment Bank and Commissioner Katainen and his officials, who deserve great credit. I see huge potential for InvestEU and I know in particular it is an instrument that business owners in my constituency – Ireland South – are looking forward to and have huge appetite for.

I particularly welcome the emphasis on small businesses, and this is something that we in the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) committed to in our opinion, and it has been endorsed by all groups, and I am very pleased about that. This is not about big business, which has its own independent way of raising capital. This is about small businesses, in particular, that we need to help and I am pleased we are doing that.

Finally, I must say that this also has to be taken in the context of what is happening in Westminster this evening. Whatever happens, this is the perfect antidote to Brexit because it will help businesses which will be affected to get the finance needed to survive.

  Der Präsident. – Vielen Dank, Herr Kollege Kelly. Leider hatten Sie nur eine Minute. Ich weiß, dass Sie normalweise sehr korrekt sind, aber mehr hatten Sie dieses Mal nicht. Deshalb gestatte ich auch keine „blaue Karte“.

  Wim van de Camp, Rapporteur voor advies van de Commissie vervoer en toerisme. – Voorzitter, ik dank alle rapporteurs die dit belangrijke dossier tot een goed einde gaan brengen. Wij van de Commissie vervoer hebben deze investeringen zeer nodig. Het plan is voor de transportsector van groot belang, zeker als het gaat over de wegenbouw en met name de autosnelwegen in Europa. Wij hebben meer privaat geld nodig in onze sector.

Er is alleen één aspect waar ik uw speciale aandacht voor vraag en dat zijn de milieudoelstellingen in de benadering van de rapporteurs van de Begrotingscommissie en ECON. Wij weten allemaal dat Europa schoner moet worden, maar tegelijkertijd moeten wij de capaciteit van de private investeerders op dit punt niet overschatten. Vandaar dat de Commissie vervoer pleit voor een lagere milieudoelstelling dan nu is afgesproken.

  Jyrki Katainen, Vice-President of the Commission. – Mr President, it is a pleasure to participate in this discussion. It is also a pleasure to see so many colleagues here who have wanted to implement EFSI in their own constituencies by presenting what EFSI can do, what advisory services can do and raise awareness, and this is the reason why EFSI has already been a success story.

It is a good opportunity to continue this success story and that is why we have initiated the InvestEU proposal.

I want to thank this House for its continued backing throughout this mandate to the Commission's initiatives in support of investment.

When this Commission took office in late 2014, investment had fallen by 15% in the EU as a result of the financial and economic crisis.

We had to take comprehensive action to tackle this investment gap and to reinstate confidence both in the Union economy and also in the capacity of EU institutions to deliver for citizens.

The investment plan for Europe was the Commission's answer to the situation and you were vigilant allies in setting up the European Fund for Strategic Investments to this end.

Today, the investment conditions in Europe have improved. However, there is still a sizeable investment gap in Europe, especially when it comes to social infrastructure and investments in the environmental and digital transition.

In the context of this proposal, for the next Multiannual Financial Framework, the Commission has therefore put forward a single multi-policy investment support instrument – the InvestEU fund.

The InvestEU fund will combine 13 centrally managed financial instruments and the EFSI into a single EUR 38 billion budgetary currency.

It will have a strong policy focus and, while the EIB will remain the Commission’s main strategic partner in this implementation, it will also be open to other partners such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Council of Europe Development Bank or national promotional banks and institutions.

The Commission welcomes the European Parliament’s report on InvestEU. The report touches on many important items but broadly endorses the Commission's proposal.

Regarding the proposed changes, the Commission is open to considering those related to covenants, in particular those that increase the independence of the Investment Committee and safeguard the Commission's policy steer.

As regards the concerns expressed regarding the role of the EIB under InvestEU compared with EFSI, let me inform you that the Commission and the EIB have jointly proposed a partnership that would enshrine the EIB group’s 75% share of the EU currently in the regulation.

The partnership would also put the EIB’s banking expertise to the best use for the design of a rationalisation of financial risk monitoring and reporting of the InvestEU programme. This partnership proposal is, of course, subject to the co-legislators’ consideration.

Some of your amendments are linked to the broader MFF discussion, such as the overall amount of currency and the climate targets. For the time being, we will take note of them and see them as a testimony of the Parliament's commitment to a strong Union with a strong budget and to the Union’s COP 21 goals.

On behalf of the Commission, let me express our appreciation for the tremendous effort the rapporteurs, the shadows and also associated committees have done to reach a position within a very ambitious timeline with a view to an agreement before the European elections. I very much hope that these tireless efforts will also be reflected in tomorrow's world.

It is now up to the Council to step up their efforts in order to reach a partial general approach and allow for the beginning of trilogues.

  Ivo Belet, Rapporteur voor advies van de Commissie milieubeheer, volksgezondheid en voedselveiligheid. – Voorzitter, inderdaad ook volmondige steun vanuit de Commissie milieu. Als we vergelijken met het huidige, het lopende EFSI-programma, dan is het aandeel investeringen in hernieuwbare energie en energiebesparingen al zeer ambitieus. We zitten nu op 19 %, maar we willen uiteraard met het nieuwe InvestEU-programma grotere en snellere stappen vooruit zetten, zeker op het vlak van duurzame energie. Het is een goede zaak dat klimaat en duurzaamheid als een rode draad door het hele investeringsprogramma lopen.

We zijn ervan overtuigd, ook vanuit de Commissie milieu, dat een sterke industrie en investeringen in de sterke industrie in Europa met heel veel banen, wel degelijk hand in hand kunnen gaan met duurzame en CO2-arme productie. Daarom is het, zoals de commissaris zei, goed om alle investeringsinstrumenten samen te brengen om dat te realiseren. Kortom, collega Kelly heeft het al gezegd: InvestEU is het vlaggenschip, is het belangrijkste instrument dat we hebben voor het leiderschap van Europa, zeker voor de energie van de toekomst die duurzaam moet zijn, die betaalbaar moet zijn en die we vooral niet invoeren, maar die we zelf opwekken.

  Kerstin Westphal, Verfasserin der Stellungnahme des mitberatenden Ausschusses für regionale Entwicklung. – Herr Präsident, liebe Kollegen und Kolleginnen! Das InvestEU-Programm ist ein gutes Programm, und ich glaube in der Tat, dass der Bericht der Kollegen dieses Programm noch verbessert. Trotzdem: Gestatten Sie mir als Regionalpolitikerin, ein wenig Wasser in den Wein zu schütten, denn ich habe in der Tat Bedenken. In meinen Augen sind die Strukturfonds mit ihrem dezentralen Ansatz, mit ihrer geteilten Verwaltung etwas komplett anderes als InvestEU. Die Strukturfonds sind dazu da, das Leben aller Menschen in Europa zu verbessern. Sie bringen in den Regionen Jobs, verbessern Infrastruktur, bekämpfen den Klimawandel, unterstützen Unternehmen und Universitäten. Diese Förderung muss in der Tat weitergehen, auch wenn das Budget kleiner wird. Deswegen lehne ich die Idee ab, dass die Strukturfonds zur Finanzierung von InvestEU beitragen sollen. Ich sage Ja zu der Idee, Synergien zu schaffen, aber Nein zu den Plänen, die beiden Instrumente finanziell zu vermischen.

  Ангел Джамбазки, Докладчик CULT. – Г-н Председател, в становището си относно предложението за регламент за създаване на програмата „Invest EU“ комисията по култура и образование на Европейския парламент подчертава нуждата от допълнителни вложения в областта на културата, образованието и младежта. Споменатите вложения в областта на културата и образованието ще спомогнат да запазим европейското културно наследство, което безспорно има цивилизационна роля в развитието на световната история. Нужно е също така програмата „Invest EU“ да помогне на малките и средните предприятия да бъдат конкурентоспособни в бързопроменящите се условия на глобалната конкуренция и използването на нови технологии.

Сигурен съм, че това ще доведе до създаване на нови работни места в областта на културата и творческия сектор. По-важният ефект обаче безспорно е запазването на местната и националната идентичност и самосъзнание. Културното наследство на всяка една страна членка е основано на тази идентичност и самосъзнание.

Ето защо смятам, че всяка държава – членка на Европейския съюз, както и всеки регион, трябва да се възползва максимално от възможностите, предоставени от „Invest EU“. Това би спомогнало за опазване на регионалната и най-вече националната идентичност на европейските народи.

  Othmar Karas, im Namen der PPE-Fraktion. – Herr Präsident, Herr Vizepräsident der Kommission, meine sehr geehrten Damen und Herren! Ein herzliches Dankeschön all jenen, die sich seit dem Beginn der Legislaturperiode um verstärkte Investitionen in der Europäischen Union bemühen.

Investitionen zu mobilisieren, ist kein Sprint, es ist ein Marathon. Es ist uns gelungen, dass wir bei jedem Schritt dazugelernt haben und mit jedem Schritt etwas verbessert haben. Wir haben die Investitionsoffensive für Europa mit EFSI 1 am Beginn der Legislaturperiode gestartet. Wir haben sie mit EFSI 2 verbessert und bis 2020 verlängert. Wir haben die Investitionsoffensive auf Drittländer ausgeweitet – vor allem auf Afrika – und wir wollen mit der neuen Initiative InvestEU ein weiteres Kapitel aufschlagen.

Wir wollen damit über sieben Jahre hinweg 700 Milliarden Euro an zusätzlichen Investitionen mobilisieren, Bürokratie reduzieren und Effizienz erhöhen, indem wir die Förderinstrumente konzentrieren, kleinere Projekte und Unternehmen besser unterstützen, die Schlagfertigkeit steigern und, indem wir die Direktvergabe der EU-Garantie erweitern, die politische Unabhängigkeit und Transparenz von Investitionsentscheidungen sichern sowie die Umsetzung der Klimaziele gewährleisten.

Das ist unser Ziel, und wir hoffen, dass wir damit einen großen Schritt vorwärts für mehr Investitionen in Europa, Wachstum und Beschäftigung erbringen können.

ELNÖKÖL: JÁRÓKA LÍVIA
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  Eider Gardiazabal Rubial, en nombre del Grupo S&D. – Señora presidenta, señor comisario, yo también quiero empezar sumándome a las felicitaciones a los ponentes, al señor Gualtieri y al señor Fernandes, por el gran trabajo que han realizado en este informe. Es verdad que partíamos de una buena base con la propuesta presentada por la Comisión, pero yo creo que en el trámite parlamentario, gracias a los ponentes y a los negociadores de otros grupos políticos, hemos mejorado esa propuesta.

Desde el principio de la crisis económica para los socialistas fue una prioridad establecer un plan de inversiones que permitiera relanzar las economías, pero que las relanzara por el camino adecuado; y esto es por un crecimiento sostenible. En este mandato hemos trabajado ya sobre el primer plan de inversiones estratégicas, el que conocemos como el Plan Juncker, y sobre su ampliación. Y, como siempre, todo es mejorable, pero los resultados creo que se pueden calificar como satisfactorios.

Este nuevo plan de inversiones se basa no solo en esos buenos resultados y en la experiencia del plan anterior sino que, además, reagrupa bajo un mismo paraguas instrumentos financieros que estaban dispersos por diferentes programas. Eso también lo llevábamos reclamando tiempo y lo que va a hacer es tener un instrumento mucho más flexible, más eficaz y más sencillo, y, por lo tanto, con un mejor impacto.

El objetivo de este programa, ya se ha dicho, es movilizar casi 700 000 millones de euros, gracias al presupuesto europeo, y destinarlos a inversiones que permitan crecer a la Unión Europea de una manera inteligente, esto es invirtiendo en conocimiento, en infraestructuras sostenibles o facilitando el acceso a las pequeñas y medianas empresas a la financiación. Este nuevo plan también nos va a permitir infraestructuras sociales y dar un impulso fundamental en la lucha contra el cambio climático.

Me parece importante también resaltar el papel que se les da a los bancos de promoción que existen a nivel nacional o regional, porque va a crear sinergias muy positivas y va a acercar las inversiones a las necesidades concretas de los territorios.

Así que espero que comiencen rápido las negociaciones con el Consejo, que seamos capaces de lograr un buen acuerdo en línea con lo que este Parlamento va a votar mañana, es decir, en línea con los objetivos, pero también —fundamental— en línea con el volumen presupuestario que votaremos.

  Bernd Kölmel, im Namen der ECR-Fraktion. – Frau Präsidentin! Mit Invest-EU unternimmt die EU wieder einmal den Versuch, durch Geldausgeben Strukturmängel zu beseitigen. Das wird nicht gelingen. Das hat bisher nicht geklappt, das wird auch künftig nicht klappen. Strukturmängel muss man dahingehend beseitigen, dass man sie zunächst mal analysiert und die richtigen Schlüsse daraus zieht. Wenn wir aber einfach hergehen und sagen: „Wir wollen mehr Investitionen“, dann tun wir so, als ob jede Investition gut wäre. Das ist aber nicht der Fall. Investitionen sind nur gut, wenn sie nachhaltig wirken. Vor allen Dingen müssen wir endlich dafür sorgen, dass sich die EU nicht über die Privatwirtschaft erhebt. Wir brauchen private Investitionen. Wenn wir doch aber sehen: Wir haben eine Nullzinspolitik, wir haben eine Geldschwemme, es ist genügend Geld da – wieso wird dann nicht investiert? Das heißt, wir haben doch hier ganz andere Probleme, als die Privatwirtschaft mit Geld zu versorgen.

Was wir mit InvestEU erreichen werden, ist das gleiche wie mit dem EFSI, mit dem Juncker-Plan. Wir werden Projekte fördern, ohne zu wissen, was dann am Schluss dabei herauskommt, ohne messbare Ergebnisse. Das heißt, wir werden Fehlinvestitionen haben, wir werden Fehlallokationen haben, und wir werden am Schluss nichts für die Bürger tun, sondern das sind letztlich Mitnahmeeffekte. Was wir zur Steigerung der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit wirklich bräuchten, das wäre eine Reform der Währung Euro. Denn diese ist völlig deplatziert, sie macht Dinge gleich, die man nicht gleichmachen kann. Da müssen wir ansetzen. Das wäre eine erhebliche Verbesserung für unsere wirtschaftliche Bedeutung.

  Nils Torvalds, ALDE-ryhmän puolesta. – Arvoisa puhemies, arvoisa komission jäsen Jyrki Katainen, kun me vuosia sitten aloitimme tämän pitkän kävelyn ja keskustelun Juncker-rahastosta, suurin osa meistä oli silloin ehkä jonkin verran skeptisiä: tuleeko tästä pyörä, joka kulkee eteenpäin. Nyt olemme jonkin verran viisaampia ja ymmärrämme, että tämä pyörä todella kulkee, vaikka jotkut yrittävät sanoa, ettei se kuitenkaan pyöri.

On tietenkin monenlaisia haasteita, nyt kun astumme vielä toisen tai kolmannen askeleen eteenpäin, koska InvestEU on aika lailla toinen polkupyörä kuin EFSI 1 tai EFSI 2. Nyt otamme mukaan myös tämän instituution ulkopuolella olevia voimanlähteitä. Kun me näissä kokouksissa keskustelimme tästä, syntyi melkein pieni epäilys, pystymmekö itse asiassa ottamaan niitä avosylin vastaan. Me olemme poliitikkoja, ajattelemme helposti asioita ikään kuin valtiollisesta näkökulmasta ja valtiollisessa näkökulmassa. Vaikka puhumme kyllä yksityisyrittäjistä ja pienyrityksistä, tämä valtiollinen näkökulma, ”thinking like a state” niin kuin englantilaiset joskus sanovat, voi olla ongelmallinen.

Siitä syystä toivotan meille menestystä ja kiitän meidän esittelijöitämme tästä valtavasta työstä. Ehkä me otamme tänään ja huomenna valtavan askeleen eteenpäin, ja jos vielä neuvosto pystyisi kulkemaan samaa tahtia kuin komissio ja parlamentti, ehkä me huomenna olemmekin paremmassa maailmassa.

  Sven Giegold, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, first of all I would like to stress that it was urgent that the Union took stronger action to increase investment, so therefore we welcome the original plan. We saw the deficiencies and we learned lessons from that and now have a new proposal.

The Union has to be bolder, to increase investment, and this is also what the new InvestEU programme will deliver. But at the same time, I would like to stress that good investment is only sustainable investment. Only investment which learns the lessons of the climate crisis is good investment and therefore it was positive that the compromise coming out of the leading committee foresaw an increase in the share of sustainable investment in the infrastructure window to 65%, and it is important for our Group that this House sticks to this proposal.

Second, we believe strongly that military and civil objectives in budgets should be well separated, and this principle should also be respected in the plenary vote. I count on the co-rapporteurs to follow the original compromise rather than changing that here in the plenary and making it more difficult to achieve a broad pro-European majority which this programme deserves.

  Δημήτριος Παπαδημούλης, εξ ονόματος της ομάδας GUE/NGL. – Κυρία Πρόεδρε, όπως είπε και ο Επίτροπος Katainen, χρειαζόμαστε μεγαλύτερη ενίσχυση των επενδύσεων. Είμαστε ακόμη αρκετά πίσω από το επίπεδο των επενδύσεων προ κρίσης. Επομένως, τα βήματα που γίνονται με το ΙnvestEU, κατά την άποψη της πολιτικής μας ομάδας, δεν είναι αρκετά. Είναι γεγονός ότι η πρόταση που φέρνει το Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο βελτιώνει την αρχική πρόταση της Επιτροπής σε αρκετά σημεία. Εντοπίζω, όμως, κάποια αρνητικά και κάποιους κινδύνους. Υπάρχει ο κίνδυνος το ΙnvestEU να αφαιρέσει κονδύλια από το Ταμείο Συνοχής και αυτό θα είναι απαράδεκτο όταν έχουμε ήδη μείωση των κονδυλίων συνοχής στην πρόταση της Επιτροπής για το νέο Πολυετές Δημοσιονομικό Πλαίσιο. Ο δεύτερος κίνδυνος είναι να αδικηθούν οι πραγματικά μικρομεσαίες επιχειρήσεις. Εμείς θα επιμείνουμε σε περισσότερες επενδύσεις και ιδιαίτερα σε αυτές τις περιοχές που έχουν τη μεγαλύτερη αποεπένδυση και σε αυτές περιοχές που έχουν υποφέρει περισσότερο από την ύφεση.

  David Coburn, on behalf of the EFDD Group. – Madam President, this pork—barrel legislation invests EU money managed centrally by the Commission. Can we please remind ourselves of two things?

First, there is no such thing as EU money. It comes from the taxpayer, and it is taxpayers’ money. Secondly, a profit that motivates a business that is investing taxpayers’ money into it is a subsidy that distorts the market on which taxpayers must themselves rely, whether it is consumers, investors or both.

State aid rules were intended to ensure a level playing field in the use of subsidies. That’s why the EU wants to impose the EU state aid rules on the UK during, and even after, transition. But it won’t be a level playing field because this legislation will streamline the approval process for EU businesses, but not UK ones.

You might say we will be at the back of the queue, but it need not be a disadvantage. After all, Oliver Twist was at the back of the queue for his subsidised thin gruel. Asking for more didn’t help him, but escape from a 19th century workhouse most certainly did. That is what British business will, and must, do – escape from a 19th century-style customs union to a more entrepreneurial and liberating future.

Unfortunately, our Prime Minster sees it differently, but she looks as if she’s going to get a good beating tonight, so I’m off to enjoy that. We will be out of the European Union soon, I hope, and have free trade deals with the rest of the world.

  Barbara Kappel, im Namen der ENF-Fraktion. – Frau Präsidentin, Herr Vizepräsident der Kommission! Das Programm InvestEU wird im nächsten mehrjährigen Finanzrahmen eine Vielzahl von Finanzierungsinstrumenten – 13 haben Sie genannt – unter einem Dach zusammenführen und damit die Finanzierungen einfacher, effizienter und flexibler machen. Ab 2021 wird InvestEU nahtlos an EFSI 2 anschließen und hoffentlich dazu beitragen, die Investitionslücke, die Sie ebenfalls ansprachen, weiter zu schließen. Mit einer Haushaltsgarantie von 38 Milliarden Euro – laut Kommission, das Parlament wollte ja mehr: 40 – sollen öffentliche und private Investitionen im Umfang von 650 Milliarden mobilisiert werden. Und – sehr positiv – wichtigster Ansprechpartner und Abwicklungspartner dabei ist die Europäische Investitionsbank, die den EFSI bereits erfolgreich abgewickelt hat. 75 % des Volumens werden über diese Bank umgesetzt. Daneben werden nationale Förderbanken, die Europäische Bank für Wiederaufbau und Entwicklung, die Weltbank, aber auch die Entwicklungsbank des Europarates hinzugezogen. Positiv ist auch – und hier kommt das Parlament wieder zum Tragen –, dass ein Lenkungsausschuss eingerichtet wird und dass es dezentrale advisory hubs gibt, die sogenannten advisory hub partners – beides, wie gesagt, Parlamentspositionen. 650 Milliarden in die vier Politikbereiche, in die aus dem EFSI oder aus InvestEU investiert werden soll, sind wichtig. Es ist eine große Herausforderung. Ich danke den Berichterstattern. Lassen Sie uns starten!

  Paul Rübig (PPE). – Frau Präsidentin! Ich wollte mich auch bei Wilhelm Molterer noch bedanken, denn er hat gezeigt, dass man so ein Programm sehr erfolgreich umsetzen kann.

Wir sehen, dass Europa Bedarf an Investitionen hat. Der Kollege Katainen hat das gut auf den Punkt gebracht. Der Anteil der Produktion am BIP geht in Europa noch immer zurück. Wir haben uns zwar das Ziel gesetzt, auf 20 % zu kommen, aber wir liegen jetzt bei ungefähr 15 % und Frankreich und auch Großbritannien kratzen schon an der 10%-Marke. Also, hier sieht man, dass die Europäische Union tatsächlich Handlungsbedarf hat.

Mein persönliches Ziel wäre, der Anteil der Produktion in Europa bis 2030 wieder auf 30 % zu erhöhen, deshalb müssen auch wir Produktion aus dem Rest der Welt, die in den letzten Jahren in andere Länder verlagert wurde, wieder zurückbekommen mit Industrie 4.0 und mit dem Skills-Paket, den Aus- und Weiterbildungspaket, das hier geschaffen wurde.

Ich glaube, das KMU-Fenster nützt uns sehr stark, auch in der Risikoteilung. Gerade die kleinen und mittleren Betriebe brauchen eine Risikoübernahme. Sie zahlen ja auf der anderen Seite auch die Steuern, und wenn sie auf der einen Seite die Steuern zahlen, haben sie auch ein Recht, an der Risikoübernahme dementsprechend beteiligt zu werden.

Bei den 22 Millionen KMU, die 50 % und mehr des BIP erarbeiten und 80 % der neuen Arbeitsplätze schaffen, ist das Geld gut angelegt. Auch die Risikoteilung zwischen EIB mit 75 % und den nationalen Banken mit 25 % wird sich hier bemerkbar machen und ein gutes blending wird eine gute und sichere Zukunft für dieses Europa ermöglichen.

  Pervenche Berès (S&D). – Madame la Présidente, Monsieur le Vice-président de la Commission, je crois que ce Parlement a amélioré la proposition de la Commission et que nous ne pouvons que nous en réjouir car cette proposition est tout à fait essentielle pour relancer l’investissement au sein de l’Union européenne, dont nous savons qu’il manque tant. C’est essentiel pour nos citoyens, pour nos entreprises et pour nos territoires. Nous nous félicitons de la proposition de la Commission, qui visait à simplifier les modalités de cet investissement et à permettre une complémentarité avec d’autres instruments, y compris ceux de la politique de cohésion, ce qui constitue une avancée significative à notre sens.

Par ailleurs, les objectifs d’investissement qui ont été retenus nous semblent tout à fait exemplaires par rapport à ce que doit être la stratégie économique de l’Union européenne, puisqu’ils concilient à la fois le développement durable, les objectifs de la conférence de Paris et l’investissement social, sans oublier les industries créatives et culturelles.

Enfin, nous pensons que, à l’initiative de ce Parlement encore, la montée en puissance des banques nationales de développement ne pourra qu’améliorer la capacité d’un tel plan à remporter des succès et à financer, là où c’est nécessaire, les investissements utiles pour une meilleure croissance créatrice d’emplois durables en Europe.

  Ralph Packet (ECR). – Voorzitter, dit is het eerste wetgevende dossier waaraan ik meeonderhandelde voor de ECR en voor mijn partij, de N-VA, en ik was tevreden. Want vaak komt de Commissie met voorstellen waarvan je je kunt afvragen of ze wel nuttig zijn. Maar dit is een verstandige hervorming. Het bundelt alle bestaande investeringsprogramma's van de EU en maakt er één gestroomlijnd programma van. Het oorspronkelijke voorstel van de Commissie zat niet helemaal goed. De governance was te complex en de expertise van de EIB was onderbenut. Ik ben blij dat we deze tekst sterk konden verbeteren. Wij hebben het accent gelegd op het versterken van de rol van de nationale investeringsbanken. Onze Vlaamse participatiemaatschappij, de PNV, kan hierdoor zelf de volledige verantwoordelijkheid krijgen over de implementatie van de investeringen. Ik dank de rapporteurs voor hun werk en kijk uit naar de onderhandelingen met de Raad.

  Jordi Solé (Verts/ALE). – Madam President, I would like to underline three specific aspects relating to InvestEU. Firstly, there is a clear need to further mobilise public and private investments in the European Union, but this investment should follow a rationale, serve a clear purpose and aim at achieving common goals. In other words, the InvestEU programme must be a useful tool to transform our economies into carbon-neutral inclusive economies. They must foster energy transition and take into account social and environmental concerns. We definitely have to be determined to accomplish the Paris Agreement and the SDGs. That is why we strive for bigger climate spending targets when it comes to supporting strategic investments and exclude projects that could be environmentally harmful.

Secondly, we strongly oppose the funding of defence projects with InvestEU. The militarisation of the EU budget, be it through investments or through research support, is not the proper way to solve the security challenges that we are facing. InvestEU funds should be invested in many other areas with a much more evident need of investment, not least in the social economy.

Thirdly and finally, the stronger participation not only of national, but also of regional promotional banks, is a key factor in the better allocation of projects due to their knowledge of the local markets and of the needs of the economic and social agents.

  Liadh Ní Riada (GUE/NGL). – A Uachtaráin, déarfainn leis an gCoimisinéir go bhfuilimid tar éis imeacht ón Juncker Plan go dtí an EFSI go dtí FC1 go dtí FC2 agus anois tá ainm nua againn, InvestEU.

Ach i ndairíre, cé go bhfuil an t-ainm difriúil tá an bunphrionsabal mar an gcéanna agus an infheistíocht dírithe i dtreo infheistíocht phríobháideach a mhealladh seachas infheistíocht phoiblí. Ní bheinnse dóchasach go bhfuil an infheistíocht chun imeacht go dtí an earnáil phoiblí. Ní fheicim, mar shampla, go mbeidh córas iompair ann do mhuintir tuaithe na hÉireann atá ag streachailt faoi láthair. Ní fheicim go mbeidh na hinfheisteoirí príobháideacha seo ag infheistiú i seirbhísí poiblí.

Do bhí reachtaíocht ann an uair dheireanach a bheadh ag cur leis an ngeilleagar sóisialta agus a bheadh ag cur airgead ar fáil do chomharchumainn; agus nílim róchinnte – mar níl na fíricí faighte agam agus aon uair a lorgaím na fíricí seo, ní gheibhim iad.

Níor chóir dúinn a bheith ag cur aon airgead i dtreo fórsaí míleata, táimid glan i gcoinne é sin. Agus mar sin, cé go bhfuil infheistíocht tábhachtach, agus táimid ar fad aontaithe air sin, braitheann sé ar cá bhfuil an dua chun an infheistíocht sin a dhéanamh agus is insan earnáil phoiblí ba chóir go mbeadh sé ag imeacht.

  Dariusz Rosati (PPE). – Pani Przewodnicząca! Panie Komisarzu! Dyskutujemy dzisiaj o programie InvestEU, ale chciałbym wrócić na chwilę do jego poprzednika – do planu Junckera, czyli do Europejskiego Funduszu Inwestycji Strategicznych, który okazał się wielkim sukcesem. Z całą pewnością przyczynił się do tego, że Unia Europejska – zwłaszcza strefa euro – przeżywa 22 kwartały nieprzerwanej ekspansji. Jest to z pewnością sukces i cieszę się, że kontynuujemy ten pomysł w takim zmodernizowanym, unowocześnionym kształcie.

Chcę również powiedzieć, że plan Junckera przyczynił się do rozwoju mojego kraju, a zwłaszcza mojego regionu, z którego jestem posłem – z Pomorza Zachodniego i z Ziemi Lubuskiej, gdzie finansuje, między innymi, modernizację zakładu chemicznego w Policach, a także inwestycje związane z poprawą żeglugi na rzece Odrze.

Mówiąc o programie InvestEU, chcę przede wszystkim podkreślić to, że dzięki skupieniu w tym programie różnych instrumentów finansowych – od dotacji poprzez pożyczki i gwarancje – łącznie jest ich trzynaście – uzyskujemy bardzo elastyczny instrument, który rzeczywiście może być stosowany w różnych warunkach i w odniesieniu do różnych projektów.

Chcę również powiedzieć, że jestem za tym, żeby Fundusz Gwarancji, który wspiera ten program inwestycji, już został zwiększony zgodnie z propozycją sprawozdawców do 40,8 miliarda EUR. Jesteśmy przekonani, że te pieniądze będą dobrze wykorzystane.

Wreszcie na końcu chcę powiedzieć, że liczę na to, że Fundusz w większym stopniu uwzględni potrzeby rozwijających się gospodarek krajów Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej.

  Jeppe Kofod (S&D). – Madam President, besides paving the way for more private investment in Europe, which we really need, I also think we have to ask how we want to spend taxpayers’ money. So InvestEU is a question we need to ask on that. Do we want to invest in business as usual, spending money on outdated approaches and supporting the technology of the past, or should we invest in the tools of the future, the Europe of tomorrow, where growth doesn’t have an equal burden in terms of climate and sustainability?

When we are voting on the InvestEU Programme tomorrow, that is the question we all need to ask ourselves. With InvestEU we have a chance to show in what direction we, as policymakers, wish to direct Europe. We have a chance to vote for a fund that puts climate first when investing taxpayers’ money.

Along with ambitious colleagues from a number of parties, I have fought for higher sustainability and energy targets. Dear colleagues – and especially the colleagues on the conservative side of this Chamber – please join us in voting for an EU investment programme that puts climate and the future first.

  Tilly Metz (Verts/ALE). – Madame la Présidente, Mesdames, Messieurs, chers collègues, pour moi, l’élément central d’InvestEU est de continuer à tourner le dos à une politique d’austérité et d’investir dans des projets innovants, durables, et qui risqueraient de ne pas trouver d’investisseurs sans le soutien de l’Union européenne. Vous rendez-vous compte? 38 milliards d’euros pour réaliser des projets tels que des petites et moyennes entreprises qui favorisent l’inclusion des personnes handicapées, ou encore une recherche sans expérimentation animale, un parc éolien en mer du Nord, une rénovation thermique des bâtiments. Voilà des projets dont nos générations futures ont besoin.

Malheureusement, une épée de Damoclès plane au-dessus de ces projets: la tentative des lobbies de l’industrie de l’armement de s’accaparer ces fonds d’investissement. Chers collègues, résistez au chant des sirènes de l’industrie de l’armement, et investissons dans l’avenir de notre planète!

  Lambert van Nistelrooij (PPE). – Madam President, we have already taken a lot of steps during the last years as part of the Juncker plan, and I’m glad to see that some of these changes that we wished for have been taken on board. For instance, a better relationship with regional policy, and a better relationship with Structural Funds and Horizon Europe.

It’s possible to have a greater impact and more visibility if you combine those funds with the new InvestEU fund to bring better visibility for our citizens, for instance through smart specialisation.

Second point, the transfer from the Structural Funds has been realised now in this regulation. This is very important. It’s a free transfer, and it can be done on the priorities that are regionally accepted.

Third point, assistance from the InvestEU Advisory Hub is absolutely necessary all over Europe, and the EIB can work together and share its expertise with other partners. This is a partnership that is now possible.

And my last remark, the geographical balance can be done better than before. It’s no good that one part of Europe takes away a lot of young people to work in other parts. It’s Europe, and our goal is that we want to have balanced development. This has been taken on board in a much better way.

As REGI coordinator, I support your initiative and I think it’s good for a green, growing Europe with jobs.

„Catch the eye” eljárás

  Gabriel Mato (PPE). – Señora presidenta, doy la bienvenida al programa InvestEU, que en el último término lo que busca es que la financiación para proyectos de inversión en Europa sea más sencilla, eficiente y flexible. Estamos hablando de inversiones de 650 000 millones de euros: una buena noticia para todos, una nueva oportunidad de cara a estimular la creación de empleo, la inversión y la innovación.

Pero esta oportunidad tiene que llegar también a las regiones ultraperiféricas. Y para ello se tienen que remover los obstáculos que impidan o dificulten la plena utilización de esos fondos por parte de estas regiones, estableciendo las excepciones necesarias a tal fin. Canarias quiere ser parte importante de este programa, pero para ello hay que tener en cuenta sus singularidades y especiales características.

La solidaridad es un valor fundamental de la Unión Europea. En este caso, además, cualquier excepción en favor de las regiones ultraperiféricas tiene pleno apoyo jurídico en el artículo 349 del Tratado.

  Νότης Μαριάς (ECR). – Κυρία Πρόεδρε, το ΙnvestEU μπορεί να αποδειχθεί ένα θετικό πρόγραμμα υπό τον όρο ότι θα τεθούν ορισμένες προϋποθέσεις. Πρώτον, πρέπει να στηριχτούν οι απόκεντρες περιοχές και ιδίως τα νησιά του Αιγαίου. Δεύτερον, να στηριχτούν οι περιφέρειες και όχι το κέντρο του σκληρού πυρήνα της ευρωζώνης. Τρίτον, να στηριχτούν οι μικρομεσαίες επιχειρήσεις. Αυτές είναι προϋποθέσεις για να μπορέσουμε να έχουμε μία διαφορετική κατεύθυνση. Οι τομείς με τους οποίους πρέπει να ασχοληθούμε είναι οπωσδήποτε ο πολιτισμός, η προστασία του περιβάλλοντος, η ενίσχυση της απασχόλησης. Δεν πρέπει να αξιοποιηθούν τα χρήματα προκειμένου να έχουμε περαιτέρω στρατιωτικοποίηση της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης και, κυρίως, δεν πρέπει να ακολουθήσουμε το παράδειγμα που δίνει το σχέδιο Juncker διότι στην Ελλάδα τα χρήματα τα οποία ήρθαν επί του πρακτέου χρησιμοποιήθηκαν προκειμένου η Fraport να αγοράσει τα ελληνικά περιφερειακά αεροδρόμια και, δεύτερον, να χρηματοδοτηθεί η Cosmote η οποία είναι μια επιχείρηση γερμανική. Ας έρθουν τα χρήματα στην Ελλάδα για να στηριχθούν και ελληνικές επιχειρήσεις όχι οι πολυεθνικές. Ας αποφύγουμε, λοιπόν, το κακό παράδειγμα που είχαμε στο σχέδιο Juncker.

  Miguel Viegas (GUE/NGL). – Senhora Presidente, este programa tem dois problemas: em primeiro lugar, representa mais um instrumento de subsidiação do setor privado, ou seja, há fome, há desigualdades sociais, há pobreza, a União Europeia assobia para o lado; há quebra do investimento, imediatamente aparecem os instrumentos de apoio às empresas.

Em segundo lugar, isto não responde às necessidades da União Europeia e das populações porque o que a União Europeia necessita, verdadeiramente, é de um ambicioso plano de investimento público que responda às necessidades das populações e que dinamize a economia e repare que uma parte ínfima dos meios que foram despendidos pelo BCE nas suas operações de expansão quantitativa teriam sido mais que suficientes para financiar este plano, relançando o crescimento económico e combatendo as assimetrias. Mas a orientação não foi esta e aí temos mais um instrumento competitivo, um instrumento financeiro, que não garante a adicionalidade, que vai alimentar as parcerias público—privadas e que tem a novidade, agora, de poder financiar também a indústria de armamento, o que lamentamos profundamente.

  José Inácio Faria (PPE). – Senhora Presidente, caros colegas, em primeiro lugar, quero saudar o meu colega José Manuel Fernandes pelo trabalho desenvolvido no dossier InvestEU no sentido de, por um lado, introduzir-lhe maior justiça e, por outro lado, simplificar esta ferramenta ao agregar outros instrumentos financeiros até hoje dispersos.

O InvestEU é essencial à União, tanto mais num período em que as linhas de investimento são ainda manifestamente insuficientes para os objetivos de desenvolvimento da Europa. Por isso, entendo que dar aqui um papel decisivo ao Banco Europeu de Investimento é reconhecer o bom trabalho que tem sido feito por esta instituição europeia com anos de sucesso nesta área. Não há dúvidas de que o fundo InvestEU garantirá uma fatia do orçamento da União dedicado aos seus eixos estratégicos principais, numa responsabilidade partilhada e em complementaridade com outros instrumentos de financiamento dos Estados-Membros, e isto permitirá que países de menor dimensão, como Portugal, tenham mais oportunidades de ver nascer projetos que até hoje, devido a análises de risco desfavoráveis, não conseguiriam ser financiados pelo investimento privado.

Caros colegas, esta é a oportunidade por que esperavam alguns projetos tão essenciais para o combate às alterações climáticas e à descarbonização da economia, para o crescimento azul e o desenvolvimento sustentável, bem como para a proteção da biodiversidade nos oceanos e na terra.

  Jadwiga Wiśniewska (ECR). – Pani Przewodnicząca! Program InvestEU może być ważnym instrumentem pobudzania inwestycji w regionach przechodzących transformację energetyczną. Dzięki moim poprawkom w komisji ENVI wyraźnie zapisano, że do inwestycji wspieranych przez InvestEU zalicza się wydatki na wsparcie regionów przechodzących transformację związaną z polityką klimatyczną, zarówno te społeczne, jak i infrastrukturalne.

Niestety, w ostatecznym tekście wiodących komisji te cele nie są już tak wyraźnie zapisane. Dlatego też chciałabym zapytać, czy z tego programu będziemy mogli finansować inwestycje w regionach górniczych, w regionach przechodzących transformację energetyczną. To jest niezwykle ważne.

Polityka klimatyczna jest jedną z głównych polityk Unii Europejskiej. Wiadomo, że państwa, które mają mix energetyczny oparty na węglu, ponoszą wielkie koszty, jeśli chodzi o dostosowanie się do rygorów klimatycznych. Czy będziemy mogli korzystać z tych środków? Mówię to jako Polka, jestem zatroskana o tę kwestię.

  Ivana Maletić (PPE). – Poštovana predsjedavajuća, zahvaljujem izvjestitelju, kolegi Fernandesu na odličnom poslu i posebno pozdravljam potpredsjednika Katainena koji je predano radio i obilazio sve države članice u okviru prethodnog programa, EFSI-ja. Zahvaljujući uspjehu koji imamo s EFSI-jem, sad možemo govoriti i o novom programu, programu InvestEU.

Ono što smo zapravo provodeći i radeći na EFSI-ju naučili jest da je jako važna priprema projekata i da je taj project pipeline u državama članicama izuzetno važan za njihovo kvalitetno uključivanje u ovaj program i zato mislim da se u provedbi moramo posebno posvetiti upravo korištenju tehničke pomoći i što većim ulaganjima u manje razvijenim državama članicama koje nemaju dovoljno administrativnog kapaciteta za pripremu projekata i sudjelovanje u ovom programu. To je prvo.

Drugo, što je jako važno, je naša spremnost na veće rizike. Dakle, da ne financiramo samo javne projekte nego da što više počnemo financirati inovatore, inovacije, start up-ove jer to je ono što će podići gospodarstvo i potaknuti razvoj.

(„Catch the eye” eljárás vége)

  Jyrki Katainen, Vice-President of the Commission. – Madam President, I would like to thank honourable Members very much for this very good and encouraging debate. I will answer some of the concerns or questions and comment on some of the ideas raised by honourable Members.

First, I have to say that the InvestEU fund is more of a policy driven fund than the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) has been. This doesn’t mean that projects are selected politically – not at all. They are selected according to the quality of the project and whether EFSI can really create some added value. The idea is to address policies like climate change or improve digitalisation or increase financing for small and medium-sized companies, which are lacking finance in certain Member States. This is what I mean when saying that it’s a more policy driven fund.

Second, the basic idea of EFSI will be maintained, meaning that InvestEU is also a demand driven fund. Nobody is forced to use EFSI if they are not willing to, but on the other hand you can get EFSI financing if you apply. The third element is that EFSI’s idea is to crowd in private liquidity, private money for investments – from the bank account for investments – which creates jobs and competitiveness and addresses our policy targets.

By pooling together 13 existing financial instruments, it should be clear to everybody that, from the end user’s point of view, InvestEU is much easier to use. So you don’t need to know all the 13 different funds and think about what might be suitable for your use. You only have to know that there is an InvestEU fund which can provide guarantees of different kinds of financing for your projects. In addition to this combination or pooling together of 13 funds, we will pool together 13 different advisory services. Again, from an end user’s point of view, applying technical assistance becomes much easier.

The novelty in the InvestEU fund – or one of them – is that we will allocate 25% of current fees, according to demand, from financial institutions other than the EIB. The EIB is a valuable partner for the Commission – also in the future – but we want to improve and encourage new financial innovations. The EIB is not always willing or capable or it doesn’t want to invest in all the different projects which someone else could do – national promotional banks or the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) or the Council of Europe Bank. I believe that this 25% allocation to banks other than the EIB will create clear added value.

I also want to remind all honourable Members, if you are interested, to look at what EFSI has achieved. Just visit EFSI’s website. You can easily find it if you google EFSI or go to the EIB’s website. Every single project which has been signed is mentioned and you can just click on your own country and there’s a list of the projects which are already signed in your country.

EFSI has not been the medicine for all diseases and neither is the InvestEU fund the medicine which addresses all the probable problems in the world, but it’s a valuable additional investment tool which can create concrete jobs and modernise our economy, making it more sustainable, and create added value to our welfare societies.

A final point, on EFSI: one thing which makes me especially happy when looking at what EFSI has achieved is to look at the countries which have mostly benefited from EFSI. Looking at EFSI investment per country’s GDP, the number one user is Greece, second Estonia, third Portugal, fourth Spain, and fifth Lithuania. Latvia is sixth, Bulgaria seventh, Finland eighth, Poland ninth, and Italy tenth. So mostly the financing has gone in the right direction, exactly to the countries and regions of those countries which have had some financial constraints. When looking at the quality of the projects, it’s also impressive. It has improved since we started EFSI and I am sure that InvestEU will do the same in the future.

  José Manuel Fernandes, Relator. – Senhora Presidente, agradeço todos os contributos para este debate. Não deixo de me impressionar com as vozes que são contra a iniciativa privada, felizmente poucas, mas foram, mesmo assim, escutadas neste plenário.

Quem cria emprego são as empresas e, nomeadamente, as pequenas e médias empresas. Também recordo que este fundo pode e deve ser utilizado pelas autoridades públicas regionais, locais, e, portanto, é uma mais valia e um instrumento adicional que é importantíssimo para o investimento e nomeadamente nos locais onde há falhas de mercado. Por isso é, do meu ponto de vista, incompreensível que aqueles que reclamam emprego sejam depois contra instrumentos que ajudam à criação de emprego. Ainda acresce que este instrumento ajuda também à inclusão, tem uma janela que nós reforçamos, que é janela para a área social e também a janela de investimentos para as pequenas e médias empresas.

Considero também muito importante que não haja confusões sobre o compartimento que é para os Estados-Membros. Para além dos 700 mil milhões de euros que nós propomos, em termos de investimento, com a garantia de cerca de 40 mil milhões de euros, nós temos a possibilidade de os Estados-Membros poderem usar este InvestEU, colocando uma garantia a partir dos Fundos Estruturais. Mas isto não é nenhuma transferência, esses Fundos Estruturais e essa percentagem pertencem a esses mesmos Estados-Membros, Estados-Membros que podem alocar e mobilizar com um triplo A, usar também a possibilidade de evitar as dificuldades resultantes dos auxílios estatais e podem avançar com investimentos adicionais para projetos bem definidos.

É importante agora que os Estados-Membros também façam, no que diz respeito à utilização deste compartimento, a definição dos projetos que consideram importantes. Espero um voto, tal como aconteceu na Comissão dos Orçamentos e da Economia, um voto com uma esmagadora maioria daqueles que são a favor do investimento, da criação de emprego, do reforço da competitividade da União Europeia e do respeito dos compromissos que assumimos, nomeadamente no âmbito do combate às alterações climáticas.

  Roberto Gualtieri, Relatore. –Signora Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, penso sia stata una discussione ricca, che riflette il vasto consenso di quest'Aula al testo che è stato approvato dalle due commissioni ECON e BUDG.

Credo che, come emerso anche dall'intervento del Vicepresidente Katainen, siamo di fronte a un positivo processo incrementale. EFSI è stato un successo, ma sicuramente non ha saputo sfruttare al massimo tutte le sue potenzialità rispetto alla qualità degli investimenti e alla capacità di colmare fino in fondo le carenze del mercato. InvestEU, come proposto dalla Commissione, a maggior ragione come migliorato da questo Parlamento, credo definisca un buon equilibrio tra orientamento di policy, flessibilità, granularità e al tempo stesso economia di scala.

Naturalmente è fondamentale la certezza sulle risorse, quindi nostro auspicio è che l’MFF sia all'altezza anche del rafforzamento quantitativo oltre che miglioramento qualitativo che noi abbiamo realizzato con il nostro testo InvestEU. Il nostro gruppo sarà rigorosamente in linea con l'esito del voto delle commissioni e auspico davvero che alcuni emendamenti peggiorativi non siano approvati, per dare un forte segnale anche rispetto alla centralità dell'obiettivo della sostenibilità. Per tutto questo, ringrazio il Parlamento.

  Elnök asszony. – A vitát lezárom.

A szavazásra 2019. január 16-án, szerdán kerül sor.

Írásos nyilatkozatok (162. cikk)

  Cristian-Silviu Buşoi (PPE), in writing. – I welcome the co-rapporteurs for this comprehensive report and European Commission’s proposal to further expand and simplify the European Fund for Strategic Investments, by establishing InvestEU as a single EU investment support mechanism for the financial period 2021-2027 that aims to further boost job creation, investment and innovation across the Member States. Building on the leverage principle of Juncker’s Plan, InvestEU aims to trigger almost EUR 700 billion of private and public additional investment by providing an EU budget guarantee of EUR 40 billion. The purpose is to supply financing to economic actors with a risk profile that private financiers are not always able or willing to address. This is definitely the case of SMEs, which are currently facing considerable challenges when accessing finance across within the EU. Accordingly, I express my support for the increase of EUR 2.8 billion for SMEs and Social Investment windows, as I find it crucial for InvestEU to succeed in simplifying access to finance in all phases of SMEs’ lifecycles, but also in providing them with more diversified sources of funding. These measures can significantly increase SMEs’ capacity to finance their growth, competitiveness and resilience to economic downturn, and will eventually generate new jobs and social well-being for our citizens.

  Antanas Guoga (PPE), in writing. – I strongly welcome the Commission’s decision to establish another programme, in continuity to Juncker’s plan in order to boost investment, job creation and innovation in Europe. Such a programme is very much needed. We see that the Juncker plan has delivered great results in this mandate: around 856 000 SMEs are set to benefit from EFSI funding and EFSI is expected to trigger EUR 371.2 billion in investments. These are positive numbers which show that Europe has chosen a good direction to boost its business growth and innovation. I hope that the InvestEu programme will bring not only financial support but also better technical support for SMEs who will apply in order for them to gain the most out of it. I hope that especially smaller Member States such as Lithuania will be encouraged to apply more actively to this programme. For that we need to spread the information about the programme in Member States because as I have learned with EFSI and the Lithuanian example, people were simply not aware about this programme. As a result, the application level was non-existent in the first years of EFSI.

  Dubravka Šuica (PPE), napisan. – Komisija je 6. lipnja 2018. predstavila svoj prijedlog o uspostavi programa InvestEU čiji je glavni cilj zajamčiti potporu ulaganjima i pristupu financiranja u EU-u. InvestEU počiva na uspjehu EFSU-a koji je osnovan nakon financijske krize, a postao je odskočna daska za ulaganja u područjima gospodarstva kojima su ona bila najpotrebnija.

U sklopu programa predlaže se jedinstveni fond na temelju zajamčenih 38 milijardi eura sredstava Unije kako bi se mobilizirala javna i privatna sredstva u obliku zajmova, jamstava, dioničkog kapitala i drugih tržišnih instrumenata za strateška ulaganja kojima će se podupirati unutarnje politike EU-a.

Kako bi se olakšao pristup sredstvima Fonda, predviđeni su savjetodavni centar InvestEU i portal InvestEU. Program je namijenjen za četiri područja politike za koja su predviđeni sljedeći iznosi ulaganja: održiva infrastruktura (do 11,5 milijardi), istraživanje, inovacije i digitalizacija (do 11,25 milijardi), mala i srednja poduzeća (do 11,25 milijardi) te socijalna ulaganja i vještine (4 milijarde). Potporu iz fonda InvestEU u prvom bi redu trebali moći ostvariti projekti koji mogu doprinijeti klimatskim i energetskim ciljevima koje Unija želi ostvariti do 2030. i dugoročnim ciljevima iz Pariškog sporazuma.

Smatram da će InvestEU pridonijeti poboljšanju konkurentnosti i održivosti gospodarskog rasta Unije te integraciji Unijinih tržišta kapitala.