Fuldstændigt Forhandlingsreferat

Onsdag den 9. oktober 2019 - Bruxelles

15. En mere grøn Europæisk Investeringsbank (forhandling)

  Der Präsident. – Als nächster Punkt der Tagesordnung folgt die Aussprache über die Erklärung der Kommission zum Thema „Die Europäische Investitionsbank stärker ökologisch ausrichten“ (2019/2835(RSP)).

Bevor wir die nächste Aussprache eröffnen, möchte ich Sie nochmals davon in Kenntnis setzen, dass wir nach wie vor das neue System ausprobieren, mit dem Mitglieder spontane Wortmeldungen und blaue Karten elektronisch anmelden können. Ich sage aber hinzu, ich habe die blauen Karten, die während der spontanen Wortmeldungen aufgerufen wurden, nicht drangenommen, weil wir die blauen Karten als Teil der Debatte sehen und nicht als zusätzliche Wortmeldung bei den spontanen Wortmeldungen. Ich habe bei den spontanen Wortmeldungen diejenigen nicht aufgerufen, die in der Debatte bereits ihre blaue Karte abgegeben hatten, weil sie sich damit schon einmal zu Wort gemeldet haben. Wer wann drankommt und ob, ist die Entscheidung des Präsidiums im Sinne des Ablaufs einer geordneten Debatte. Sie haben per E-Mail Informationen über die Nutzung dieses Systems erhalten und die Anleitungen liegen auf dem Tisch. Sie brauchen zur Einreichung eines Antrags auf eine Wortmeldung nicht auf das Ende der Sitzung zu warten, sondern sie können die Funktionstasten auf Ihrer elektronischen Abstimmungsanlage nutzen, wenn Sie die Stimmkarte dabeihaben, sie ist die Voraussetzung für die Nutzung des Systems. Nehmen Sie sie bitte daher mit. Wenn Sie eine spontane Wortmeldung anmelden möchten, können Sie das ab sofort tun, Sie brauchen nicht bis zum Ende der Aussprache zu warten. Wer das elektronische System noch nicht nutzen will, der kann die üblichen Hilfsmittel, die weiße und die blaue Karte, benutzen. Das nur zur Einleitung und zur nochmaligen Erklärung.

Ich heiße den Präsidenten der Europäischen Investitionsbank, Werner Hoyer, und den Kommissar für Forschung, Wissenschaft und Innovation, Carlos Moedas, sehr herzlich willkommen.

  Carlos Moedas, Member of the Commission. – Mr President, dear Members, dear President of the EIB, Werner Hoyer, first of all a word for the people of Germany. My heart is with the Jewish community. Today is the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, and so my heart is with those that are victims of that horrendous attack. I’m here representing my colleague, the Vice-President, Valdis Dombrovskis, in this debate about greening the European Investment Bank.

During the past years the Commission has interacted a lot with the EIB, notably in the context of the Investment Plan for Europe, and in particular in the context of the European Fund for Strategic Investments, as a core part of the plan.

The cooperation with the European Commission and the EIB under the Investment Plan has been a great success, and as a Commissioner for Research and Science, I am the witness to that. In particular, I’m so happy to see that 25% of the projects funded are related to research and innovation. The European Fund for Strategic Investment is a dedicated investment support instrument with an EU budget guarantee, and it allows the Bank to move to more risky investments in areas such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, but also innovation and to support smaller companies. It was one of the flagship priorities of our Commission.

So now, five years later, it is clear that the Investment Plan for Europe and our cooperation with the EIB is delivering, and the question is: why was it such a success? And I think that, first, because we are close to reaching our goal: 500 billion of investment mobilised by the Fund.

Second, because we were helping more than one million SMEs across Europe that benefited from the financing, that created jobs, that strengthened our economy.

And third, because we have helped 30 million people to get better health services, and then we helped seven million households to get renewable energy.

Therefore the EIB is instrumental in mobilising financing for our common political priorities.

Honourable President, Members, we have achieved a lot, but a lot more has to be done to achieve the 2030 climate and energy targets and our long-term goal of carbon-neutral Europe by 2050. Our investments in climate and environmental projects in the next decade will need to grow considerably. We need up to 290 billion of additional investments per year, from energy efficiency to cleaner transport in the infrastructure. Those investments are to a large extent of private nature, and we need to mobilise private finance for those investments.

So on the one hand we need to create a supportive framework, but on the other hand, we can also use our EU budget to mobilise private capital. So we will continue doing it with the future InvestEU programme, maintaining our crucial partnership with the European Investment Bank.

President-elect Ursula von der Leyen, in her speech in this House back in July, proposed a sustainable Europe investment plan under the European Green Deal, aiming to mobilise one trillion of investment over the next decade. This plan will aim to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent in 2050 and will broaden our strategic environmental agenda beyond climate.

Furthermore, the two EU-ETS funds, the Innovation Fund and the Modernisation Fund, will also contribute to the much needed mobilisation of climate investments. Support to investments will go hand in hand with our strategy for green and sustainable financing, to ensure complementarity between the Commission’s regulatory and investment actions.

So, honourable President and Members, today the EIB is the largest multilateral provider of climate finance worldwide, committing at least 25% of its investment to climate change mitigation. Already in 2007, the EIB issued the first World Green Bond, labelled the Climate Awareness Bond, and in September 2018, the first sustainable awareness bond. The EIB, the largest issuer of Green Bonds, has raised 23 billion across 11 countries, of which 4 billion was raised last year alone.

So what am I saying? I’m saying that de facto, Mr President, you are the European Union’s climate bank. You are already that. The Commission welcomes the EIB announcement to achieve full alignment with the Paris Agreement by 2020. Scaling up investments in climate action and environmental sustainability will have to go hand in hand with building up capacity and expertise of project developers, for which technical assistance and advisory services will be warranted to build up a robust pipeline of sustainable investment projects.

The Commission will need to discuss with the EIB and with Member States, as the EIB shareholders, how such an increasing financing for climate and environmental investments could be made in the most effective and efficient way, also to serve the objective of a just transition.

The Commission takes the view that this increased focus on the climate and environment does not require a major institutional change. The EIB mandate is broad enough to accommodate a more ambitious, sustainable focus within the statutory mandate, combining eventually its own resources operations and operations under the backing of the EU budget.

I look forward to hearing your views.

  Werner Hoyer, President EIB. – Mr President, Members of the European Parliament, let me, first of all, thank you very much for this opportunity to, together with Commissioner Moedas, address the issue of greening the EU bank.

The cooperation between the European Parliament and the EIB has always been very close and the EP has been crucial in guiding our financing activities as the EU bank. So, discussing the future steps is a very welcome opportunity, for which I thank Mr President and the Members of the European Parliament.

Humanity is at a crossroads. We must act immediately and swiftly if we want to ensure a sustainable transition to a net—zero emissions economy, and if we have listened to the European voters in the election to the European Parliament this spring, we have seen that European citizens are sometimes ahead of the public sphere.

According to the special Eurobarometer on climate change published last month, 93% of respondents think climate change is a serious problem and 79% think it is a very serious problem. We would not have achieved these results even one year ago; now it’s there. A majority of respondents in 19 countries think climate change is one of the most serious problems facing the world today. These numbers speak for themselves. Citizens in the EU and beyond are asking us to stand up to the challenge.

The accumulation of greenhouse gases has caused average temperatures to rise by almost 1 °C globally above pre—industrial levels. Two thirds of this increase has occurred since 1975. If business continues as usual, we will have stoked a rise in global average temperatures of 4 °C by the end of this century. That might not sound too much, and in a city like Brussels today, you might think 4 degrees more isn’t such a bad idea, but our climate is fragile, very fragile, and small changes in surface temperature have a significant impact. For instance, the last time average temperatures lay 4 °C below pre—industrial levels, Brussels lay buried beneath several kilometres of ice. You can imagine, then, what 4 degrees hotter might mean. Under such a scenario, heatwaves would become the norm. An average July day in Europe would see temperatures in excess of 40°C, so drought, forest fires, crop failures, food shortages and disease pandemics would become commonplace events, potentially displacing millions of people.

We should remember that the past – or present – wave of migration in the Middle East, marked as it has been by human suffering and death, had its origins in drought and other climate—related problems.

Since 2012, we have provided EUR 150 billion of finance, supporting EUR 550 billion of investment in climate action and environmental sustainability, making the EU bank group one of the world’s largest multilateral providers of finance for climate and environment projects – as a matter of fact, the largest one.

Since we first set ourselves a climate action finance target in 2010, our ambition has been increasing. In 2015, we were the driving force behind the multilateral development banks (MDB) in the Paris process and at the United Nations Summit on the Sustainable Development Goals. In this context, we pledged to provide USD 100 billion for climate action projects in the five—year period to 2020. We’re delivering on that target. Indeed, since 2016, we have invested approximately USD 71 billion into climate action projects and last year alone, USD 16 billion again.

Having said that, the EIB can and is ready to become even greener. We have listened to the conclusions of the European Council in June, which requested the EU bank to step up its climate action activities. We have listened to the very clear message by President—elect Ursula von der Leyen in her address to you at the European Parliament and we have listened to you, the European Parliament, and your very vocal international calls for action.

The EIB is expected to be ambitious, and this is the reason why I believe we should not disappoint and make proposals to our shareholders which are ambitious. We are presently finalising our increased ambition for 2030 climate action and environmental sustainability, and our approach builds around three pillars: one, an increase in our own financing. Last year, nearly 30% of the EIB’s new commitments worldwide were dedicated to climate and environmental goals. I would like the EIB to be much bolder and aim for 50% for these activities by 2025.

Secondly, a commitment to growing sustainable finance from billions to trillions. By working with our public and private partners, we aim to help unlock at least EUR one trillion of investment by 2030. This would include a marked increase in support for climate adaptation and resilience. But, as the Commissioner just said, Mr President, these objectives are never achievable with taxpayers’ money alone. We need to leverage the possibilities that the European Union is giving us by drawing in the private sector into the financing of these projects. That’s what we are there for.

Thirdly, building on our 2015 climate strategy, we will align all the EIB group’s financing activities with the Paris principles and goals by the end of 2020. This is extremely important because it would be counterproductive if we finance 50% not in greenwashing but in real climate projects, and then with the rest of our projects, the other 50%, we destroy exactly what we have just achieved by financing dirty stuff. This will not happen.

Alignment with the Paris Agreement will determine a change in the EIB Group’s policies and actions, starting with a pledge to phase out energy projects that depend on fossil fuels. This is my proposal. It is difficult. The new EIB energy lending policy, which is currently under discussion by the EIB Board, will be an important step in this regard. With a very strong focus on energy efficiency, renewable energy, power grids and research and development, the EIB believes the proposed energy lending policy is well aligned with EU priorities and funding. We will, again, achieve this only if another condition is being met beyond attracting the private sector – and that is via strengthening innovation.

This builds on our 2015 climate strategy, which committed us to mainstreaming climate change considerations in everything we do. Science tells us that transitioning to a carbon—neutral economy entails ending the use of fossil fuels as soon as possible. Thanks to our emissions performance standard, we have not supported any coal—fired power projects for almost a decade: the first MDB to do so. In addition, we will position the EIB as an incubator for climate finance and expertise to mobilise others, helping our societies and economies transform to a low—carbon level.

But we must not forget that some countries are further advanced than others on the road to a low—carbon economy, and that some areas, communities and sectors will be more deeply affected than others by this transition. So, while stepping up our role as climate bank, we further commit to working closely with Member States, the Commission and Parliament to ensure a just and fair transition. We are fully aware that different Member States have different needs and we are committed to ensuring that no one is left behind. It is not just about energy efficiency, energy supply and energy security; it is also about jobs and growth. For instance, we note that 41 regions in the EU are mining coal, providing jobs to 250 000 people, most of whom have limited opportunities to find alternative employment. You cannot simply take a coal miner and turn her or him into an IT specialist overnight. We have seen the detrimental effects on communities and regions in the past when a transition is not fair and just.

I’m confident that the EIB group can greatly contribute to implementing the ambitious vision of the European Green Deal, thanks to our proven ability to mobilise investment and support for EU priorities on climate action and environmental sustainability. And, as requested by Vice—President Timmermans yesterday before Parliament, you can count on the EIB to be a key partner in the implementation of the Sustainable Europe Investment Plan. We stand ready to work with you and develop new products and ideas to make this vision a reality.

Despite overdrawing my time account, Mr President, I would like to take the opportunity to thank the Commissioner, my friend Carlos Moedas, firstly, for the serious words he said at the beginning of his intervention, and I share the grief and the deep horror that went along with receiving this message this afternoon. And secondly, thank God on a more positive side, I would like to thank the Innovation Commissioner for outstanding cooperation with our institution. Thank you very much.

  Sirpa Pietikäinen, on behalf of the PPE Group. – Mr President, first of all, I would like to congratulate the European Investment Bank on taking a very active stand on the sustainable finance issue, because we know what is the challenge in climate change and the circular economy. We do have the technologies and yes, we do have the money, but a big part of the money is on sunk investments at the moment, on both public and private funding. This is what the sustainable finance initiative is trying to correct. The direction is right, but I would like to raise the bar much faster and much higher. Yes, of course, you could be very proud and you should be proud of the fact that over 20% – almost 30% – of the investments are climate-neutral and sustainable, but let’s take it the other way. That means that over 70% of the investments are not, and that is the ambition level. When we are using the public’s scarce resources, be it the EU budget, be investEU, be it the European Investment Bank, the finance should be only for sustainable, greening initiatives that turn our infrastructures in the lines of the Green Deal and that turn our economies to circular economy, climate-neutral and a future orientation on the logics of backcasting. Look what is the challenge. It’s a marathon and not just walking a bit more. A lot of courage and higher ambition level is what I’m looking forward to from the upcoming Commission and the European Investment Bank.

  Jonás Fernández, en nombre del Grupo S&D. – Señor presidente, yo creo que hemos debatido en esta Cámara, en muchas ocasiones, la necesidad de mejorar la rendición de cuentas democrática del Banco Europeo de Inversiones. Y yo creo que el día que el señor Hoyer se siente al lado del comisario eso sea probablemente una señal clara de que este Parlamento tiene una capacidad de control explícita del Banco Europeo de Inversiones.

En cualquier caso, yo creo que toda la Unión, todas las instituciones tienen que estar perfectamente alineadas por lo que respecta al objetivo de cumplir, obviamente, con el Acuerdo de París. Pero, en ese proceso, tenemos que prestar una especial atención a aquellas regiones que —como decía el presidente del BEI— pueden sufrir en el proceso de descarbonización, y, por lo tanto, la transición tiene que ser una transición justa. Y, para ser justa, necesitamos el esfuerzo del BEI para mejorar la financiación de proyectos renovables, de proyectos de mejora de eficiencia energética. Y tengan muy presente también el equilibrio territorial por lo que respecta aquellas regiones que necesitan el apoyo del BEI para afrontar esa transición.

  Pascal Canfin, au nom du groupe Renew. – Monsieur le Président, j’ai fait campagne en France avec le président de la République, Emmanuel Macron, pour la transformation de la Banque européenne d’investissement en une banque du climat au niveau européen. Donc, je suis très satisfait de voir les engagements et les décisions que vous êtes sur le point de prendre.

Tout d’abord, 50 % de votre activité pour le climat, cela veut dire autour de 15 milliards d’euros de prêts, chaque année, en plus pour des infrastructures vertes, des énergies renouvelables, l’isolation des bâtiments, des choses très concrètes pour les citoyens et les entreprises européennes. Cela veut dire aussi l’alignement – et vous l’avez dit – de l’ensemble de l’activité de la banque sur l’accord de Paris. Cela ne signifie pas «je fais 50 % de vert et pour le reste du temps, je ne regarde pas», cela veut dire que la totalité de mon activité est compatible avec l’accord de Paris.

Et en faisant cela, vous serez peut-être la première banque non seulement à prendre cet engagement, mais à le tenir. Donc vous avez la possibilité d’écrire pour toutes les autres institutions bancaires – exactement comme la BEI l’a fait il y a une dizaine d’années sur les Green bonds – la grammaire de ce que cela signifie pour une banque d’être alignée avec l’accord de Paris. Et c’est très bien que la Banque européenne d’investissement joue ce rôle d’établir des standards pour l’ensemble du monde financier.

Maintenant, j’insiste sur la notion de transition juste. Il faut faire très attention à ce que cet engagement soit compatible avec le fait d’emmener l’ensemble du continent européen. Donc c’est très important que, dans les engagements que vous allez prendre, dans les décisions que vous allez prendre dans les prochains jours, vous puissiez garantir aux pays qui ont le plus de besoins de transition, et notamment en Europe centrale, le fait que verdir la BEI, faire de la BEI la Banque européenne du climat, cela ne veut pas dire plus de financement à l’ouest et moins de financement en Europe centrale, cela veut au contraire peut-être dire plus de financement en Europe centrale et à l’Est de l’Europe, parce que c’est là que les besoins sont les plus criants, et c’est ainsi que nous emmènerons l’ensemble du continent pour le bien des Européens et de la planète.

  Bas Eickhout, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, first of all, the full support of the Greens to make from the EIB a climate bank. As Greens we fully support that direction. But we are getting a bit concerned if the Commission is saying: well, you are already a climate bank. This is totally inconsistent with your own plans for sustainable investment for the future. This is totally inconsistent with your plans on a carbon-neutral economy. We need a huge investment, and the EIB needs to play a role. The EIB wants to play a role, but then we also need a Commission that is serious about changing the EIB into a climate bank. And I see the Commission looking surprised, but if we are looking at the first litmus test, it’s going to be the energy lending policies, and there the Commission is playing a role. And we want to see that no money from a public investment bank is going to fossil fuels. None. And the Commission is not on that line. For example, on gas, you are promoting an exception for low-carbon gas. Have you not learnt of CCS-ready coal? That was a joke. The coal came and the CCS-ready never worked. If you are serious about a climate bank, you should be serious about the energy lending policies: no financing to fossil fuels.

(Applause)

  Sylvia Limmer, im Namen der ID-Fraktion. – Herr Präsident! Gestern konnten wir bereits der verqueren Logik des sogenannten green deal direkt aus dem Munde des dafür zuständigen Chefideologen und Kommissionskandidaten Frans Timmermans lauschen. Mit Schlagworten wie Klimaneutralität, emissionsfreie Autos, Null-Verschmutzung-Strategie und Biodiversität will man antreten, um das Klima zu retten. Aber alles beruht auf der nach wie vor wissenschaftlich sehr umstrittenen Hypothese von CO2 als alleinigem Klimatreiber, und so löst eine unbewiesene Annahme eine nicht enden wollende Kette von politischen Fehlentscheidungen aus. Machbarkeit, Kosten, die drohende Deindustrialisierung, die Millionen Arbeitsplätze in den EU-Mitgliedstaaten kosten wird, überhaupt Fakten sind bei der Umsetzung des green deal einfach nur lästig.

Nun soll also zur Umsetzung dieser mindestens fragwürdigen Politik die Europäische Investitionsbank in eine Klimabank zur Finanzierung der Klimarettung umgewandelt werden. Bis 2030 sollen Investitionen von einer Billion Euro getätigt werden. Bravo, kann ich da nur sagen! Das Narrenschiff der EU-Kommissionspolitik hat volle Fahrt aufgenommen und macht sich nun unter dem Deckmantel einer angeblich grünen Politik daran, den Rest wirtschaftlicher Mechanismen abzuschaffen.

  Alexandr Vondra, on behalf of the ECR Group. – Mr President, I would like to bring our debate, just for a minute, from the paradise of a non-carbon society into the reality of our current times. I am from Prague. You certainly know the beautiful city in the centre of the continent through which the roads connecting Paris and Warsaw, Berlin and Vienna cross. Right now, Prague is on the verge of a transportation collapse because of EU trucks and lorries. We have not yet completed the highway rings, neither the internal nor the external, and just yesterday, the City of Prague Council, led not by my party, but by the pirates who are part of the Green coalition here, promised to the Czech citizens to get an EIB loan to cover 50% of the construction costs. So here is my question: the rings will certainly not contribute to CO2 reduction. It has nothing to do with the Paris Agreement, but if finished, they will make the quality of the air for my citizens in Prague substantially better. Will the EIB be allowed to finance the issues like this after the transformation?

  José Gusmão, em nome do Grupo GUE/NGL. – Senhor Presidente, aplaudimos o aumento da meta para investimentos verdes do Banco do Dubai. Gostávamos que fosse mais ousada, mas, sobretudo, preocupa-nos que ela não seja inteiramente direcionada para o investimento público, para o investimento em infraestruturas para a transição energética, em sistemas de transportes, em eficiência energética e que seja abandonada a mecanismos de mercado, que já provaram não estarem à altura da emergência climática a que temos que dar resposta.

Preocupa-nos, porque, se a Comissão quer continuar a falar de Green New Deal, então tem que ser consistente com o espírito desse programa e isso significa cortar realmente todo o financiamento aos combustíveis fósseis. Aplaudimos essa proposta, aplaudimos essa decisão, e lamentamos a postura vergonhosa da Comissão Europeia que, enquanto cá fora continua a falar do Green New Deal, nos corredores vai pressionando o Banco Europeu de Investimentos para continuar a manter essas linhas de financiamento, que nos últimos quatro anos direcionaram para os combustíveis fósseis 7 500 milhões de euros de financiamento. Tem de acabar.

  Ben Habib (NI). – Mr President, I find this debate hilarious. Here we are standing in this Chamber debating the virtues of going green and look around you: at a cost of around EUR 30 million by my estimates, we’ve flown in, trained in and driven in MEPs from across Europe to not attend this debate. We’re here to talk about green matters, but we’ve burnt half the flipping planet getting here. I find it hilarious. I used to be a Eurosceptic. But I must now declare that I am in contempt of the European Union. I hold the European Union in contempt in equal measure to the contempt it has shown my country and its people over the last three years, and particularly in the last couple of months. When we leave – and we will leave –, we will deregulate our banking sector, we will cut our taxes, we will deregulate our businesses and we will take the European Union on. And so I’m delighted when I see this empty Chamber wasting hot air on a subject over which it has absolutely zero control and to which it contributes nothing positive.

(Applause)

  Enikő Győri (PPE). – Tisztelt Elnök úr! Tisztelt Képviselőtársaim! A zöld gazdaságra való áttérés eltérő kihívás elé állítja az egyes tagállamokat, ezt Hoyer Elnök Úr is elismerte. Az Európai Fejlesztési Banknak pedig tekintettel kell lenni ezekre a sajátosságokra, és ennek megfelelően kell alakítania finanszírozási politikáját az energiaprojektek terén.

Az EIB által most tervezett változások nehézséget okoznának a kohéziós országok számára. Az új, (érthetetlen szavak) politika is, ahogy hallottuk, kivezetné a fosszilisenergia-projekteket 2020 végétől. Ezt az átmenetet én pedig csak hosszabb átmeneti idő alatt tartom elképzelhetőnek. Minden tagállam eltérő lehetőségekkel rendelkezik ugyanis, földrajzi elhelyezkedéséből, hagyományaiból kifolyólag is, és mindennek az a következménye, hogy eltérő az energiaszerkezet. Egyelőre nem mondhatunk le a gázról, ami kisebb szén-dioxid-kibocsátású energiaforrás, ahogy a kibocsátás szempontjából tiszta atomenergiáról sem.

A racionalitást kérem az EIB-től. Vegye figyelembe, hogy az energiamix kialakítása nemzeti hatáskör. Legyen a tagállamok segítségére a zöldítés nekik megfelelő módjának és ütemének kialakításában.

  Joachim Schuster (S&D). – Herr Präsident! Wer den Klimawandel stoppen will, muss investieren, und zwar viel investieren. Schätzungen gehen davon aus, dass bis zu 1 000 Milliarden Euro jährlich nötig sind, und davon sind etwa 300 Milliarden zusätzlich nötig, also nicht Investitionen, die schon geplant werden. Und ich glaube, da liegt es nahe, dass wir sagen, dass die Europäische Investitionsbank sich zu einer green bank weiterentwickeln und dabei auch eine zentrale Rolle bei einer nachhaltigen Investitionsstrategie der EU einnehmen soll. Für uns Sozialdemokraten ist dabei wichtig: Wir brauchen eine strikte Fokussierung auf erneuerbare Energien, wir brauchen eine Förderung der Energieeffizienz in der Industrie, im Verkehrssektor und im Gebäudebestand. Bei all dem muss auch die soziale Dimension des damit einhergehenden Strukturwandels berücksichtigt und entsprechend unterstützt und gefördert werden. Und schließlich fordern wir, dass ein Umbau zu einer green bank auch mit einer Veränderung der Rechtsgrundlagen und der Strukturen der EIB einhergeht, damit das Europäische Parlament substanzielle Mitspracherechte bei dieser Investitionsstrategie erhält.

  Billy Kelleher (Renew). – Mr President, just first and foremost, I welcome the opportunity to speak on this particular issue. I primarily want to speak about it from an Irish context and, in particular, in the area of agricultural greening. You know that we have a challenged banking system in Ireland. It is still sheltered, with two major banks, and they will be the banks that will be making the applications and making the decisions about the disbursement of European Investment Bank funds. Of course, I would have grave concerns about there being no independent adjudication system on that particular issue. Because we have a sheltered banking system, farmers and others cannot go to other banks to seek funding. So I would just be a little concerned that that sheltered approach would allow Irish banks to disseminate and disburse the funds in their own interests, rather than in the interests of the client and, more importantly, in what we’re trying to achieve around the whole issue of greening, a just transition, and making sure that industry and agriculture can respond to the policy directives here. So I would ask the European Investment Bank to look at the impartiality of the adjudication system of the Irish banks in disbursing the funds.

  Molly Scott Cato (Verts/ALE). – Mr President, so what does the exciting idea of turning the EIB into a climate bank mean in practice? We need to rapidly increase funding for activities that are Paris aligned, such as large—scale home insulation programmes, electrification of services currently provided by fossil fuels and improvement of low—carbon infrastructure, but we also need climate transition loans for projects that can provide evidence that they are committed to decarbonisation. The sustainability transition will be marked by trial and error and learning by doing, so it’s important that the Bank relaxes its normal low—risk approach and makes loans for activities where financial returns are lower or may be volatile, but where climate impact is guaranteed. Finally, the Bank can work to ensure that the new round of European Central Bank (ECB) asset purchases ensures a massive inflow of money into sustainability sectors and businesses. By issuing green bonds and especially by bundling small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) loans and community projects into these bonds, the EIB could facilitate the use of quantitative easing (QE) money to fund small-scale community initiatives in response to the climate crisis.

  Joëlle Mélin (ID). – Monsieur le Président, la prise de conscience généralisée des obligations environnementales qui sont les nôtres, à titre politique, mais aussi citoyen, est maintenant acquise: il n’y a plus à tenter de convaincre à coups de prétextes catastrophiques ou catastrophistes pas toujours étayés par les scientifiques. Il faut privilégier le réalisme et cela en urgence.

Ainsi, la BEI, par son outil de soutien financier, doit favoriser des projets et des actions, qui, non seulement, préservent l’environnement, mais permette la création de richesse, en particulier par l’intermédiaire de nos industries. Ce n’est pas la mort des industries à coups de normes, ou de délais d’application insupportables car beaucoup trop idéologiques, qui réglera le problème.

Donnons donc du temps à toutes nos entreprises européennes pour se décarboner, elles sont capables de le faire; et en même temps, limitons au maximum les échanges mondialisés qui, eux, polluent gravement la planète.

  Frances Fitzgerald (PPE). – Mr President, I welcome this debate on the role of the European Investment Bank. I think it’s a very exciting time for the Bank and I want to thank you for your work in Ireland, which has been very constructive and productive and important to us. I think 25% is just the beginning. I think this is part of a wider debate that is needed in terms of the financing of the Green Deal, the green agenda and climate change. We need to be talking much more in public and have greater political discussion on the role of public and private investment, of the scale of the investment that is needed. If you look at the scale of the investment that is needed for the Sustainable Development Goals, for the Green Deal, the trillion investment fund that Ursula von der Leyen is speaking about, this is a very broad challenging issue for us here in the European Parliament and I really am glad to see it centre stage. I do think we have to focus on a just transition as well. We saw what happened in the economic crisis, how our citizens felt left behind. Most citizens cannot afford retrofitting at present. We need to be looking at practical issues, the kind of instruments that we can develop to make sure that we reach out to citizens.

  Aurore Lalucq (S&D). – Monsieur le Président, chers collègues, merci beaucoup pour ce débat.

En juillet 2019, à travers sa première proposition, la BEI avait présenté un projet très ambitieux, salué par toutes les ONG. Malheureusement, force est de constater que dans sa seconde proposition, elle à rétropédalé, vraisemblablement sous la pression de la Commission, mais aussi celle des industries du gaz. Désormais, ces industries pourront être utilisées en tant que vecteur d’investissement pour sortir du charbon, ce qui est un non-sens écologique.

Compte tenu de l’urgence sociale, de l’urgence environnementale et de l’état du débat démocratique, il me semble urgent de ne pas céder aux pressions des lobbies et des industries. C’est pourquoi je vous demande, et je demande à mes collègues, de soutenir la première proposition de la BEI et non pas la seconde.

J’appelle également à plus de cohérence au sein des investissements et des financements de la BEI. On ne peut pas, d’un côté, verdir la politique énergétique et, de l’autre côté, ne pas verdir celle des transports et continuer à soutenir la construction, par exemple, d’aéroports. Le «Green New Deal» a besoin de cohérence, la BEI aussi.

  Marie Toussaint (Verts/ALE). – Monsieur le Président, chers collègues, comme mon collègue Bas Eickhout l'a indiqué, nous nous réjouissons de la volonté de la Banque européenne d'investissement de devenir peut-être la première institution européenne à cesser les investissements dans les énergies fossiles et de devenir la banque du climat.

Cependant, la décision qui sera prise le 15 octobre ne nous amènera pas à cette banque du climat que nous appelons de nos voeux, car 15 à 20 pour cent du portefeuille de la BEI contiennent encore des projets d'investissements dans les transports polluants. En effet, vous avez renoncé à sortir définitivement des fossiles en 2020 et vous continuez à financer les infrastructures de gaz. 40 pour cent de vos lignes de crédit sont encore sous- traités par des banques qui financent les énergies fossiles.

Quand cesserez-vous de financer les banques qui contribuent à détruire le climat? Et quand cesserons-nous, nous États membres et Conseil, Commission, BEI et parlementaires, de recevoir les lobbyistes des énergies fossiles? Quand interdirons-nous l'accès de Shell, BP, Exxon Mobil, Chevron ou Total à nos institutions, à nos responsables politiques ou à nos sommets du climat? L'heure n'est plus aux demi-mesures, la démocratie, les droits humains et la préservation du climat sont en jeu.

  Siegfried Mureşan (PPE). – Mr President, we all saw the citizens of Europe at the European elections come out and vote in high numbers, particularly the youth, and demanding us to combat climate change, to improve our energy efficiency and to protect our environment. This is why I see that there is now a wide majority here in the European Parliament committed to doing this. We need to start by establishing the principles and then we need to work out the details. When it comes to the principles, the first thing that I need to say is: everybody needs to contribute to tackling climate change. That’s the first principle. The second principle: there will be regions and countries on which the burden will be bigger. We need to help them more. A study by the European Commission says that when it comes to reaching our 2030 CO2 emissions targets, particularly countries with lower income will be affected more. Thirdly, one-size-fits-all from the side of the EIB, after you review your energy lending policy, will not work. We need a tailored approach. You will need to work with authorities in respective Member States to see exactly where they need investment, and on the way to a green economy, we should make sure that we stay competitive and that we strengthen European industry and economy, not weaken it.

PRESIDÊNCIA: PEDRO SILVA PEREIRA
Vice-Presidente

  Paul Tang (S&D). – Mr President, I welcome that Mr Hoyer comes here with ambition. That’s welcome in this European Parliament and I ask you for even more ambition because this European Parliament has pushed for and embraced the initiative of sustainable finance for private financial institutions. There are two key elements. First of all, we always see sustainability as broad. It’s not just about green, it’s about other risks. It’s not just about environmental risks, but also about social and governmental risks. Second, we urge finance institutions to do due diligence – to identify, prevent or mitigate sustainability risks.

So, my question to Mr Hoyer is: will you be really ambitious, set the example for the other financial institutions and become a leader in sustainable finance, defined as I just have?

  Maria Spyraki (PPE). – Mr President, I would like to welcome the proposed leading policy of the EIB for energy projects, which includes extra financing for less—developed Member States, a bigger focus on renewable sources, and the phase-out of fossil fuels by 2020. It is an important step forward, especially concerning Member States like my home country Greece, lacking in energy efficiency of buildings, but actually willing to address EU goals on tackling climate change. The four components of the EIB’s energy lending policy – unlocking energy efficiency, decarbonised energy supply, supporting innovation in new energy infrastructure and securing the enabling infrastructure – need a huge amount of investment to become everyday—life reality. For example, energy efficiency investments in building and industry represents approximately three quarters of the total investments required in the period 2021-2030, equal to EUR 281 billion per year. It is also of paramount importance to support the 41 regions dependent on coal – in Greece, we have Western Macedonia – by encouraging the transformation of their economy and also reskilling and upskilling workers. So, an active transformation of the EIB into a climate bank is not only the way to accelerate addressing our climate goals. It is also a strong and clear message to the whole world that here in the EU, we are determined to maintain leadership on tackling climate change by creating jobs and growth.

Intervenções “catch the eye”

  Domènec Ruiz Devesa (S&D). – Señor presidente. Muchas gracias al presidente del Banco Europeo de Inversiones por estar aquí hoy con nosotros. Doy la bienvenida a su planteamiento, con todo entusiasmo y, solamente le quería plantear cuatro cuestiones concretas rápidamente.

Yo creo que debemos transformar el Banco Europeo de Inversiones, en un Banco Europeo de Inversiones Sostenibles; quiere eso decir, que todas las inversiones del Banco, tengan en cuenta el criterio de neutralidad climática, esto probablemente, en el marco de un proceso gradual.

En segundo lugar, para poder financiar el Pacto Verde que ha propuesto la Comisión, seguramente habrá que ampliar la emisión de los bonos verdes del Banco Europeo de Inversiones. ¿Puede decir algo al respecto? Yo sé que el BEI ya es el primer ente del mundo, pero quizás podemos ir más allá.

En tercer lugar, una cuestión más concreta: la posibilidad de financiar el campo de las bioindustrias, en los proyectos que reciban una calificación positiva de la Empresa Común para las Bioindustrias (BBI) pero que no haya financiación disponible.

Y, por último, si puede decir algo de los posibles usos de los beneficios del Banco Europeo de Inversiones.

  Othmar Karas (PPE). – Herr Präsident! Die Debatte hat uns gezeigt, dass wir uns einig sind, dass wir froh sind, dass die neue Kommission sowohl eine Strategie für die grüne Finanzierung als auch einen Investitionsplan für ein zukünftiges Europa vorlegen will und dass wir die Europäische Investitionsbank noch stärker zur Klimabank mit einem neuen Namen machen. Nur kommt es nicht auf den Namen an. Es kommt auf die Rechtsgrundlagen, auf Projekte, auf die Beteiligung des Europäischen Parlaments, auf die Ziele, das Auswahlverfahren und die Governance-Struktur an.

Wir haben ja viel gelernt im Zusammenhang mit dem Juncker-Plan I, EFSI 1, EFSI 2 und nun EU-Invest, wo wir bis 2027 bereits 1 200 Milliarden Euro – private und öffentliche Gelder – mobilisieren, mit mehr als 330 Milliarden für die Erreichung der sustainable goals und der Klimaziele. Das heißt, wir müssen aus dieser Erfahrung die Weiterentwicklung machen. Wir müssen die Beteiligung des Parlaments, die Rechtsgrundlage, die Projekte, die Ziele und die Governance-Struktur übernehmen. Voneinander lernen, miteinander besser werden – das ist unser Ziel.

  Robert Rowland (NI). – Mr President, the real scandal in Teresa May’s surrender treaty was Philip Hammond, our clueless ex-chancellor, giving the EIB EUR 7.5 billion of taxpayer’s money and leaving Britain exposed to a toxic time bomb of EUR 37 billion in callable capital should the EIB require more money, not to mention leaving us exposed to a further EUR 450 billion of guarantees to loan notes if the economies of the eurozone collapse. The scale of incompetence is staggering. It’s either ineptitude on an industrial scale or wilful malfeasance. The EIB has made over EUR 5 billion of profit in the last two years and Britain has not received a single penny. Despite 16% of the equity, the British economy only gets 8% of the loans and now we learn the EIB is going to risk half its lending on the EU’s green agenda, the biggest transfer of wealth to the climate industrial complex. It’s crony capitalism and central planning on a scale not since seen since the Soviet five-year plans.

  Mick Wallace (GUE/NGL). – Mr President, the European Investment Bank’s revised draft energy lending policy, released at the end of September, had some worrying changes. The original policy document contains much that should be welcomed. However, the revised draft policy contains a devastating new turn as far as Ireland is concerned. The original draft states in Section 3 that the Bank will no longer originate fossil fuel energy projects after the adoption of the policy and stop lending to fossil fuel energy projects by 2020. As natural gas is a fossil fuel, logically natural gas, according to the original draft lending policy, would not be exempted. But the revised lending policy rewrites this subsection, so that it now states that to manage phasing-out of lending to fossil fuel energy projects smoothly, the Bank will continue to approve gas infrastructure projects already firmly under appraisal until the end of 2020. Now it means, for example, that the EIB will pump money into the planned liquid natural gas project on the Shannon Estuary. This will lock Ireland in to the use of fracked gas, into fossil fuel, for years to come. This is not a good way forward. It should not happen. Why was the change made? Please tell me.

  Julie Ward (S&D). – Mr President, the European Investment Bank proposed in July to end its overlong fossil fuels financing, sending an important signal to financial markets and institutions around the world and initiating a change of direction in global financial flows. Adopting the proposal in its original form would effectively turn the EIB into the real EU climate bank. Not only would the EIB become the first public international financial institution aligned with the Paris Agreement, such an unprecedented move would also stimulate the much—needed energy transition in Central and Eastern Europe, where governments are resistant to this change. But a watered-down and weakened version of this proposal will go to the vote on 15 October and this revised version is unacceptable.

Colleagues, the climate emergency is already here. We cannot and will not tolerate leaders who treat climate protection as a secondary issue and I was proud, therefore, to have joined more than 7 million other people in 150 countries on 20 September as part of the global strike for the climate.

  João Ferreira (GUE/NGL). – Senhor Presidente, o Banco Europeu de Investimentos tem na energia e nos transportes sectores que concentram uma muito significativa porção da sua carteira de investimentos. Tal confere ao BEI um papel relevante no financiamento de projetos suscetíveis de promover a sustentabilidade ambiental e a luta contra as alterações climáticas.

Ora, ao longo dos anos, nem sempre os investimentos do BEI foram consentâneos com as proclamações da União Europeia nestes domínios.

São necessários mais investimentos em domínios como a eficiência energética, as energias renováveis, os sistemas multimodais de transporte público de baixas emissões, entre outros, mas é necessário mais do que isto. É necessário mais investimento público, menos instrumentos de mercado.

Em lugar de concentrar recursos em grandes corporações, o BEI deve utilizá-los como um instrumento para uma efetiva promoção da coesão económica, social, territorial, para promover a convergência real das economias, a cooperação, o emprego, a justiça social.

Não separamos estas dimensões: as políticas serão tanto mais verdes quanto mais vermelhas forem também.

  Tudor Ciuhodaru (S&D). – Domnule președinte, evident că investind în verde investim în viitor, dar haideți să nu fim ipocriți – pentru a se concretiza aceste lucruri trebuie criterii clare, nu putem neglija nicio realitate în care 250 000 de cetățeni europeni trăiesc din această industrie și că trebuie alocate fonduri suplimentare tocmai pentru a se găsi soluțiile necesare.

Eu lucrez în Iași într-un spital de urgență în care văd efectele poluării, ale unei infrastructuri deficitare, și cred că trebuie stabilite criterii clare, poate de către Parlamentul European, în așa fel încât aceste obiective ecologice, pe care le dorim cu toții, să aibă șanse de a fi finalizate. Cer astăzi Parlamentului European, suntem foarte mulți oameni care își doresc ca energia verde și transportul ecologic să fie soluția sănătoasă pentru viitor, să venim cu criterii clare și cu investiții suplimentare, mai ales în acele zone ale Europei care au nevoie real de a face aceste transformări în zonele sărace care vor accepta cu mai mare ușurință să se alinieze la aceste cerințe europene. Haideți să dăm o șansă verde Europei și să venim și cu criterii clare. Vă mulțumesc.

  Κώστας Μαυρίδης (S&D). – Κύριε Πρόεδρε, στην ανατολική Μεσόγειο —αλλά και γενικότερα στη Μεσόγειο— οι επιπτώσεις της κλιματικής αλλαγής είναι ήδη εμφανείς. Γι’ αυτό, στηρίζουμε τη δέσμευση με τη συμφωνία του Παρισιού αλλά και την πολιτική της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης για καθαρή ενέργεια για όλους, με ανανεώσιμες πηγές ενέργειας.

Όμως, δεν μπορεί να ισχύσει το μοντέλο «one size fits all». Ειδικά για κράτη απομονωμένα και νησιωτικά, όπως η Κύπρος, το φυσικό αέριο θα έχει άμεσα αποτελέσματα στη μείωση της μόλυνσης του περιβάλλοντος σε σύγκριση με άλλα καύσιμα, όπως το πετρέλαιο. Επίσης, παρέχει ευελιξία για προσαρμογή, ώστε οι στόχοι μας —κύριε Πρόεδρε— να είναι εφικτοί. Αυτή η ευελιξία είναι απόλυτα αναγκαίο να διατηρηθεί και από την Ευρωπαϊκή Τράπεζα Επενδύσεων και τονίζω ότι η διασφάλιση της ενεργειακής ροής είναι κορυφαία προτεραιότητα για την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση στο σύνολό της.

  Karen Melchior (Renew). – Monsieur le Président, je voudrais m’adresser à mes collègues qui ont dit, pendant ce débat, que ce Parlement n’a pas d’influence. Vous avez tort. Ce débat lui-même vous montre que vous avez une voix, que cette institution est un forum pour vous exprimer, même si je ne suis pas d’accord avec vos opinions.

Il y a aussi des commissions dans cette maison qui sont en train de faire la taxonomie de ce qu’est un investissement vert, de définir quels sont les investissements durables. C’est donc au sein de cette assemblée, de l’Europe, qu’on va définir quels sont les investissements verts pour l’avenir et j’espère que le Royaume-Uni y prendra part, après le 31 octobre et dans l’avenir.

  June Alison Mummery (NI). – Mr President, we hear a great deal about the environmental and ecology credentials of the European Union. This EU ecowarrior myth has become so dominant among the remain-minded that I wouldn’t be surprised if Commission representatives were not among the climate emergency mob blockading London streets. But for such an eco-friendly organisation, please answer me this. Why is the EU’s own common fisheries policy allowing a super trawler, 14 times the size of the average British vessel, to fish in an area of the English Channel that is thought to be a breeding area for seabass, a species the EU has banned British fishers from catching due to their scarcity? This vessel has already destroyed fishes off West Africa, been banned from Australian waters and caused controversy in Chile. This supertrawler is known to have horrific bycatch rates which endanger species such as bluefin tuna, John Dory and common dolphins in that area. Can you also tell me when the EU will learn that this type of fishing factory ship is not the way forward and start taking the environmentally friendly small-scale fishing fleet more seriously?

(Fim das intervenções “catch the eye”)

  Werner Hoyer, President EIB. – Mr President, I leave this Parliament encouraged for the big challenges we have ahead in the next days and weeks because I feel strong support. I didn’t expect from the beginning that I would get support from everybody, but the overall feeling here in this Parliament seems to be that we better take climate change issues seriously, and this is exactly what we are going to do.

Sustainable finance is one of the key issues here because, as I said before, we will never achieve the Sustainable Development Goals nor the climate goals without mobilising private money. This requires – what has just been named – a taxonomy that requires more than just green principles, which we have developed over the last 10 years and we were the leader on that effort. But it is necessary to demonstrate also to investors, who trust us with their private money in order to achieve a green project. You cannot simply tell them, ‘I take a piece of white paper, paint it green and then it’s a green bond’. No, you need to have reliability and accountability for what you’re doing with the money that investors give you and the money that you give us. This is why we put a lot of emphasis on the sustainable finance issue and the activities of the European Commission to arrive at taxonomy in this context.

I heard several Members of the European Parliament with great joy and listened to their enthusiasm about the 50% that we are targeting now. A very, very, very ambitious objective – I can tell you – because don’t make the other projects that the EIB is financing smaller than they are. It’s clear that we have said Paris alignment, so the climate must be in everything we do. We must not undermine our climate objectives by financing 50% green and the rest dirty. No, that’s not the idea. But I wonder what the Innovation Commissioner would say if our bank comes to a conclusion that says, ‘okay, the talks with Mr Gates today about malaria research and vaccines and different diseases cannot be continued anymore because it is not demonstratively a green project’. So we also have other issues and I’ll tell you: the European Union has huge climate challenges, but a few other challenges as well. Let me just take very, very few.

Number one, we are losing competitiveness day by day because we do not invest enough in innovation, research and technology. Therefore, we support wholeheartedly the activities of Commissioner Moedas to bring the European Union into first position when it comes to innovation and productivity growth.

Secondly, we have only just begun to think development big. If you look at what challenges are ahead in the next decades, when by the end of this century, Africa will have four billion citizens from now – a little bit over one and a half billion – and they will all need jobs. So we need to support leapfrog development in Africa and we need to think development big in order to produce economic perspectives. And then, of course, the climate issue. The climate issue is well spelled out, but the devil is in the detail as soon as we get to the regions where it’s going to be really, really difficult, and it’s better to get your people in these regions on board on this, and therefore we have to be very attentive there. Not by hiding behind the transition needs. Some people believe ‘let’s hide behind the transition needs and perpetuate the use of fossil fuels’. That is not the solution. But giving perspectives for jobs and growth in these regions via innovation: this is the right thing. By the way, it is also the reason why I believe we should overcome the dichotomy between innovation and cohesion. You can see clearly all around the European Union and beyond the European Union that those regions who are very open—minded on innovation are the best when it comes to cohesion policies. So, from that point of view, I’m quite optimistic.

There are many questions that have been posed that I cannot respond to right here now spontaneously. I promise we will all come back to this with our colleagues here in Brussels, so that from agriculture in Ireland to all kinds of other things, we will not shy away from responding to these questions.

The risk inclination of investors. That’s a real issue. We have many problems also in the context of climate policies where the risk situation is so difficult that the commercial markets will not service that and, therefore, we are so happy about the cooperation with the European Commission and the European Parliament and the Council – because only with the risk coverage by EU guarantees we can serve it. And you know we are going to come to the close of the Juncker Plan very soon. And I’ll tell you, in my view, this is the greatest legacy of President Juncker when he leaves his office – because that has been a smashing success and we need to celebrate that and learn from it for the financing of our ambitious projects for the future.

  Presidente. – Senhor Presidente, obrigado pela sua intervenção e pelo trabalho do Banco Europeu de Investimento, que é muito importante para o projeto europeu. Tenho agora o prazer de dar a palavra ao Senhor Comissário Carlos Moedas, aproveitando para o cumprimentar pelo excelente serviço prestado ao projeto europeu no exercício das suas funções como Comissário.

  Carlos Moedas, Member of the Commission. – Mr President, dear Members, dear President Werner Hoyer, dear Werner, thank you so much. My words are your words, what you just said. I think that this was a very good debate, and from this debate I really draw three conclusions.

The first is the sense of urgency. We all have this sense of urgency. We have to act now, and that’s something that we all understand and we all share around this Parliament, and I’m very proud of the European project for that matter.

The second is the acknowledgment that the EIB is one of our best allies. The EIB is an ally of the European project, and I remember – I think there’s very few bankers that in their speeches as you do, talk so much about innovation, about science, about the future. Because one thing is sure: if we want to solve the problem, we have to do it with science and innovation, and there’s very few people in your domain, and your experience, that understand that. So Werner, thank you so much.

And finally, I think that to the Members on the right, you know, you cannot solve this issue alone. You cannot solve this issue with your country alone; you have to solve together. We have to be together to solve and to tackle climate change.

So thank you so much to all of you, and I will transmit the message to my successors, and I’m sure they will deliver on your expectations.

  Presidente. – O debate está encerrado.

Declarações escritas (artigo 171.º)

  Caterina Chinnici (S&D), per iscritto. – Lo sviluppo delle energie rinnovabili rappresenta un'opportunità fondamentale per l'economia europea, per creare una occupazione di qualità e per garantire un futuro sostenibile alle nuove generazioni.

Apprezzo, pertanto, che la Banca europea per gli investimenti (BEI) intenda porre al centro della propria strategia climatica e della propria politica dei prestiti la decarbonizzazione del settore energetico e lo sviluppo di fonti rinnovabili e verdi, in linea con gli obiettivi per lo sviluppo sostenibile delle Nazioni Unite e l'accordo di Parigi.

È positivo, parimenti, che tale strategia, con equilibrio ed equità, preveda misure a supporto della riconversione energetica quali l'energy transition package: in un settore strategico come quello dell'energia, infatti, innovazione e sostenibilità non possono prescindere dal mantenimento della sicurezza energetica e dalla tutela della dimensione sociale ad essa connessa.

Ritengo, infine, importante l'attenzione riservata dalla BEI alle piccole e medie imprese (PMI) e allo sviluppo di progetti di energia verde su piccola scala e diffusi. Occorre, infatti, rimuovere gli ostacoli che le PMI ancora incontrano nella realizzazione della propria efficienza energetica, per via della natura frammentaria degli investimenti e dell'accesso limitato a strumenti di finanziamento in tale settore. La BEI, in tale ambito, potrà indubbiamente fornire un fondamentale contributo.