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"B COUNCIL DECISION
of 22 December 1999
granting a Community guarantee to the European Investment Bank against losses under loans for projects outside
the Community (Central and Eastern Europe, Mediterranean countries, Latin America and Asia and the
Republic of South Africa)
(2000/24/EC)
(OJ L 9, 13.1.2000, p. 24)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
"M1 Council Decision 2000/688/EC of 7 November 2000 L 285 20 10.11.20002000D0024 — EN — 10.11.2000 — 001.001 — 1
COUNCIL DECISION
of 22 December 1999
granting a Community guarantee to the European Investment Bank
against losses under loans for projects outside the Community (Central
and Eastern Europe, Mediterranean countries, Latin America and Asia
and the Republic of South Africa)
(2000/24/EC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in
particular Article 308 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),
Whereas:
(1) The European Council meeting in Madrid on 15 and 16 December
1995 confirmed the importance of the European Investment Bank,
hereinafter referred to as ‘the EIB’, as an instrument of cooperationbetween the Community and Latin America and called on the EIB tointensify its activities in the region; whereas these projects should be
of interest to both the Community and the countries concerned;
(2) The European Council meeting in Florence on 21 and 22 June 1996
welcomed the results of the Asia-Europe summit, which marked a
turning-point in relations between the two continents;
(3) The European Council meeting in Amsterdam on 16 and 17 June 1997
welcomed the conclusions adopted at the Second Euro-Mediterranean
Conference, which was held at Valletta, Malta, on 15 and 16 April1997 and reaffirmed the principles and objectives agreed at Barcelonain 1995;
(4) The European Council meeting in Luxembourg on 12 and 13
December 1997 launched the enlargement process with the Central
and Eastern European countries and Cyprus;
(5) The European Council meeting in Cardiff on 15 and 16 June 1998
welcomed the efforts which the Republic of South Africa was making
to modernise its economy and integrate it into the world trading
system;
(6) The EIB is completing the current loan programmes for Central and
Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean region, Asia and Latin Amerciaand the Republic of South Africa pursuant to Decision 97/256/EC (
3),
as well as the lending that is governed by the Protocol on Financial
Cooperation with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
according to Council Decision 98/348/EC (4);
(7) The Council has invited the EIB to start operations in Bosnia and
Herzegovina; these operations may be continued, subject to a positivereport being drawn up as stipulated in Decision 98/729/EC (
5);
(8) Although Bosnia-Herzegovina and FYROM have been included in the
Central and Eastern Europe region since the adoption of Decision97/256/EC, the EIB’ s total lending effort to applicant countries withinthis region should increase given the importance of the pre-accession
facility the EIB plans to create for EIB lending for projects in these
countries without a guarantee from the Community budget or MemberStates;
(9) In these circumstances, the EIB should ensure that its guaranteed
lending within the Central and Eastern Europe mandate will finance!B
(1) OJ C 145, 26.5.1999, p. 10.
(2) Opinion delivered on 19 November 1999 (not yet published in the Official
Journal).
(3) OJ L 102, 19.4.1997, p. 33. Decision as last amended by Decision 98/729/EC (OJ
L 346, 22.12.1998, p. 54).
(4) OJ L 155, 29.5.1998, p. 53.
(5) OJ L 346, 22.12.1998, p. 54.2000D0024 — EN — 10.11.2000 — 001.001 — 2
particularly projects in those countries which have fewer projects
suitable for financing from the pre-accession facility or projects innon-applicant countries;
(10) The Cooperation Agreements between the European Community and
Nepal, between the European Community and Lao PDR and between
the European Community and Y emen entered into force on 1 June
1996, 1 December 1997 and on 1 July 1998 respectively; theCooperation Agreement between the European Community and SouthKorea was signed on 28 October 1996; whereas Nepal, Y emen, Lao
PDR and South Korea should become beneficiaries of EIB funding
under the EIB’ s mandate for Asia and Latin America;
(11) It is appropriate to make certain improvements in the programmes of
operations in respect of duration and country coverage; it is
appropriate to adjust the blanket guarantee rate and the portion of
lending for which the EIB is invited to cover the commercial risk fromnon-sovereign guarantees;
(12) The Council is calling on the EIB to continue its operations in support
of investment projects carried out in those countries by offering it the
guarantee provided for in this Decision;
(13) In June 1996, the Commission, in agreement with the EIB, presented
to the Council a proposal for a new guarantee system for EIB lendingto third countries;
(14) On 2 December 1996 the Council approved conclusions on new
guarantee arrangements for EIB lending to third countries, according
to which the approach of a global guarantee, without distinguishing
between the regions and projects, is approved and a risk-sharingscheme accepted; under the risk-sharing scheme the EIB should secure
adequate non-sovereign third-party guarantees for commercial risks,
with the budgetary guarantee in that case covering only political risksarising from currency non transfer, expropriation, war or civildisturbance;
(15) The guarantee arrangements should not affect the excellent credit
standing of the EIB;
(16) Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1149/99 (
1), revised the target amount
and the provisioning rate for the Loan Guarantee Fund established byRegulation (EC, Euratom) No 2728/94 (
2);
(17) The financial perspective for the period 2000 to 2006 according to the
Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 between the European
Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline
and improvement of the budgetary procedure (3) envisages a ceiling for
the loan guarantee reserve in the Community budget of EUR 200million per annum;
(18) EIB financing in eligible third countries should be managed, in
accordance with the EIB’ s usual criteria and procedures, including
appropriate control measures, as well as with the relevant rules andprocedures concerning the Court of Auditors and OLAF , in such a way
as to support Community policies and to enhance coordination with
the Community’ s other financial instruments; there is regularconsultation between the EIB and the Commission to ensurecoordination of priorities and activities in these countries and to
measure progress towards the fulfilment of the Community’s relevant
policy objectives; the setting and periodic review of the operationobjectives and the measurement of their fulfilment are the responsi-bility of the EIB’ s Board of Directors; in particular, EIB financing in
the candidate countries should reflect the priorities established in the
accession partnerships between the Community and those countries;thus the transparency of the EIB lending under this Decision should be
substantially enhanced;
(19) As from the date on which this Decision takes effect, the Community
guarantee covering the special earthquake facility for Turkey underDecision 1999/786/EC (
4) shall take the form of an extension of the
global guarantee under this Decision;!B
(1) OJ L 139, 2.6.1999, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 293, 12.11.1994, p. 1.
(3) OJ C 172, 18.6.1999, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 308, 3.12.1999, p. 35.2000D0024 — EN — 10.11.2000 — 001.001 — 3
(20) The EIB and the Commission will adopt the procedures for granting
the said guarantee;
(21) For the purpose of adopting this Decision, the only powers provided for
by the Treaty are those set out in Article 308 thereof,
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1
1. The Community shall grant the EIB a global guarantee in respect of all
payments not received by it but due in respect of credits opened, in
accordance with its usual criteria, and in support of the Community’s relevantexternal policy objectives, for investment projects carried out in Central andEastern Europe, the Mediterranean countries, Latin America and Asia and the
Republic of South Africa.
This guarantee shall be restricted to 65 % of the aggregate amount of the
credits opened, plus all related sums. The overall ceiling of the credits opened
shall be equivalent to
"M1 EUR 18 660 million 3, broken down as
follows:
— Central and Eastern Europe:
"M1 EUR 8 930 million 3,
— Mediterranean countries:
EUR 6 425 million,
— Latin America and Asia:
EUR 2 480 million,
— Republic of South Africa:
EUR 825 million;
and shall cover a period of seven years beginning on 1 February 2000 for
Central and Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean countries, Latin America and
Asia and beginning on 1 July 2000 for the Republic of South Africa andending for all regions on 31 January 2007.
The Commission shall report on the application of this Decision at the latest
on 31 January 2004, or six months before any new accession treaties enter intoforce, and make proposals for amendments of this Decision if appropriate.The Council will discuss and act on any proposal with effect from 1 August
2004, or the date of entry into force of any new accession treaty.
If, on expire of the guaranteed lending period on 31 January 2007, the loans
granted by the EIB have not attained the overall amounts referred to in the
second paragrapha, this period shall be automatically extended by six months.
2. The countries covered by paragraph 1 are:
—Central and Eastern Europe : Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria,
"M1 Croatia, 3Czech Republic, Estonia, Former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, SlovakRepublic and Slovenia;
—Mediterranean countries : Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan,
Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, and Gaza-West Bank;
—Latin America : Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica,
Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua,Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela;
—Asia : Bangladesh, Brunei, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Macao,
Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, SouthKorea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and Y emen;
— Republic of South Africa.
3. The EIB is hereby invited to aim to cover the commercial risk on 30 % of
its lending under this Decision from non-sovereign guarantees as far as
possible on an individual regional mandate basis. This percentage shall beexpanded upon whenever possible insofar as the market permits.!B2000D0024 — EN — 10.11.2000 — 001.001 — 4
Article 2
The Commission shall inform the European Parliament and the Council each
year of the loan operations and progress made on risk-sharing under Article
1(3) and shall, at the same time, submit an assessment of the operation of the
scheme and of coordination between the financial institutions operating inthat area. The Commission information submitted to the European Parliamentand the Council shall include an assessment of the contribution of the lending
under this Decision to the fulfilment of the Community’s relevant external
policy objectives, taking into acc ount the operational object ives and
appropriate measurements of their fulfilment to be established by the EIB
for lending under this Decision.
For the purposes referred to in the first subparagraph, the EIB shall transmit
to the Commission the appropriate information.
Article 3
The EIB and the Commission shall fix the terms on which the guarantee is to
be given.
Article 4
This Decision shall taken effect on the day of its publication in the Official
Journal of the European Communities .!B2000D0024 — EN — 10.11.2000 — 001.001 — 5