P5_TA(2004)0371
EIBannualreport
EuropeanParliamentresolutionontheactivityreportfor2002oftheEuropeanInvestmentBank
(2004/2012(INI))
TheEuropeanParliament ,
/dash havingregardtoArticles266and267oftheECTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanInvestmentBank
(EIB)andtheProtocolontheStatuteoftheBankannexedtotheTreaty,
/dash havingregardtothedecisionofitsConferenceofPresidentsof15May1996toholdanannual
debateonthelendingpriorities,theannualreportandtheorientationsoftheEIBwithintheCom-mitteeonEconomicandMonetaryAffairs,
/dash havingregardtotheEIBGroupannualreport,financialreport,activityreport,reportonprojects
financedandstatistics2002,theannualEuropeanInvestmentFundreport;theCorporateOperational
Plan2003-2005,theannualreportoftheAuditCommitteeandthereplyoftheBoardofDirectors;andthedebateheldintheCommitteeonEconomicandMonetaryAffairswiththeEIBPresidenton16June2003,
/dash havingregardtotheremarkscontainedintheCourtofAuditors’annualreport2002;theCommis-
sion/EIBcooperationagreementofJanuary2000;andthejudgmentoftheCourtofJusticeof10July2003inCaseC-15/00concerningtheprovisionofinformationtoOLAF,
/dash havingregardtothePresidencyConclusionsoftheLisbonEuropeanCouncilof23and24March
2000andoftheGöteborgEuropeanCouncilof15and16June2001,
/dash havingregardtoitsresolutionof21November2002ontheEuropeanInvestmentBankannualreport
for2001(
1),
/dash havingregardtoRules47(2)and163ofitsRulesofProcedure,
/dash havingregardtothereportoftheCommitteeonEconomicandMonetaryAffairs(A5-0258/2004),
A. whereastheEIBGroupisapolicy-drivenpublicbankestablishedbytheECTreatyastheEuropean
Union’sprimaryfinancinginstitutionforachievingitsobjectives(Article267oftheTreaty),
B. whereastheEIBmustthereforebepubliclyaccountableasitexpresseditscommitmenttocomply
withcodesoftransparencyandgoodcorporategovernance,
C. whereastheEIBmanagesitsownresourcesandthosespecificallyassignedtoitbytheEU,D. whereastheEIB’soperationsarebasedonthreepillars:(a)individualandgloballoansandstructured
operations;(b)guaranteesand(c)riskcapitalandtheEuropeanInvestmentFund(EIF),
E. whereas the EIB’s activities are subject to democratic supervision by the European Parliament as
regardsthegeneralguidelinesforEIBactivities;whereas,however,inaccordancewiththeProtocolontheEuropeanBank’sStatues,theBoardofGovernors‘shalllaydowngeneraldirectivesforthecreditpolicyoftheBank’(Art.9.2);whereastheBoardofDirectors‘shallhavesolepowertotakedecisionsinrespectofgrantingloansandguarantees’(Art.11);whereastheEuropeanParliamenthasneitherthepowersnorauthoritytoexercisefinancialcontroloverortoapprovetheannualaccounts
oftheEIB,
(1) OJC25E,29.1.2004,p.390.30.4.2004EN C104E/1019 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanUnion
Thursday22April2004
F. whereas the EIBcooperatedfullywiththe European Parliamentindrawing upanddiscussingits
resolutionof15February2001onactiontakenontheEuropeanInvestmentBank’sAnnualReport(1),
itsresolutionof5February2002onontheEIBAnnualReportfor2000(2),anditsresolutionof
21November2002ontheEIBAnnualReportfor2001;whereasitfolloweduptherecommendationsontransparencyandgoodgovernance,
G. whereastheEIB,incommonwithallEuropeaninstitutionsandagencies,isrequiredtoactasamodel
oftransparency,probityandgoodgovernance,
H. whereas the above-mentionedobjectives shouldbeopened up toobjective andadversarial public
debate,
I. whereastheEIBhasacatalystroleinattractingfinanceforinvestmentprojectsduetoitsrecognized
expertisetoidentifytechnically,economically,financiallyandenvironmentallyviableandsustainable
projects,
J. whereastheEIB’sactivitiesarenotcomparablewiththoseofanyothercommercialbankastheEIB
grantsloanssolelyforinvestmentprojectsandnotforthegeneraltreasuryofpublicorprivateunder-takings,
K. whereastheEIB’sprimetaskistosupportcapitalinvestmentpromotingsustainabledevelopment,
economicandsocialcohesionintheEU,priorities,togetherwiththeEIF,arethefundingofSMEs,R&D,thedevelopmentoftheinformationsociety,environmentalprotection,regionaldevelopmentandinvestmentineducation,employment,healthandsocialinfrastructures,
L. whereastheimportanceoftheEIB’sroleisalsorecognisedfortheimplementationoftheGrowth
Initiativeintheframeworkofitsi2iprogrammetosupporttheLisbonAgenda,
M. whereastheEIBissubjecttoOLAFscrutiny,inthesamewayasallCommunityinstitutions,bodies,
officesandagencies,asstipulatedbytheCourtofJusticeoftheEuropeanCommunities(CaseC-15/00),
1. WelcomestheEIBannualactivityreportandthefactthatforthefirsttimetheEIBhasforwardedits
AuditCommitteereportandrelateddocumentationtoParliament;
2. Welcomestheimprovementinthetransparencyoftheinformationdisclosedtothepublicbythe
EIB;
3. CongratulatestheEIBontheratingsithasobtained;4. Decidestoholdapublichearinginautumn2004ontheEIBactivitiesandpolicyguidelines,inorder
tocontinueatransparentdiscussionontheissue;notesthatthePresidentoftheEIBhasshownhisinterestinandavailabilityforthatinitiative;
5. RecognisesthespecialstatuteoftheEIBandrequeststheEIBinthislighttocomeforwardwith
proposalsinlinewiththeCommission’sactionplanonmodernisingcompanylawandenhancingcorpor-ategovernance(COM(2003)284)andtheParliament’sresolutionsonsupervisionoffinancialservicesandcorporategovernance;
6. CallsupontheEIBtobettermonitorandmaketransparentthenatureandfinaldestinationofits
globalloansinsupportofSMEs,orofsmallandmedium-sizeinfrastructureandotherpublicworks,sincefromtheinformationanalyseditcanbeinferredthat45%ofgloballoansareusedtofundSMEs;
7. CallsontheEIBtoensurethatadequateriskcapitalisavailableforSMEsinallsectorswhichhave
problemsattractingcapitalfromthestockexchange;
8. SupportstheEIB’sattemptstooptimiseitscoordinationwiththeCommissionandtoinformthe
ParliamentonthisissueasregardstheEUStructuralFundsandCohesionFund;
(1) OJC276,1.10.2001,p.262.
(2) OJC284E,21.11.2002,p.111.C104E/1020 EN30.4.2004 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanUnion
Thursday22April2004
9. RepeatstheneedtobringtheEIBunderprudentialsupervision,beitbytheEuropeanCentralBank
orbyanyotherstructuredealingwithbankingsupervisionatEuropeanlevel;recognisesonceagainthatthisneedstobearrangedintheTreaty;CallsthereforeupontheCommissionandMemberStatestocomewithaninitiativeandaskstheEIBactivelytoconsiderpossibilitiesandreportbacktotheParliament;
10. WelcomesthefactthattheEIBhasadoptedtheCommission’sdefinitionofSMEsandsupportsits
attemptstoputitintopractice;
11. StronglycallsagainupontheEIB,theCourtofAuditorsandtheCommissiontoamendthetripar-
titeagreementfollowingitsexpiryon19March2003toauthorisetheCourtofAuditorstoauditboththeguaranteeandtheunderlyingtransaction,incaseswheretheEIBprovidesloans;considersthatfurtherconsiderationshouldbegiventoimprovingthesupervisionoftheEIBandisoftheopinionthattheEuropeanParliamentneedstobeinvolvedinthis;callsonthepartiestofurtheramendthetripartiteagreementsothattheCourtofAuditorshasatleastthesameauditrightswithrespecttotheEIBasithaswithrespecttotheECB,namelytheoperationalefficiencyofthemanagementoftheEIB;
12. SuggeststhattheEIBregularlypublishanevaluationreportonitsfinancialactivities,dealingsepar-
atelywithitsdirectactivities,thoseundertakenbythirdparties(loans,riskcapital,funds,etc.)anditsderivativetransactions;
13. AskstheEIBtoinformtheParliamentaboutcompliancewiththerecommendationsintheAnnual
reportoftheAuditCommitteeandtherecommendationsmadebytheoperationsevaluationdepartment
initssectoralreports;
14. RecommendsthattheEIBalsopublishinformationconcerningfailedprojects,ifany,inorderto
learnfromsuchfailures;
15. AcknowledgestheEIB’scommitmenttogivefullaccesstoinformationnecessaryfortheauditby
theCourtofAuditors(ifnecessaryincludingcommerciallyconfidentialormarket-sensitiveinformation)andforscrutinybyOLAFandtheCourtofJustice;
16. RegretsthattheinformationpresentedbytheEIBonitswebsiteappearsinonlythreecommunity
languages;encouragestheEIBtomaketheinformationpresentedonthewebsiteavailableinmoreCom-munitylanguages;
17. UrgesthenewEuropeanParliamenttoorganiseahearingofexpertsontheEIBannualreport2003
and2004andtoformulateconclusionsfortheLisbonprocessconcerningthepoliciesoftheEIB;
18. AskstheEIBtoannuallyprovidetheEuropeanParliamentandthepublic,togetherwiththepre-
sentationoftheEIB’sAnnualReport,withawrittensummaryoftheactionundertakeninresponsetotheissuesraisedinthepreviousannualreportoftheParliament;
19. InstructsitsPresidenttoforwardthisresolutiontotheCouncil,theCommissionandtheEIB.
P5_TA(2004)0372
Eurostat
EuropeanParliamentresolutiononEurostat
TheEuropeanParliament ,
/dash havingregardtoitsresolutionof4December2003ontheevaluationoftheactivitiesoftheEuropean
Anti-FraudOffice(OLAF)(1)of4December2003,itsresolutionof29January2004ontheaction
takenbytheCommissionontheobservationscontainedintheresolutionaccompanyingthedecision30.4.2004EN C104E/1021 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanUnion
Thursday22April2004
(1) P5_TA(2003)0551.