WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1204/97 by Concepció FERRER to the Commission. EIB loans
Date: 1997-04-07
Institutions: European Parliament, FERRER
Subjects: Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, EIB loan, European Investment Bank, Latin America, Mediterranean third countries, South Africa, accession to the European Union, cooperation agreement (EU), equal treatment













EUR-Lex - 91997E1204 - EN






Avis juridique important




|



91997E1204

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1204/97 by Concepció FERRER to the Commission. EIB loans  


Official Journal C 045 , 10/02/1998 P. 0016 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-1204/97 by Concepció Ferrer (PPE) to the Commission (7 April 1997)Subject: EIB loansThere are sizeable discrepancies, under the Commission proposal on EIB loans for the period 1997-99, in the amounts allocated to different beneficiaries.The countries of central and eastern Europe are to receive 50.5%, the Mediterranean countries 30.7%, the countries of Latin America and Asia 13.1% and South Africa 5.4%, while 21.2% is earmarked for macrofinancial aid.Can the Commission state what criteria it used, in particular with regard to Latin America?Answer given by Mr de Silguy on behalf of the Commission (2 June 1997)The Commission proposal on the renewal of the budget guarantee to the European investment bank (EIB) for lending outside the Community reflects the conclusions of recent European Councils which recognise the importance of the EIB as an instrument of the Community's cooperation policy with third countries. In particular, the Council in Essen defined the pre-accession strategy with the associated countries in Central and Eastern Europe and endorsed the Commission's recommendation of the establishment of a partnership with the Mediterranean countries. In Cannes, the Council agreed to strengthen substantially the Community's financial cooperation with the two neighbouring regions. In Madrid, it endorsed the Euro-Mediterranean partnership and invited the Bank to intensify its activities in Latin America.The Council also indicated that the Community's financial commitments should be shared in a geographically equitable way, taking into account the evolution of Community priorities and the conclusions of the Edinburgh Council, which, in particular, fixed the annual amount to be written into the reserve for external operations and, indirectly, set a ceiling on loans and guarantee commitments.Taking all the above elements into account as well as an estimated requirement of 450 MECU per year in macro-financial assistance (lower than the average since 1990), the Commission proposed an overall ceiling of 6 825 MECU for EIB lending for the period 1997-1999 in Central and Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean countries, Latin America and Asia and in the Republic of South Africa.In terms of (nominal) increase relative to the previous pluriannual mandates the new regional ceilings proposed by the Commission represent increases of 15% for Central and Eastern Europe, 13% for the Mediterranean countries, 20% for Latin America and Asia but no change for South Africa.On 14 April 1997, following Parliament's opinion, the Council adopted Decision No 97/256/EC ((OJ L 102, 19.4.1997. )) in which the overall loan ceiling was set at 7 105 MECU. The ceiling decided for Latin America and Asia remained as proposed by the Commission i.e. 900 MECU.