European Parliament resolution on the EIB Annual Report for 2005 (2006/2269(INI))
Date: 2007-02-15
Institutions: Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, European Parliament
Subjects: EIB loan, European Investment Bank, activity report, administrative transparency, dissemination of information

C 287 E/544

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

29.11.2007

Thursday 15 February 2007

6.
Calls on the EU institutions and other international actors to apply sanctions that target any side,
including the Sudanese Government, that violates the ceasefire or attacks civilians, peacekeepers or humani-
tarian operations and to take all necessary action to help end impunity by enforcing and implementing the
UN Security Council sanction regime through targeted economic sanctions, including travel bans and asset
freezes, as the EU has done in the past with other countries (1); underlines that sanctions against Sudan
should also include the threat of an oil embargo;

7.
Calls on the EU institutions and the international community to reconvene peace talks to improve the
content of the Darfur Peace Agreement and make it acceptable to all parties; calls on international actors to
hold accountable all parties to the resulting agreement and urges all parties to the conflict in Darfur to
show their commitment to a peaceful solution to the crisis by implementing that agreement without delay;

8.

Calls on the Sudanese Government to cooperate fully with the ICC in order to end impunity;

9.
Calls on China to use its significant leverage responsibly in the region to hold the Government of
Sudan to its commitments under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 9 January 2005 and the Darfur
Peace Agreement; further calls on China to cease exporting arms to Sudan and to cease blocking decisions
on targeted sanctions against the Government of Sudan in the UN Security Council;

10.
Notes the UN Human Rights Council decision to send a High-Level Mission to Darfur to investigate
human rights abuses in the region, which should provide a basis for action to bring to account any perpe-
trators of such crimes, and underlines the need for independence and credibility of the Mission team; is
critical of the delays caused by visas not being granted to members of this Mission;

11.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission, the Heads of State
and Government of the Member States, the Government and Parliament of Sudan, the United Nations
Security Council, the Heads of State and Government of the Arab League, the governments of the ACP
countries, the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and the African Union institutions.

(1) Belarus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, North Korea, Moldova, Burma, Zimbabwe.

P6_TA(2007)0053

EIB Annual Report 2005

European Parliament resolution on the EIB Annual Report for 2005 (2006/2269(INI))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to Articles 266 and 267 of the EC Treaty, establishing the European Investment Bank

(EIB) and the Protocol on the Statute of the European Investment Bank, annexed to the Treaty,

— having regard to the EIB Group Activity Report 2005 and its Corporate Operational Plan for the period
2006 to 2008, the European Investment Fund (EIF) Annual Report 2005, the Audit Committee Annual
Reports 2005 and the response from the Management Committee, the Operations Evaluation Overview
Report 2005, and the EIB President's hearing before the relevant Parliament committee on 20 June
2005,

— having regard to the European Action for Growth, endorsed in the Presidency conclusions following the

Brussels European Council on 12 and 13 December 2003,

— having regard to its resolution of 8 March 2005 on the activity report for 2003 of the European
Investment Bank (1), and its resolution of 4 April 2006 on the situation of the European economy:
preparatory report on the broad economic policy guidelines for 2006 (2),

(1) OJ C 320 E, 15.12.2005, p. 66.
(2) OJ C 293 E, 2.12.2006, p. 163.

29.11.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 287 E/545

— having regard to the EIB's Environmental Report 2004,

Thursday 15 February 2007

— having regard to the EIB's publication, the Social Assessment of Projects outside the European Union:

the approach of the European Investment Bank, of 2 October 2006,

— having regard to the Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and
access to justice in environmental matters (the Aarhus Convention), under which the Community com-
mitted itself to guaranteeing ‘the rights of access to information, public participation in decision-making
and access to justice in environmental matters’,

— having regard to Rules 112(2) and 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (A6-0011/2007),

A. whereas the EIB is a public bank with a political dimension, established under of the EC Treaty as the

main financial institution charged with achieving the European Union's objectives,

B. whereas the growth potential of the European economy continues to be fairly low, at around 2 %,
which is much lower than that achieved by other areas of the world, and is insufficient to provide
employment for the more than 12 million unemployed Europeans and for the development of an
enlarged Europe,

C. whereas in 2005 the EIB granted loans worth EUR 47 400 million, of which EUR 42 300 million was
allocated to the Member States, EUR 2 000 million to the acceding countries, and EUR 3 100 million to
associated countries, and whereas some EUR 9 000 million was distributed through the intermediary
banks,

D. whereas out of the loans granted by the EIB Group, EUR 34 000 million was allocated to economic and
social cohesion, EUR 10 700 million to the Innovation 2010 initiative, EUR 12 300 to environmental
protection, EUR 8 200 million to the development of the Trans-European Networks, EUR 4 200 million
to support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), EUR 3 600 million as a contribution to
European external cooperation and development aid policy, EUR 400 million to venture capital funds,
and EUR 1 700 million to guarantees for SMEs,

E. whereas the Commission's Integrated Guidelines for Growth and Jobs (2005-2008) (COM(2005)0141)
point to the need to promote a more entrepreneurial culture and the creation of new enterprises, and
whereas one way of achieving those objectives is to improve access to finance for SMEs,

F. whereas SMEs in the European Union, which total almost 23 million and which comprise half of the
EU economy and employ two-thirds of European workers, have an important part to play in economic
and social cohesion,

G. whereas a new European energy policy is needed in order to cope with high energy prices, guarantee

security of supply, and halt climate change,

1.
Congratulates the EIB on its activity report for 2005, on its increased transparency to the public and
on the improvement of its control systems; encourages the EIB to continue with its work in developing the
European economy;

Strategy and activities

2. Welcomes the fact that the EIB has adopted the Lisbon Strategy objectives on growth and employment
and welcomes the changes made by the EIB in its work with a view to achieving those objectives; considers
that the question arises as to whether the EIB's resources are sufficient to achieve those objectives;

C 287 E/546

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

29.11.2007

Thursday 15 February 2007

3.
Notes that in the review of EIB strategy carried out in 2005, encouraging economic and social cohe-
sion within the European Union continued to be the EIB's main aim; therefore calls for the EIB's activity in
this field to focus on the least developed regions;

4.
Urges the EIB, with reference to the Innovation 2010 initiative, to fund projects that are directly
relevant to innovation; with regard to education and training, calls for the policy goal of the European
Union to become a knowledge-based society to be fully supported, with a particular emphasis on innova-
tion-related education projects, both in higher and basic education in order to improve Europe's human
potential; supports the EIB in its efforts to bring less developed areas into the knowledge-based economy;

5.
Congratulates the EIB on having achieved its aim of devoting between 30 and 35 % of its individual
loans within the European Union to projects intended to protect or improve the natural or urban environ-
ment; notes that out of the total loans made within the European Union, 60 % were granted in relation to
the urban environment (public transport and urban renewal), while only 20 % were intended for research
into energy efficiency and the development of renewable forms of energy; urges the EIB, therefore, to dis-
tribute funds for environmental protection more coherently;

6. Welcomes the EIB's intention to draw up a new energy action plan incorporating the new EU energy
objectives; calls on the EIB to adopt more ambitious financing objectives both for renewable energies and
for programmes to improve energy efficiency, above all in the new Member States and in the SME sector,
where there is more scope for improvement;

Congratulates the EIB on its role as a financial catalyst, above all

7.
in relation to loans in support
of public-private partnerships promoting private sector participation in financing the Trans-European
Networks; calls for an EU guarantee instrument to be developed specifically for Trans-European Transport
Network projects in order to cover the risk that revenue might fall short of the expected levels in the initial
operating phase; stresses the importance of improving the dimension of energy networks to and among
Member States to facilitate the creation of the internal market for energy supply and distribution;

8.
Considers that EIB activities should reflect the needs of an enlarged European Union; points out that
the EIB does not have a permanent delegation in the Baltic Sea region, which would cover the Baltic States,
Denmark, Finland, Sweden and EEA-EFTA countries;

9.
Calls for greater consistency in the EIB's external mandate both with regard to the sufficiency of funds
for the whole period of the new mandate and their distribution by geographical area; points out that the
loans granted to Latin America are insufficient, representing only 2,5 % of those devoted to projects outside
the European Union; welcomes the new initiative combining EIB loans with EU grant aid for regional
infrastructure projects in Africa as well as other initiatives that support an African development agenda
that must be developed on the basis of sustainability criteria,
in environmental, social and economic
terms; urges the EIB, in conjunction with global loans for Mediterranean partner countries, to implement
technical assistance in order to help develop and reform the local financial sector;

10.
Congratulates the EIB Board of Governors, which in 2005 made support for SMEs one of its five
priority objectives; supports the EIB in its effort to develop financial instruments appropriate to the needs of
SMEs, to the end that global loans to SMEs represent more than 50 % of total global loans every year;

Methods of operation

11. Welcomes the closer cooperation with the Commission in the new programmes which aim to
increase the efficiency of expenditure thanks to the experience acquired by the EIB, in particular the pro-
gramme for Joint Assistance to Support Projects in European Regions (Jaspers);

12.
Points out that a range of new financial instruments managed by the EIB and the EIF will have a
multiplier effect on non-reimbursable aid, and is delighted that the initiative for Joint European Resources
for Micro to Medium Enterprises (Jeremie) has come into operation, since it could produce a multiplier
effect of up to ten times the size of the Structural Fund budget through the operation of the EIF serving
to turn subsidies into a range of financial products aimed at SMEs;

29.11.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 287 E/547

Thursday 15 February 2007

Considers that the new cooperation and financing arrangements must be evaluated carefully with a

13.
view to correcting any administrative obstacles that may be involved;

Points out to the EIB that its loans must not be a substitute, under conditions more advantageous to
14.
the intermediary financial institutions, for loans which in any event would have been granted by the private
sector;

Calls on the Court of Auditors to ensure that the conditions governing the loans and guarantees
15.
involving EU budget resources granted by the EIB do not serve to enable certain privileged parties to benefit
indirectly from unwarranted assistance when they could obtain financing on the market;

16.
Calls on the EIB to conduct a detailed study on the real contribution of the EIB investment to
regional development, once also analysed the effects of EU policies and to introduce appropriate indicators,
as recommended by its own Operations Evaluation department;

17.
Recommends that the EIB further increase the possibilities of access to its finance, above all for
SMEs, by increasing the number of financial institutions with the appropriate expertise and lending capa-
cities to support EU priorities, acting as intermediaries in each country, which at the same time would
improve the conditions for the end recipients;

Recommends that in its next annual report, the EIB place special emphasis on its relationship with
18.
the banks which, at national level, specialise in granting loans to SMEs and recalls that good cooperation
between the EIB and those banks can only be beneficial to the SMEs;

Considers that a combination of funds provided by the EIB with authorised State aid should be

19.
encouraged to benefit SMEs;

Transparency and performance

20.
Calls on the EIB to explain more clearly its evaluation criteria when selecting projects for funding and
to submit an evaluation of its operations in terms of economic growth and employment; recommends that
the EIB publish its information on the investment projects in which it is involved, to encourage private
investors to participate in the possible financing of those projects;

21.
Recommends that the EIB lay down more clear-cut criteria to govern the ultimate allocation of its
global loans; and calls on the EIB to establish a transparent procedure for determining and assessing how
the loans have been used by intermediary banks, in particular with a view to ascertaining whether the
quality of EIB loans really benefits the end recipients;

Calls on the EIB to ensure that its operational standards are consistent with international standards
22.
and best practices; and to establish a transparent participation mechanism to involve civil society organisa-
tions and other interested parties in the formulation of strengthened EIB social standards;

23.
Calls on the EIB to set up a new environmental framework based on clear, binding and enforceable
minimum standards, which would provide an opportunity for the EIB to make its values and standards clear
to all stakeholders, including local communities;

24.
Congratulates the EIB on developing its control system to give greater weight to ex-post evaluation
of operations; welcomes the publication of a summary of evaluations carried out by the Operations Evalu-
ation department; reiterates its request made in paragraph 14 of its resolution of 22 April 2004 on the
activity report for 2002 of the European Investment Bank (1) that the EIB should provide information on
failed projects, in order to learn from such failures;

25.
Notes the EIB's intention to associate itself voluntarily with the establishment of an international
solvency ratio (Basel II); calls on the EIB to communicate the methodologies applied and the constituent
components of this ratio; calls for a study on the way that the application of Basel II is supervised;

(1) OJ C 104 E, 30.4.2004, p. 1019.

C 287 E/548

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

29.11.2007

Thursday 15 February 2007

26. Welcomes the EIB's focus on transparency, outlined in its Public Disclosure Policy of 28 March 2006;

Urges the EIB to continue to improve its communications policy; calls for the main contents of the

27.
EIB web page to be translated into all the EU languages;

Calls on the EIB to continue providing Parliament and the public an annual summary of measures

28.
taken to improve its performance, in line with Parliament's previous resolutions;

*

*

*

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the European

29.
Investment Bank.

P6_TA(2007)0054

Increase in energy prices

European Parliament resolution on the macroeconomic impact of the increase in the price of
energy (2006/2247(INI))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Commission report ‘European energy and transport: Scenarios on high oil and gas

prices’, published in September 2006,

— having regard to the Commission Communication,

Potential’ (COM(2006)0545),

‘Action Plan for Energy Efficiency: Realising the

— having regard to the presidency conclusions of the Göteborg European Council of 15 and 16 June
2001, and the Brussels European Councils of 23 and 24 March 2006 and 15 and 16 June 2006,

— having regard to the conclusions of the Hampton Court informal meeting of the EU Heads of State or

Government on 27 October 2005, which marked the inception of the EU's new energy policy,

— having regard to its resolution of 26 February 2004 on the situation of the European economy, report

on the broad guidelines for economic policies (1),

— having regard to its resolution of 23 March 2006 on security of energy supply in the European

Union (2),

— having regard to its resolution of 1 June 2006 on Energy efficiency or doing more with less — Green
Paper (3), in particularly in regard to its call for Commission and national energy efficiency action plans,

— having regard to its resolution of 14 December 2006 on a European Strategy for sustainable, competi-

tive and secure energy — Green Paper (4),

— having regard to the Commission's integrated energy and climate change package to cut emissions for

the 21st century, published on 10 January 2007,

(1) OJ C 98 E, 23.4.2004, p. 162.
(2) OJ C 292 E, 1.12.2006, p. 112.
(3) OJ C 298 E, 8.12.2006, p. 273.
(4) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2006)0603.