CELEX: 51996PC0704
Language: en
Date: 1997-01-16
Title: Amended proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION granting a Community guarantee to the European Invesment Bank against losses under loans for projects of mutual interest in Latin American and Asian countries with which the Community has concluded cooperation agreements (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Salvador, Uruguay and Venezuela; Bangladesh, Brunei, China, India, Indonesia, Macao, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam)

" ^        I   COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                     Brussels, 16.01.1997
                                                     COM(96) 704 final
                                                     96/0015 (CNS)
                               Amended proposal for a
                                COUNCIL DECISION
granting a Community guarantee to the European Investment Bank against losses under
      loans for projects of mutual interest in Latin American and Asian countries
           with which the Community has concluded cooperation agreements
    (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala,
   Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Salvador, Uruguay and
 Venezuela; Bangladesh, Brunei, China, India, Indonesia, Macao, Malaysia, Pakistan,
               Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam)
             (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 189 a (2)
                                  of the EC-Treaty)
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                             EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
1. On 18 July 1996 the European Parliament adopted an opinion on the proposal for a Council
   Decision granting a Community guarantee to the European Investment Bank against losses
   under loans for projects of mutual interest in Latin American and Asian countries with
   which the Community has concluded cooperation agreements (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil,
   Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua,
   Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Salvador, Uruguay and Venezuela; Bangladesh, Brunei, China,
   India, Indonesia, Macao, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand
   and Vietnam).
2. Of the five amendments adopted by Parliament, the Commission accepted two in their
   entirety. The Commission accepted all Parliament's amendments which did not alter the
   intent or structure of the original proposal and which improved upon it. The amendments
   are summarized below, followed by a summary of those amendments which the
   Commission did not accept.
                                                   II
New Recital 6a (EP Amendment 1)
      The recital emphasizes the commitment of the European Union to the regions of Latin
      America and Asia and the role of the EIB in this connection.
Article 3 (EP Amendment 4)
      The insertion specifies that the economic and social impact of the scheme in recipient
      countries should be included in the assessment to be submitted to Council and Parliament
      at the end of the loan period.
 ---pagebreak---                                                  Ill
The amendments which the Commission did not accept were the following:
     Inserting a recital (Amendment 2) and a new paragraph in Article 3 (Amendment 5),
     because the Union's financial contribution is already given a high profile through press
     releases issued following the approval and signing of loans, through EIB publications
     concerning the Bank's activities in the area and through participation in seminars and
     conferences. Furthermore, the Bank, when operating outside the Community, works in
     conjunction with, and informs, the Commission's delegation of the activities undertaken
     in that particular country. In turn, the delegation disseminates the information through
     its usual channels;
     Deletion of part of the second paragraph of Article 1 (Amendment 3), because the
     proposed six-month automatic extension of the loan period is required in proposals of
     this nature to ensure that the EIB has the necessary flexibility to utilize in full the ioar.
     ceiling approved by Council.
 ---pagebreak---                                     Amended proposal for a
                                     COUNCIL DECISION
granting a Community guarantee to the European Investment Bank against losses under loans
for projects of mutual interest in Latin American and Asian countries with which the
Community has concluded cooperation agreements (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile,
Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama,
Paraguay, Peru, Salvador, Uruguay and Venezuela; Bangladesh, Brunei, China, India,
Indonesia, Macao, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and
Vietnam)
Following Parliament's opinion dated 18 July 1996, the following amendments are made to
the recitals and Article 3 of the Commission's original proposal (COM(95)742):
                                                   Amended proposal
 Original proposal
                                                   Recital 6a
                                                   Whereas the European Union's decision
                                                   to allow the EIB to operate in Latin
                                                   America and Asia has given it a basic
                                                   financial instrument that will enable it to
                                                   reaffirm its strong political commitment
                                                   to both regions and support the efforts of
                                                   European firms to penetrate the emerging
                                                   markets there;
 Article 3                                         Article 3
 At the end of the loan period the                 At the end of the loan period the
 Commission shall inform the European              Commission shall inform the European
 Parliament and the Council of the loan            Parliament and the Council of the loan
 operations and shall, at the same time,           operations and shall, at the same time,
 submit an assessment of the operation of          submit an assessment of the opera ion of
 the scheme and of coordination between            the scheme, of its economic and social
 the financial institutions operating in that      impact on the recipient countries and of
 area.                                             coordination between the financial
                                                   institutions operating in that area.
 ---pagebreak---                                                                   ISSN 0254-1475
                                                            COM(96) 704 final
                                              DOCUMENTS
EN                                                                  01 n      09
                                     Catalogue number : CB-CO-96-710-EN-C
                                                             ISBN 92-78-13815-0
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
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