kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
there is in the western balkan strategy which we have just adopted a clear path indicated for the western balkans and for all our six partners in the western balkans to finally join the european union on a meritbased process but with a clear political commitment on our side to have this perspective credible and finally coming through.
the people especially the younger generations are determined to see their future inside the european union and the leaderships have shown commitment and political courage to make the reforms needed to bring their countries in that direction.
that. obviously this doesn't only depend
means the citizens of the western balkan countries are asking for reforms so that they can enjoy the same rights protections and standards as the citizens of the european union.
june. the strategy supports this agenda with very concrete initiatives that i imagine commissioner hahn will describe in more detail.
which will have exactly the same realistic timeframe and perspective.
the sense of direction has been clear.
we have seen and we are seeing a lot of ongoing reforms with courage and determination and in the best cases with an approach that is an approach of national unity because these challenges are never wise to be taken as political divides but more as a generational challenge for the leaderships of these countries.
we have ahead of us very intense and ambitious months.
our security is more and more connected and our foreign and security policy is more and more coordinated.
overall though the sense of direction in these years has been absolutely clear.
together we can make two thousand and eighteen a turning point the moment when the progress towards eu membership becomes irreversible and tangible for
we were as we say in the mediterranean on the same boat.
let's bring the western balkans inside the european union not in a faraway future but in our generation on the basis of serious concrete and tough work that we are ready to do together with our partners in the region.
all of this has told us a simple truth.
there have been difficult political and electoral cycles;
if you look at the borders the western balkans are within the member states of the european union.
actually it has been very difficult from time to time.
i think that many citizens actually get it very well but the point is that this is not about technicalities or bureaucracy. this is real life; things that have an impact on societies that transform societies from within.
again obviously it is meritbased but history and geography tells us the perspective is one and as one we address this situation in the strategy.
i say european union perspective i do not say european perspective because we have to start from the simple truth and the self evidence that the western balkans are european already.
not the european union need for reforms but the citizens of the western balkans' need for reforms.
however i do not believe that this will have a positive impact on the region.
in order to make real progress the countries need a clear road map and the period of the bulgarian presidency of the council of the eu is the right time for this.
on the contrary there are historical contradictions in the balkans which can be solved only with the full membership of all six countries in the region.
that is democracy and democracy means finding a compromise in which everybody has to give in a little bit in order to get more.
the firm merit based prospect of eu membership is in our own political security and economic interest.
they must now walk the talk' and deliver.
bilateral conflicts and issues with neighbouring countries.
also the european project would not be complete without them.
we have a common heritage a history and a common future defined by our shared opportunities and challenges.
are met. this will include specific provisions in the next multiannual financial framework and refocused pre accession aid before
you like. whether it is achieved or not will depend entirely on the merits and results of each
not more but not less and i think this is important to recall.
support. this strategy therefore includes as already mentioned by the high representative six new flagship initiatives with altogether fifty seven very concrete individual innovative
we must use our soft power' of attraction this magnetic force of the european union more efficiently and smartly. because inclusion is the best security policy for european citizens.
balkans. joining the eu is a generational choice based on fundamental
mr president the debate on the relationship between the eu and the western balkans must fully take into account the perspectives of citizens and more particularly the younger generation.
we must support the emergence of a generation of young balkans to lead their countries on this european path and so that means we have to invest in people to people contacts youth culture and education.
so offering economic and social opportunities to young people including ensuring the better representation of women and girls in the labour market must be the top priority at every level of government.
but most importantly the youth must be trusted and allowed to actively participate in the decisions that affect the future of their country.
the high youth unemployment rate in western balkan countries for example more than sixty youth unemployment in bosnia and herzegovina and the overall lack of opportunities has led to an unprecedented and ongoing brain drain which could deprive the country of an entire generation of welleducated young leaders.
and for me personally it will be the greatest pleasure to see all countries of the western balkans join the european union. but at the same time i must also very clearly say that we also need to make this process a success for minorities in the western balkans. we need to state very clearly that without clear progress when it comes to human rights when it comes to the rule of law when it comes to the rights of minorities like lgbti
we cannot have accession at the moment. we need to be absolutely clear about this and i hope that very soon i can welcome all those citizens of the western balkan states to join the european union.
i sincerely hope that the uk which has invested a lot of political capital in the stability of the western balkans over many years is still able to carry on participating in joint eu projects postbrexit.
all countries of the western balkans have a natural place in the european union and each of them shares a strong desire to join.
the glue that holds the region together is euro atlantic integration and any disruption would have devastating consequences across the whole continent.
the support for a meritbased regatta principle in which each country is assessed on its own merits and rights is also to be welcomed.
fulfilling these ambitions must be a key priority in the coming decade.
my hopes had been raised that we were very close to securing a solution to the macedonia name question finally.
the more for more' approach is vital to maintaining confidence in the process and to preserving the integrity of a rules based approach.
mr president i am very pleased to say on behalf of the ecr that much of the accepted thinking over the last year regarding the enlargement strategy has finally found its way into the official policy published this afternoon.
twenty five is some way off still but we cannot ignore rising scepticism in some parts of the eu to all future enlargement with particular concerns about corruption and organised crime and we may even see one referendum on the issue in france.
this is why the sd group has always been the first promoter of enlargement as one of the most successful eu policies.
this is exactly where our union should play an important role in fostering more regional cooperation cohesion and dialogue.
this region is key for the stability and the security of our union and for its citizens.
we are the only reliable and credible partner in the region for the region.
today we are facing common challenges in the region which include migration radicalisation the rise of nationalism tensions and terrorism. it is important not to lose momentum and come together with a common answer to the very many problems.
yes certainly without any doubt.
friends were killed by snipers while searching for food;
do we know how we will do it?
yes certainly. we don't have any other choice.
it is possible to be friendly close and supportive to a nation without consuming and subjugating it and this is something the commission should learn in its dealings with all european nations. this whole policy is to my mind nothing but naked imperialism or as it is often described neo colonialism by other means.
clearly these six countries do not live up to these values yet.
for example for serbia i am concerned with media freedom;
i'm concerned with the attacks on members of the lgbti community;
this shows that even a frontrunner still has a long way to go and no specific dates can be attached to this.
i can only hope that serbia and these other countries will choose the path of european values.
it's good the commission has given a real perspective to the western balkans and as a community we should reach out and help to bring them closer.
we need to get ready for the enlargement in the same way that the countries of the region need to be ready to join the union.
i welcome this strategy;
however i would also like to see a joint approach of the european institutions.
it encourages them to continue on a democratic path it encourages them to develop their human rights and it encourages them to continue to promote the rule of law. it is a demonstration that the european union can make a real difference to real people's lives.
of course it also demonstrates to the people of western europe and to the european union as a whole that membership is not a mere bauble to be handed out that it has to be earned and they can be reassured that the western balkans will only be allowed to join the european union if it meets our values and meets our expectations in terms of standards of behaviour.
mr president the prospect of eu membership for countries in line to become big net recipients from the budget can provide leverage over their conduct.
if used wisely this can foster a functioning democracy and other norms of an advanced society so the potential is there for enlargement taking in the western balkans to be a good thing.
but that potential is undermined by the eu's determination to intrude ever further into a central national sovereignty.
for example commanding countries to take in large numbers of young men from africa or the middle east which is naturally being resisted by newer members such as hungary.
the eu should also have more regard as to the likely consequences of further enlargement for current members notably greece and italy which are already suffering under eu policy in the areas of migration and the currency union.
were the eu a club of friendly advanced countries rather than a nascent superstate then the capacity of prospective membership to do good would be immeasurably improved.
in this difficult environment it is important that the eib assumes its role as a policy driven bank acts as a countercyclical institution and continues to provide financing to the real economy especially in regions and sectors where funds are not available from other sources on reasonable terms.
finally i would like to thank you again for the excellent collaboration in the preparations for the eif capital increase.
i am convinced that parliaments assessment of the eibs activities in the year ahead will be as supportive as its opinion on the two thousand and twelve annual report and i look forward to continued close and successful cooperation between the commission and the bank.
madam president the current difficult economic and financial situation requires decisive policy action and the eib's activity is a crucial component of our efforts to bring back growth and employment to europe.
however investment can be carried out more cheaply more efficiently and in a more targeted way by those member states creating the credit themselves rather than borrowing from external institutions and adding sovereign debt. the principle of what is physically possible must be financially possible' should be followed. president obama no less when introducing the american jobs act said it was a contradiction for a bridge in maine to be in need of repair while construction workers were unemployed.
my concern is that with the necessary changes in the process of achieving banking union we might see a further credit crunch for smes in particular.
it is simply too soon.
over ten years the european economy has seen a reduction in investment. the investment level in the european union and the member states today and over the last couple of years is constantly some fifteen below the value of. two thousand and seven what does that mean for the quality of the capital stock in the european
at that time the bank was conceived of as a long term lender for big infrastructure projects.
this has been very encouraging for us.
last year we increased the volume of sme lending by almost a hundred percent to eur twenty two billion.
union? it is deteriorating from year to year because we do not invest
i would also like to stress that the capital increase granted by the member states with the support of the parliament and the commission has also enabled us to considerably raise the risk profile of the bank's activities. this was very helpful for us but raising the risk profile
we must speed up the process.
it is something that i have a concern about.
so clearly they are vital parts of the economy.
do you see the possibility of providing more for that sector?
because there are concerns that in terms of credit and financing ireland could perhaps face another crisis in the sme sector when the bank stress tests are completed.
in two thousand and thirteen and that a lot of this investment has gone to communications broadband energy and education.
it was raised by professor morgan kelly who perhaps has a track record of predicting the unpredictable and i think it might be worthy of comment.
the fund is a joint initiative between the hellenic republic the commission and the eib.
this new capital will increase the fund's capacity to share risk and provide capital in order to stimulate further sme lending.
the participation of the european union in the capital increase of the european investment fund was voted on in parliaments committee on budgets and will be tabled for the april plenary.
all these instruments enable us to operate in countries where commercial banks and other investors have reduced their activities substantially or have even withdrawn completely.
the majority of the bank's financing operations outside the union are carried out under an eu budget guarantee set out in its external mandates for eib activities in different regions of the world.
in portugal we started an innovative portfolio state guarantee covering up to eur six billion for new investments.
politically economically and socially one of the biggest challenges remains the fight against youth unemployment which the european council considered last year as a priority.
in this context i would just like to mention the current situation in ukraine which we can further elaborate on during our discussion.
this is of course of utmost importance for our investors.
as the rapporteur said or implied the aaa is not a fetish for us but preserving good refinancing conditions when generating private capital from the market is vital for our business model.
in greece we signed the first trade finance facility worth eur five hundred million. here the eib acts as a safe bridge between leading greek and foreign banks to the benefit of greek importers and exporters. we have already replicated this facility in cyprus for eur one hundred and fifty million and other countries have shown great interest in this new tool.
this will make up to eur four billion available in support of additional guarantees to be issued by the eif over the next seven years.
this is given our overall size a considerable amount of money close to one third the size of world bank lending to public and private sectors.
as you all know the problems differ in the member states;
in just six months the bank made available loans for almost eur nine.
in particular allow me to thank the rapporteur mr marinescu who just presented his report for a very thorough and well balanced report on the activities of the european investment bank and everyone else involved for the excellent cooperation with the eib's services. the eu bank is part of a concerted european response to the crisis and there are signs that this common strategy is bearing fruit.
thus we reacted with tailor made and efficient instruments.
in addition to the capital increase we will extend the eif's activity by granting a new mandate.
as you know roughly ten of all lending goes to projects outside the eu to support the eus policies beyond its borders.
it is also a very powerful instrument for addressing market gaps offering a broad range of equity guarantee risk sharing and lending products.
it will be successful only if these fruits are sooner or later hopefully sooner visible on the labour markets.
all in all these measures should increase our funding capacity and expand our product offer for smes.
with direct investments supporting the economic and social development of neighbourhood and partner countries the eib promotes eu interests and supports eu policies.
in times of scarce budgetary resources the external lending mandate is very important given the high leverage of the eu guarantee up to twenty five which allows us to do more with less.
we borrow what we have to lend and we need to do everything to protect our favourable funding conditions in order to be able to fulfil our mission as laid down in the treaties to act counter cyclically and help particularly those countries which need our help the most and to help with very favourable loan conditions.
with more integration and more trade support and not with nationalisation or protectionism.
two thousand and thirteen this allowed us taking into account private investment to mobilise more than eur fifty billion in support of smes and mid caps and to support a total of two hundred and thirty thousand smes with.
but let me be clear our business model is based on a well balanced portfolio across the entire union.
initiative which is a risk sharing instrument created by the commission and the eu bank provides an opportunity for reopening capital markets as a source of financing for crucial transport energy and communications infrastructure projects.
for example we have ensured access to finance for small and medium sized enterprises by making our sme support become our largest policy contribution amounting to an all time high of eur twenty two billion eur twenty one.
again in greece we set up the sme guarantee fund.
furthermore we are enhancing the activities of the european investment fund to overcome existing financing constraints for smes.
one billion to tackle youth unemployment.
otherwise identical smes now face different financing conditions merely based on the member state where they are based and that is why the european council of december two thousand and thirteen asked us to further enhance the capacity of the eif through an increase in its capital.
we are grateful for the excellent cooperation with parliament and the council which makes us confident that we can succeed with this important project within our ambitious timetable and get the first projects going this year.
the active promotion by the commission and the eib of project bonds for infrastructure financing has supported the development of capital market solutions.
the transactions closed demonstrated the role of the project bonds in attracting investors to large projects with a higher risk profile than they would normally accept.
the commission and the eib are currently looking at ways to improve the performance of the scheme and to implement it in a broader range of countries and in greenfield projects.
going forward it will thus be crucial to demonstrate even more that the eib can play a key role in the eu's efforts to restart growth and job creation especially in vulnerable and programme countries. all this is not intended to call into question the eib's business model but to ensure that all efforts are used to ensure that taxpayers' money is used as effectively as possible.
the commission welcomes the recent creation of an eastern neighbourhood committee by the eib because the bank's support to the region is needed now more than ever including in countries such as ukraine.
from two thousand and fourteen onwards the project bond initiative will be part of the connecting europe facility with an initial budget of eur two hundred and thirty million for two thousand and fourteen fifteen and further allocations to be made after two thousand and fifteen subject to the full independent evaluation of the pilot phase. the european investment fund which is owned jointly by the eib the eu and a number of financial shareholders
has been another highly effective tool for supporting the economy in areas not adequately served by the commercial banking sector including financing for smes and venture capital.
eib investment activity in these regions is of fundamental importance to facilitate the accession process and to bolster eu support to its neighbourhood.
two thousand and thirteen in this context we also welcome the support of parliament for the launch of the instruments of cosme and horizon two thousand and twenty which will be implemented by the eib and eif and for the joint sme initiative.
at the same time the expansion of risk sharing instruments funded from the eu budget and from structural funds should be flanked by measures to strengthen the eib's own internal risk taking capacity to ensure that satisfactory leverage can be achieved for the eu funds.
we particularly welcome the establishment of the growth and employment facility which was enabled by last year's eur ten billion capital increase and will generate eur sixty billion of additional lending over the next three years.
while we recognise the need to control portfolio risks and the importance of the triple a rating the eib needs to optimise the value added of its lending taking into account country specific needs.
there is still more work to be done here as we note that a significant proportion of eib lending continues to flow to blue chip companies with ready access to commercial loans.
it is critical that the eib deploys the fresh funds from its capital increase which was financed by eu taxpayers to high value added projects across the twenty eight member states including vulnerable and programme countries for which funds are not available from other sources on reasonable terms.
mr president honourable members the commission welcomes parliament's report on the european investment bank and shares the recognition of the important role the eib plays in supporting europe's recovery from the financial crisis.
the implementation of the capital increase has progressed smoothly thanks to the significant financial contribution from member states and we note with satisfaction that the eib fully delivered on the agreed additional lending volumes in.
these initiatives will considerably increase the effectiveness of joint risk sharing instruments in support of smes and high value added research and development projects.
the commission will also look at the financing of smaller infrastructure projects and the potential use of european structural and investment funds to support the development of the project bond market in a variety of infrastructure sectors in europe including renewable generation and smart grid assets.
this is an area particularly affected by the financial crisis and the fragmentation of the eu's credit markets.
they should thus remain at the focus of the eib's external lending activities.
the two project bond deals signed show that project bond solutions could deliver value for money compared to bank solutions effectively enabling governments to deliver more to taxpayers at the same or even lower financing costs.