Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-02-14-Speech-3-199"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20010214.5.3-199"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Mr President, first of all I should like to congratulate Parliament and Mr Lipietz on the analysis he has presented on the European Investment Bank annual report.
I share the idea mentioned by the President and included in the report that the European Investment Bank is an instrument of European Union policies, but we must not forget either that the EIB has the obligation to make optimal use of the resources at its disposal.
To a great extent the Commission shares the views contained in the report, but I should like to make a few comments on two or three subjects that I think are particularly relevant to the call for the Commission and the Council swiftly to extend the mechanism for subsidising interest rates on loans given by the bank, especially external loans as well as internal ones.
This is a difficult subject that the Court of Auditors has come out strongly against, expressing clear reservations as to its effectiveness. From the Commission’s viewpoint, it is true that we must do everything we can to ensure that the instruments we have are effective in facilitating investments, but it is no less true that there are projects, such as in the environmental field or from the countries applying for accession, which, in view of the interest rate levels we are working with today, could be resolved more efficiently by means of cofinancing systems, for instance through some of the current programmes. Such efficiency could be even greater at a later stage, when said countries are members of the European Union.
The report also calls on the bank to ensure that its risk-capital activities are adequate and to make the necessary effort to attract risk capital via the stock exchange, especially in those sectors with problems. The President of the bank has already made some reference to the efforts made. The Commission, for its part, has supported the bank’s ideas of arriving at a better distribution of functions between the former European Investment Fund and the bank. We think the current model, in which the Fund has become the arm of the bank for carrying out these risk-capital investment projects, is a good one and the current availability of greater resources is without any doubt a clearly positive factor compared with the former situation.
Allow me to comment on the greater importance to be given to small and medium-sized enterprises. Small and medium-sized enterprises are going to be able to take advantage of this possibility of access to risk-capital, but they are also going to be the great beneficiaries in the bank’s Innovation 2000 Initiative, especially in its support for investment in information and the knowledge-based economy. All this supports the Lisbon proposal, but it also supports this possible action on behalf of small and medium-sized enterprises.
A subject I think especially worth highlighting is global loans, which are also put forward in terms relevant for small and medium-sized enterprises and without any doubt will enable us to solve two problems that some of you have mentioned. First, sharing out resources more efficiently. We must not forget that these global loans at the moment are practically one third of the bank’s new loans. Secondly, the idea of the bank’s activities being more consistent with Community policies is also important. I think all of this will end up benefiting the bank’s activities and the policies defined.
One last comment: on page 18 of the report the Commission is called upon to perform a monitoring role, especially in connection with risk-capital and also the control and management of interest rates. On this subject in particular I can tell you that my colleagues responsible for these areas, especially as regards external assistance, are analysing the topic so that in accordance with the criteria and comments that I set out earlier we can reach the best possible solution to use the bank’s funds in the most efficient way."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples