Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-04-22-Speech-3-403"
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"en.20090422.56.3-403"2
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"The question refers to the Commission view on possible European economic and financial support to countries of eastern and south-eastern Europe hard hit by the global economic crisis. I am replying on behalf of my colleague, Commissioner Almunia.
The sharp economic downturn in a number of countries in this region can indeed have an adverse impact on the economies of the same European Union Member States, in particular those whose commercial banks have extended, often through their local subsidiary, significant credits to enterprises and households in the countries of the region.
It has first to be noted that economic and financial conditions differ greatly among these countries. The Commission’s response to the crisis could not, therefore, be formulated globally but has taken into account the situation of each country.
Regarding candidate and potential candidate countries of south-eastern Europe, large amounts of technical assistance supporting structural reforms and institution-building have been programmed for the period 2007-2013 – EUR 9.1 billion, as you know, under the Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA). The Commission is also implementing a EUR 150 million crisis response package, financed under this instrument, which aims to leverage in the short term an amount of EUR 500 million in loans from international financial institutions. The package includes measures ranging from the provision of micro-credit and SME financing to energy efficiency and specific technical assistance for financial sector supervision and financial regulation.
In order to further support the real economy, the Commission, the EIB, the EBRD and the Council of Europe Development Bank have jointly developed an infrastructure initiative that provides technical assistance and cofinancing to priority infrastructure investments in transport, energy, environment and social sectors. The initiative has been accelerated and implementation is now starting. It is a first step towards a Western Balkans Investment Framework that will also include investments in other socioeconomic sectors, like SMEs or energy efficiency.
In the countries of eastern Europe covered by the European Neighbourhood Policy – Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and the three Caucasus countries – the European Union instruments available to deal with the needs of the financial sector are more limited. Yet here, too, the EU provides substantial technical assistance through the national and regional programmes of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument in support of the joint action plans under the European neighbourhood policy. In order to further help the real economy, the Neighbourhood Investment Facility has been designed to bring together grants from the ENPI programmes and the European Union Member States with loans from the European public financial institutions. This instrument has provided EUR 71 million in grants in 2008, which underpinned large infrastructure projects worth around EUR 2.74 billion.
Let me now say a few words about the support to the commercial banks in the region being provided by specialised financial institutions. Here the EBRD is the most active and it is mobilising its full panoply of instruments, including equity and short-term debt. The EIB has no mandate towards direct bank capitalisation in this region and its activity is limited to the sectors of transport, telecommunications, energy and environmental infrastructure. The mandate does not cover SMEs. Much of the financial support to the economies of the region is provided by the Bretton Woods institutions, primarily the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF is making available large amounts of financing in support of comprehensive stabilisation programmes. The Commission feels that the role of the IMF in fighting the consequences of the crisis is very important.
Finally, a number of pre-accession and neighbourhood countries have requested macroeconomic assistance from the European Union. The Commission is currently examining how best to support those countries that have also agreed a stabilisation programme with the International Monetary Fund."@en1
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