Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-04-07-Speech-4-010-000"
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"Mr President, I would first like to thank our rapporteur, Mr Cutaş, for his very good report. I would also like to welcome Mr Maystadt to this plenary because it is very important that the Commission also congratulate him and the EIB for his continued forceful response to the effect of the global financial crisis.
EIB assistance was essential. The EIB helped us to address the credit shortage in the market and this was crucial, not only for the EU Member States and the candidate countries, but also for our partners around the world. The EIB was able to significantly increase its lending activity and, at the same time, to target the increase to the key growth-enhancing areas.
The Commission shares the Parliament’s view that support for the EU cohesion policy, as well as transition to low carbon economies, are core targets for the EIB. Consequently, the Commission joined forces with the EIB Group to support convergence regimes with the joint financial instruments which we know very well – JASPERS, JEREMIE, and the new addition, ELENA – to fight climate change. Moreover, we welcome the increase in lending volume to SMEs and we agree with your call for more qualitative measures to increase the value added and transparency of the EIB Group intervention in this domain.
In this context, an assessment of the optimal division of labour between the EIB and the EIF seems to be necessary. The huge efforts undertaken by the EIB bring into focus the importance of optimising the use of EIB capital. It is crucial to strike the right balance between higher volumes and high-risk activities which consume more capital but add more value to the EIB Group intervention.
I would like to say a couple of words on financial instruments. We believe that the use of innovative financial instruments, together with the key financial institutions such as the EIB, should be extended. Instruments using instant loans, equity and guarantees help maximise the effects of the EU budget by attracting additional funds from third parties. In addition, an increased use of joint financial instruments and risk sharing with the EU budget could have the effect of freeing capital and permitting a higher leverage of the EIB own resources and enhancing its reach. At the end of the day, this means more projects in support of a Europe 2020 strategy and better support for its goals and objectives.
The Europe 2020 Project Bond Initiative, which is currently in public consultation, is a very good example. The EU 2020 strategy calls for large-scale cross-border investment to underpin the EU 2020 flagship actions and develop smart, upgraded and fully interconnected infrastructures. The project bond initiative would support the financing of specific projects in the area of transport, energy and communications infrastructure, and potentially also in other sectors that can help lay the foundations for sustainable future growth and employment. I am glad to see your support for this initiative in your report.
In the context of the preparation of the Commission’s proposals for the next multiannual financial framework, the Commission is carrying out a strategic reflection and analysis to ensure an optimised use of the new instruments, in dialogue with the EIB and other financial institutions, to benefit from their financial expertise and experience in the market.
To conclude, I would like to make a few remarks on the EIB’s external activities. Regarding EIB financing outside the EU, the Commission supports the increase of the ceilings proposed by Parliament under the mid-term review of the EIB external mandate, in particular a EUR 1 billion increase for the Mediterranean region. We know how important that is today. This is essential in order for the EIB to pursue its intervention at a sustained level and support the democratic transformation of our partner countries. In the same way, we also reiterate the importance for the EIB to reuse reflows from previous investment in the Mediterranean region in order to make risk capital investment in private sector SMEs in the region. Moreover, we support a progressive reinforcement of the EIB’s development capacity because these additional needs would require a gradual increase of staff resources specialised in development aspects.
In line with the Commission’s proposal following the mid-term review of the EIB external mandate, the Commission will set up a working group to study the possible development of the EU platform for cooperation and development. The objective is to optimise the functioning of mechanisms, blending grants and loans involving the Commission, the EIB and other multilateral and bilateral institutions. The establishment of such a platform would help create synergies and foster cooperation between the EIB and other financial institutions. In this context, I would like to mention that the Memorandum of Understanding between the Commission, the EIB and the EBRD was signed early in March."@en1
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