Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-01-16-Speech-4-014"
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"en.20030116.1.4-014"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, President of the EBRD, I welcome the fact that for the first time in your presence, Parliament is examining a report on the EBRD, whose work, reputation and credibility have clearly been consolidated under your presidency. I would also like to thank our rapporteur, as he has shown how seriously Parliament has examined the work of the EBRD. Along with the rapporteur, we have co-signed two amendments which I hope Parliament will be able to adopt in order to further improve on the work of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.
The work of the EBRD deserves to be commended by Parliament, as it is an institution that is both original and exemplary. It is original because of the principles that drive it: support for the transition process, additionality, sound banking principles. I think that it shows exemplary qualities that we could be guided by in several other areas. It also has the capacity to combine economic and political criteria: another important element. You are neither a European bank nor an extension of the World Bank and nevertheless you have close links with us. There is also the capacity to take risks, to evolve in an unstable environment and to provide funding for essential projects, including during times of crisis, as you demonstrated during the Russian crisis. Finally, there is the capacity to constantly promote the activity of SMEs, which are particularly important to Parliament.
I would like to specifically highlight two points in Mr Markov’s report. The first point is that, although the EBRD is not an institution of the European Union and as it has a very specific relationship with it, we think it is important to be able to take advantage of this instrument in order to promote the principles and strategy that the European Union took on in Lisbon and Gothenburg outside of the Union, particularly in order to continue to promote employment, social policy, the environment, innovation and the knowledge-based economy to help sustainable development. My second point is the subject of the amendments which I hope will be adopted by Parliament. Their aim is to further increase the importance of the criterion of employment and taking trade unions into account when evaluating co-financing projects, even though I am aware that this is already the case. The EBRD should not advocate economic liberalism, it should also promote democratic and social values: you are not built on the model of the IMF.
I would like to stress the importance, within the activities of the EBRD, of the contributions that you can make to the fight against corruption and promoting good practice; stressing the need to refuse to get involved with funding structures and individuals whose source of finance is questionable. You said that this led you to halt your work in Belarus. As you are aware, such practices exist elsewhere.
Finally, I would like to highlight the future of the EBRD, as although ten countries that you work in are going to join us from 1 May 2004, the transition period is far from completed and we still largely need assistance from the EBRD in order to facilitate transition funding in those countries, so that they can play a full role in the European Union."@en1
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