Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-03-29-Speech-4-077-000"
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"en.20120329.4.4-077-000"2
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"Mr President, let me deal with two issues which are of paramount importance for the work of the EIB and for our joint work to enhance sustainable growth and employment through investment. The first one relates to recent initiatives to bolster the EIB’s capital, a matter that was raised by many Members, and the second – a related issue in fact – is project bonds, which was also raised by several Members.
You may recall that it was decided at the January European Council to strengthen EIB support for SMEs and infrastructure. The Council, the Commission and the EIB were invited to consider possible options to enhance EIB action to support growth and to make appropriate recommendations, including possibilities for the EU budget to leverage EIB group financing capacity, and to implement the relevant measures by June 2012.
The Commission fully supports this objective and this work and we are currently exploring possibilities to do so. In this regard, Ms Gräßle raised the point that the Structural Funds are not an appropriate method for this. I would like to provide you with the Commission’s position on this, which has been, as always, collegially prepared.
The Structural Funds are earmarked for individual Member States while the EIB’s Tier 1 capital must support the Bank’s entire operations. Hence, this Tier 1 capital cannot be allocated to specific Member States or sectors.
Member States would thus have to agree unanimously to give up their national Structural Funds allocations for general use by the EIB. This is not feasible really, given the obstacles to using Structural Funds for these purposes to increase the EIB’s capital. The Commission is currently exploring alternative options. To achieve this objective, we are open to any convincing option which increases the EIB’s capital base with a significant and lasting leveraging effect and which has a solid financial prudential foundation.
My second point: I informed you that the Council had reached an agreement yesterday on the Commission proposal for the project bonds’ pilot phase. This will support infrastructure projects by bringing new investors to the sector, which is a very important signal in the context of enhancing growth.
Now, this agreement in the Council is the first major milestone towards adoption of the proposal, the other being, of course, the agreement of this Parliament. One of you said that the Commission has a duty to put forward a proposal on the pilot phase. I want to throw the ball back to Parliament. Parliament will, I trust, treat this file as a matter of the highest priority and we hope negotiations will start in April in time for its entry into force in June; we do not want to waste any more time but to get action moving in this very important field.
I can tell you that, in the meantime, the Commission is preparing all the subsequent steps required for the implementation of project bonds so that this can take place immediately once the decision has been taken. At the same time, the EIB is intensifying its work on identifying suitable projects for this exercise.
In other words, and in conclusion, all the stars are now aligned for a speedy implementation ensuring urgent support for Europe’s economy, its growth and job creation through investment in infrastructure."@en1
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