Brussels, 22/02/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 23 February, the committee on budgets of the European Parliament will discuss the conclusions and recommendations of the mid-term report on the external mandate of the European Investment Bank (EIB), drafted by a group of eminent experts chaired by the former director of the International Monetary Fund, Michel Camdessus. Amongst other things, this expert group recommends that the mandate of the EIB be amended, that its operational model be kept in place and improved, that cooperation between the Bank and the European Commission, and with the international financial organisations, be intensified, and that its extra muros actions be consolidated. The group also carried out a reflection going beyond the period of the financial perspectives 2007-2013.
In 2006, the member states of the EU agreed on the external mandate of the EIB for 2007-2013, which established the total level of funding of actions outside the EU (EUROPE 9316). Of a total of €27.8 billion (€25.8 billion, plus an additional envelope of €2 billion), the geographical break down of the sums available reflects the sometimes competing views of the member states, depending on whether they are looking to the East or to the South, or even further, towards Latin America. At the time, the Council had also called for a mid-term review to be carried out in 2010, in order to take position on the total or partial activation of the optional envelope of €2 billion and its geographical distribution, amongst other things. At the end of 2008, therefore, an expert group led by the former IMF director, Michel Camdessus, was set up to reflect on this and Camdessus will be presenting the results of the group's work on Tuesday 23 February before the committee on budgets of the European Parliament. Apart from the issue of the €2 billion, the group of the "wise" also examined whether any other changes should be made to the mandate and the possibilities of maximising the added value and efficiency of EIB operations.
On the basis of this work, the European Commission is to present a proposed modification to the external funding of the EIB by no later than 30 April 2010. Discussions will then continue between the Council of the EU and the European Parliament, as the latter has become co-legislator on the subject. As such, it will be fully involved in decisions on activating the optional mandate, the eligibility of countries and any suspension of further EIB funding in any country where the political or economic situation may be the cause of serious concern (the EP rapporteur is Ivailo Kalfin, S&D, Bulgaria).
In its report, of which EUROPE has received a copy, the group of experts recommend that the EIB mandate be amended, giving the institution "high-level" objectives for all regions, in order to reinforce the coherence of the external activities of the Bank, focusing on sectors presenting an interest in terms of support for European policies, but leaving sufficient leeway in place to meet the beneficiaries' needs and provide them with operational flexibility. With a view to this, the group has designated a number of priority funding sectors: - the fight against climate change and adapting to the phenomenon; - economic infrastructure (environment, water, energy, transport, information and communication technology); - development of the local private sector, including supports to SMEs in particular; - other objectives identified by the EU for the region or country in question. The group also notes that projects to reinforce regional cooperation should be given particular attention. As regards development cooperation, it is of the opinion that the EIB should help to achieve the objectives of the EU, focusing in particular on various elements of development, such as climate change, economic infrastructure and developing the local private sector.
Stressing that the vast majority of the external funding activities of the EIB should as a priority be focused on the pre-accession and neighbourhood regions, the experts are of the opinion that the optional amount of €2 billion to 2011-2013 should be made available, particularly to support anti-climate change projects.
As regards the operational model of the EIB, the group concludes that the Community guarantee provided by the external mandate for a substantial proportion of the Bank's activities outside the EU should be kept in place and "optimised" for the rest of the current period (2007-2013) and beyond, in other words post-2014. The EIB should also be encouraged to continue its high-risk activities, the group believes.
The report goes on to state that the Commission and the EIB should step up their cooperation downstream in the loans process, in order to reinforce the links between Community funding and policies. In the view of the experts, the Commission and the EIB, working together closely with the member states, should set in place an "EU platform for external cooperation and development", to take the form of a mechanism to ensure a better balance of donations and loans, built on the principle of reciprocity between the financial institutions and open to the involvement of other international financial institutions, such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the bilateral European financial institutions. The Platform should ensure that beneficiaries take an adequate level of responsibility. The experts believe that an instrument of this kind would give more coherence, efficiency and visibility to external funding. The report also recommends, in view of the size, complexity and increasing volume of the external funding activities of the European Investment Bank, that these activities be brought together under a specific "EIB entity", in the governance of which the Commission would take on "appropriate involvement". This entity could take the form of an EIB subsidiary.
Still in the same register, but in the medium term, in other words post-2013, the expert group is to put forward two options which could help effectively to manage the anticipated development of the external activities of the EIB: - the creation of a "European agency for external financing", integrating the external financing activities of the EIB and the investment-related ones of the Commission in support of the EU policies in all countries outside the EU. The experts suggest that the Commission and the EIB carry out a feasibility study to look into this scenario in greater detail; - the creation of a major European financing body, integrating the resources of the Commission, the EIB and the EBRD, to form a "European Bank for Cooperation and Development". The group of experts calls on the European political decision-makers to set up an independent working group to look into these two options in greater detail. (A.B./O.L./transl.fl)