Strasbourg, 13/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - In future, all member state national export credit agencies will have to produce in-depth annual reports on their activities, detailing the projects supported and how well they meet EU environmental, social and human rights objectives. The Commission is to report to the Parliament by the end of this year. That is what MEPs called for in a resolution adopted by 643 votes to 20, with nine abstentions in plenary session in Strasbourg on Tuesday 13 September based on the report by Yannick Jadot (Greens/EFA, France).
MEPs backed the rapporteur's proposals on increasing transparency and communication of information requirements on the various projects supported by the export credit agencies, requiring annual reports to provide a full overview of their balance sheet (detailing compensation paid and recoveries carried out, new commitments, exposure and premium charges), to set out the mechanisms for costing environmental risk when calculating risk premiums and to demonstrate that projects supported are consistent with EU external policy objectives.
Export credit agencies, such as France's Coface, provide financial guarantees to exporting firms, through banks, when these firms enter high-risk non-EU markets. An informal international agreement negotiated at the OECD seeks to ensure that export credits are not simply used as an alternative way of subsidising exporting industries, banned under WTO rules.
Tuesday's amended text is a proposal for a Council and Parliament decision seeking to incorporate the guidelines of the OECD agreement, revised in 2005, into Community law. (E.H./transl.rt)