Brussels, 11/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 11 May, the negotiators of the European Parliament on the creation of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) expressed concern at the attitude of the Council, which they describe as inflexible.
Jean Arthuis (ALDE, France), the president of the budgets committee of the European Parliament, made a “formal call for a revision of the negotiating mandate” of the Latvian Presidency of the Council, “otherwise one may wonder what the point of these negotiations is”. The Latvian Presidency, however, has no intention of making such a request at Tuesday's Ecofin. Udo Bullmann (S&D, Germany), rapporteur for the economic committee of the European Parliament, criticised the Council's “dogmatic” attitude.
One of the most controversial elements of the legislative proposal is the details for the constitution of the financial guarantee (€16 billion) from the EU budget which will be available to the EFSI. The Council is refusing to countenance mobilising budgetary lines other than those earmarked by the European Commission, namely the Horizon 2020 research programme and the Connecting Europe Facility (see EUROPE 11311).
José Manuel Fernandes (EPP, Portugal), rapporteur for the budgets committee, stressed that the Parliament had agreed to a reduction of the multi-annual financial framework on the grounds that the multi-annual financial framework regulation built in an amount of flexibility for growth and employment. “This means that the unused margins in one year can be used the next”, he explained, adding that the objective, “which should be shared by the Council”, was to minimise the impact on Horizon 2020 and the Connecting Europe Facility as much as possible. He said that when the multi-annual financial framework is revised in 2017, a possible compromise between the three institutions could be to say that the lines earmarked to feed into the guarantee fund should get back that money. “It is not a matter of increasing the budget”, but of taking unused margins, Fernandes explained. “We are responsible for the EU budget, we have to defend the interest of the citizens and give them a guarantee that the money spent is used to the best possible effect”, Udo Bullmann explained. Arthuis pointed out that the 2014 financial year had ended with a surplus of €1.45 billion. “The states are going to be tempted to claw back that surplus, but an effort is required to feed into the fund”, he explained, adding that it would give the states the opportunity to demonstrate their confidence in the EFSI.
The member states and the MEPs also clash over the governance of the investment policy of the EFSI. The EP is calling for a scrutiny right regarding the appointment of the executive director of the future fund. As regards its investment policy, the MEPs want the fund's guidelines on this to be validated by a delegated act, which would give the EP and the Council equivalent decision-making powers.
“We don't want to see the guidelines, we just want delegated acts, we are prepared to look into other options, such as including it in the text itself, it's not a question of saying that we want to see the content, but just to lay down the right criteria together so that the Juncker plan works”, explained Roberto Gualtieri (S&D, Italy), president of the economic committee of the EP. The management “as a whole” should be able to account to the EP, argued Udo Bullmann.
Three trialogue negotiating sessions have been scheduled for 13, 18 and 27 May. The aim is to reach political agreement by the end of May at best, or possibly June, so that the EFSI can be up and running in the autumn. (Elodie Lamer)