In a resolution on the financial activities of the European Investment Bank (EIB), submitted by Eider Gardiazabal Rubial (S&D, Spain) and adopted by a comfortable majority on Thursday 8 February (496 for, 89 against, 44 abstentions) during the plenary session in Strasbourg, MEPs called on the EIB, “to publish all relevant information involving the loans granted to the car industry for the development of diesel technology”.
Parliament is therefore requesting access to the report from the European Anti-fraud Office (OLAF) and its recommendations on EIB loans granted to Volkswagen. In this regard, MEPs would like the EIB to indicate the number of shares granted to car manufacturers that have tampered with their emissions limits and the proportion of loans affected by this fraud but which has been counted as being part of a climate friendly action undertaking.
MEPs are also calling on the EIB for “clarifications" on the safeguards implemented to guarantee that the loans allocated to car manufacturers have effectively been used for the development of clean technologies (connectivity, hybrid engines, improved electric vehicle autonomy).
This request to the EIB had not been included in the original text and was introduced in an amendment submitted by Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA, Finland), which was adopted by a whisker (294 votes for, 292 against, 34 abstentions). This was because all ECR and EPP MEPs (with the exception of one vote), as well as almost the entire ALDE group, voted against this amendment. The amount loaned by the EIB to Volkswagen is significant, as reported in the online EUObserver publication, which, in its Friday 9 February issue indicated that this involved a total amount of €400 million granted to the German manufacturer.
The Volkswagen group has therefore once again been swept up in the storm, following the recent revelations demonstrating that together with Daimler and BMW, it had been involved in experiments on animals and human beings to test the impact of exhaust emissions (see EUROPE 11954). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)