The European Commission will not terminate its contract with the US asset manager BlackRock to conduct a study on the integration of environmental and social factors in the supervision of banks (see EUROPE 12574/9). Nevertheless, it promises to strengthen the dialogue with civil society on the study, according to a letter published on Twitter Tuesday 12 January, by MEP Damien Carême (Greens/EFA, France).
The Commission’s response is seen as a “start to victory” by the ecologist MEP, who had referred the matter to the European Ombudsman and, along with other MEPs, had asked the Commission to immediately cancel the contract with BlackRock because of a conflict of interest.
The circumstances under which the Commission can terminate the contract are set out in the contract itself and none of them have been proven, so the Commission cannot terminate the contract, the Commission President explained in the letter.
“However, I have instructed the relevant Commission services to organise a public workshop, open to civil society and NGOs, to discuss BlackRock’s final report once it has been approved by the Commission and published, which should be the case in May 2021”, she writes afterwards. And invites MEPs to participate in order “to examine the conclusions of the report, in full transparency, and to detect any possible bias”.
Furthermore, Ursula von der Leyen stated that she had taken “good note” of the European Ombudsman’s decision in this case (see EUROPE 12609/26) and indicated her intention to examine her suggestions carefully. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)