MEPs on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs debated on Thursday 13 January the draft report by Paul Tang (S&D, Netherlands) on establishing a European Green Bond (EuGB) standard. This project forms an integral part of the European Commission’s Sustainable Finance Strategy, which was presented on 6 July 2021 (see EUROPE 12756/14).
The aim of the text is to combat ‘greenwashing’ and to restore confidence in market operators. As Mr Tang said in his introduction, “the bond market has gone from strength to strength”, with a projected €1 trillion in bonds next year, up from a figure of €200 billion in 2021.
While all shadow rapporteurs welcomed Mr Tang’s work, they have expressed concern about the mandatory nature of this new standard as suggested by the rapporteur. The European Commission’s initial draft is intended to be function as an incentive.
On behalf of Christophe Hansen (EPP, Luxembourg), whom he represented, his German counterpart, Markus Ferber, said that such a provision could send “the wrong signal to the market”. Over-regulation could have the opposite effect to that which was intended, thereby creating “a mortgage on the whole market” since industry players need time to adapt, he said. He therefore suggested extending the grandfather clause by 10 years.
Bas Eickhout (Greens/EFA, Netherlands) proposed the inclusion of a sunset clause, which Mr Tang seemed to approve of.
Another issue raised by the shadow rapporteurs is the lack of coherence with other texts, in particular with those of the EU taxonomy. “This would cause an issue of credibility, readability and practical applicability”, said Gilles Boyer (Renew Europe, France). In his view, what is permitted in the text on taxonomy should also be allowed in this context. The standard should also be consistent with the Directive on Corporate Sustainability Reporting (CSRD) (see EUROPE 12703/10) in order that it meet deadlines and allow alignment with market standards.
MEPs can still table amendments to the text on the ‘green’ bond until 20 January 2022. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)