Brussels, 12/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - In Brussels on Thursday, the economic, financial, social affairs and education committee of the Euromed Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA) adopted a recommendation for a study to be carried out on the proposal for a Euro-Mediterranean Development Bank, to be put to Finance Ministers at their meeting in Tunis on 25-26 June. The conversion of the EIB's FEMIP (Euro-Mediterranean investment and partnership facility) to a regional development bank was the only point on the Parliamentary committee's agenda. Carrying out a study, adopted on the joint suggestion of MEPs Jamila Madeira (PES, Portugal) and Ka Rodi Kratsa (EPP-ED, Greece), rather than progressing on the basis of a formal call, put forward by Parliamentarians from the south of the Mediterranean, to set up such a bank, is the final compromise after lengthy and sometimes very lively debate between Jordanian chairman Dabbas and one of his Egyptian colleagues, and after a hearing with Philippe de Fontaine Vive, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Didier Bouteiller for the European Commission.
In fact, the proposal only calls on Ministers to reach conclusions on a possible conversion of the FEMIP to a bank and to give an overall assessment of all the issues such a conversion could involve. The Tunisian Rapporteur Aberrahman Bouhrizi argued for the setting up of a subsidiary of the EIB, which would have a 51% majority holding of the capital, estimated at a minimum of some 20 billion euro, but open to other shareholders. “Mediterranean partners too could be asked to become shareholders”, and “become full members and play a role in its governance”: this suggestion features in the final draft which stresses the appropriateness of using this bank, or bank subsidiary, to help Mediterranean migrants. Funds could come from “using some of the funds transferred by migrant workers in Europe to their country of origin”, something the EIB has taken into account: it has already published a study on the potential offered by using migrant workers' money for investments in productive sectors. This was only an “example”, pointed out Ms Madeira to calm the fears of Moroccan parliamentarian Brahim Zerkdi: Morocco has a banking network gathering migrants' money and would not with this to be replaced by a wide Euro-Mediterranean structure.
The points which the adopted text calls to be taken into particular account are the “cost of setting up a headquarters and running costs”, estimated at a third of the capital, a huge cost, stressed EIB and Commission representatives. Mr de Fontaine Vive spoke of the FEMIP's track record over its four year existence, with transactions of 2.2 billion euro in 2005, compared with 1.6 the first year (2002). He pointed to the progressive extension of its role in helping companies in the zone, notably its involvement (in Egypt, Jordan and Libya) without the usual guarantees required by States. The EIB may also launch loans for partner countries (Israel, Egypt, Morocco) and become involved for the first time in actions with the Palestinian Authority. He argued that the FEMIP already effectively played the role of development bank. “Let's not insist on the institutional debate, the important thing is to work together,” he said. Commission representative Didier Bouteiller stressed the need to provide the proposed bank with guarantees to which partner countries would contribute. He gave an analysis of the context and the constraints rather than a clear answer to several Parliamentarians' questions on the choice between the creation of a bank or a subsidiary, expressing an “open” point of view. He estimated an autonomous structure would pay 20% of the cost of each transaction , while this would only be 5% under the current system managed by the EIB. He warned “cost should be shared fairly”, with European contributors having “reached their limit”. Additionally, “a subsidiary could not count on the financial guarantees of the Community budget,” he warned.