First annual report from the Commission to the European Parliament on the activities of Member States' export credit agencies

The Committee on International Trade adopted the initiative report by Yannick JADOT (Greens/EFA, FR) on the first annual report from the Commission to the European Parliament on the activities of Member States’ Export Credit Agencies.

Members recall that the main objective of reporting on the activities of Member States’ Export Credit Agencies(ECAs) is to monitor the compliance of these ECAs with the international disciplines applicable to export credits and with obligations laid down in the Treaty on t the European Union (TEU), and in particular its Articles 3 and 21 which define the principles governing the Union’s relations with the rest of the world as well as the guiding principles of the Unions action on the international stage.

Given the broad scale of the Member States’ export credit activities, the committee highlights the importance of Recital 4 of Regulation (EU) 1233/2011 on the application of certain guidelines in the field of officially supported export credits, which calls for compliance with the Union’s general provisions on external action, such as consolidating democracy, respect for human rights and policy coherence for development, and the fight against climate change. Members recall, in this regard, the importance of the specific reporting requirements formulated in Annex I of the regulation to ensure that the Commission and Parliament are able to make an assessment of this compliance.

Members welcome the Commission’s efforts to establish a framework for annual reporting by Member States on their export credit activities in accordance with Regulation 1233/2011, in order to step up transparency at EU level. They commend the fact that the Commission report clearly indicates the scale and importance of the Member States’ export credit activities during 2011, which amount to a total exposure of more than EUR 250 billion (including 260 transactions with reported high environmental implications) and which translate into significant trade and business opportunities for European companies.

Members stress, however, that the annual reports of the Member States, and the Commission’s evaluation of these reports, do not yet satisfy Parliament’s intention to be able to make an assessment as to whether the Member States’export credit activities’are in compliance with the Union’s foreign policy goals, as enshrined in Articles 3 and 21 TEU, and with the regulations in force for treatment of environmental risks in the calculation of ECA premiums.

In regard to the comparative assessment of the compliance of export credit agencies with the Union’s objectives with respect to the external action goals, Members share the view of the Commission in it annual report according to which it is difficult to define a precise benchmark to measure compliance with Community law.

As a result, Members:

–        recommend that the Council Working Group on Export Credits and the Commission consult with the European External Action Service (EEAS) on developing a methodology for meaningful reporting on Article 21 TEU compliance, and on the application in the EU of certain OECD guidelines in the field of officially supported export credits;

–        call on Member State ECAs to continue to report on their evaluation of environmental risks, and considers such reporting by all OECD and non-OECD ECAs to be essential for ensuring a level playing field;

–        ask the Commission to provide for a common definition which reflects the wish of Parliament to be informed about off-balance sheet exposures;

–        call on the Commission to provide guidance to the Member States for the next reporting period, inter alia on how to report on the existence and effectiveness of due diligence procedures with regard to their human rights policies, and on how to report on the treatment of environmental risks.

Lastly, as regards contacts with countries that are not OECD members, Members applaud the efforts undertaken in 2012 by the Commission, together with the USA, to engage China, Brazil, Russia and other major emerging economies in the setting up of the International Working Group of Major Providers of Export Finance (IWG). They recommend that the relevance of a sectoral approach in developing the IWG be explored in order to build the base for horizontal provisions in a second phase that will ensure the common adoption of effective and high standards, and of new international rules on ECAs, by all OECD and non-OECD countries, with a view to ensuring a level playing field.