Officially supported export credits: application of certain guidelines
In accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1233/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the application of certain guidelines in the field of officially supported export credits, the Commission presented its annual review of the Member States' Annual Activity Reports on Export Credits.
The present annual review covers the calendar year 2013. It concerns export credit activities in the sense of Regulation (EU) No 1233/2011, i.e. "medium and long term" transactions with a repayment period of 2 years or more. This review does neither cover short term export credit transactions nor activities carried out by certain Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) outside the field of export credits (such as insurance of investments).
The Commission has taken note of the Resolution adopted on 2 July 2013 by European Parliament, in particular on the recommendation to the Council Working Group on Export Credits and the Commission to consult with the European External Action Service on further developing the reporting methodology – the Commission has also turned the particular attention of Member States to this Resolution in view of subsequent reporting exercises.
Annual Activity Reports have been received from the following Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom.
The main findings of the report are as follows:
General and financial information: in 2013, 21 EU Member States were running export credit programs in the sense of Regulation (EU) No 1233/2011. These programs were managed by a total of 29 different agencies and government departments.
As regards the types of export credit support offered by European ECAs, the most common form remains "pure cover" (i.e. the export transaction in question is actually financed by a credit from a commercial bank, for which the ECA provides a guarantee or insurance-type cover).
The biggest European “pure cover” export credit schemes in 2013 (in billion Euro) are the following: Germany 87.7; France 61.2; Sweden 34.9; Italy 21.6; United Kingdom 20.6. 14 Member States also offer other forms of support covered by Regulation (EU) No 1233/2011 and the OECD Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits and not by a commercial bank, re-financing or interest rate support schemes.
Taking into account that there are specific financing conditions prevailing in certain industrial sectors – e.g. aircraft and shipbuilding – several Member States have also developed sector-specific export credit products. Many European ECAs are also offering such products as short term export credits and letter of credit guarantees, manufacturing risk guarantees or investment insurance products.
The Commission considered that the Annual Activity Reports provide relevant financial information on the export credit programs in 2013.
Treatment of ‘environmental risks’ and other information: Regulation (EU) No 1233/2011 stipulates that Member States in their Annual Activity Reports shall describe how environmental risks, which can carry other relevant risks, are taken into account in the officially supported export credit activities of their ECAs. 19 Annual Activity Reports explicitly refer to this provision.
Several Member States explicitly refer to social impacts as well. Individual Member States also mention human rights, fundamental labour standards, anti-bribery or general impact on development.
The 21 Annual Activity Reports also show that Member States in general have policies on export credits and environment, anti-bribery and sustainable lending practices concerning low income countries.
Other Member States' policies linked to export credit activities include transparency (openness and confidentiality policy), dialogue with stakeholders civil society, contribution to sustainable development, corporate social responsibility (either in the form of a Corporate Social Responsibility policy for the ECA itself or by promoting efforts of exporters in this field), and the promotion of respect of the OECD Guidelines for multinational enterprises.
Lastly, the European Commission stated that Member States with export credit activities in the sense of EU the Regulation have established policies to accompany the management of their export credit programmes that are in line with the EU’s objectives.
The European Parliament has called upon the Commission for a statement on whether Member States comply with Union objectives and obligations. The Commission stands ready to facilitate and promote a relevant inter-institutional dialogue in this regard.