On the control of the financial activities of the European Investment Bank – annual report 2023

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

on the control of the financial activities of the European Investment Bank – annual report 2023

(2024/2052(INI))

– having regard to the European Investment Bank (EIB) 2023 activity report of 1 February 2024 entitled ‘A Blueprint for Sustainable Living’, and to the EIB document of 2 February 2023 entitled ‘EIB Group Operational Plan 2023-2025’,

– having regard to the EIB Investment Report 2023/2024 entitled ‘Transforming for competitiveness’, published on 7 February 2024,

– having regard to the EIB document of 8 May 2023 entitled ‘Mid-term review of the EIB Energy Lending Policy’,

– having regard to the EIB report on the implementation of the EIB Group Transparency Policy in 2023, published on 1 July 2024,

– having regard to the EIB document of 27 November 2023 entitled ‘The EIB Group PATH Framework – Version 1.2 of November 2023 – Supporting counterparties on their pathways to align with the Paris Agreement’,

– having regard to the EIB documents of 21 June 2024 entitled ‘EIB Group 2024-2027 Strategic Roadmap’ and of 29 November 2023 entitled ‘EIB Global Strategic Roadmap’,

– having regard to the EIB Group Sustainability Report 2023, published on 25 July 2024,

– having regard to the EIB information note of 6 February 2023 entitled ‘The European Investment Bank’s approach to human rights’,

– having regard to the EIB Group Complaints Mechanism Report 2023, published on 10 June 2024,

– having regard to the EIB document of 14 October 2024 entitled ‘Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the EIB Group’,

– having regard to the EIB publication of 23 September 2024 entitled ‘EIB Audit Committee Annual Reports for the year 2023’,

– having regard to the EIB report of 15 July 2024 entitled ‘EIB Group activities in EU cohesion regions 2023’,

– having regard to the EIB report of 19 October 2023 entitled ‘EIB Investment Survey 2023 – European Union overview’,

– having regard to the EIB report of 26 June 2024 entitled ‘EIB Group support for EU businesses: Evidence of impact in addressing market failures’,

– having regard to the joint communication from the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of 5 March 2024 entitled ‘A new European Defence Industrial Strategy: Achieving EU readiness through a responsive and resilient European Defence Industry’ (JOIN(2024)0010),

– having regard to European Court of Auditors Special Report 22/2024 entitled ‘Double funding from the EU budget’,

– having regard to the EIB report of 29 December 2023 entitled ‘European Investment Bank Group Risk Management Disclosure Report – June 2023’,

– having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A10-0000/2025),

A. whereas the EIB is the largest multilateral development bank in the world, given the volume of its borrowing and lending;

B. whereas, as a multilateral investment bank owned by the EU Member States, the EIB is managed by a Board of Governors, a Board of Directors and a Management Committee and has its own internal mechanisms for accountability, governance and audit;

C. whereas the EIB operates in a competitive market, but is also an EU body expected to abide by high standards of transparency and stakeholder engagement;

D. whereas the EIB has cross-cutting objectives for climate action and environmental sustainability, economic and social cohesion and convergence, digital transition, and support for the EU’s external action priorities around the world, and its financing is aligned with the EU’s political priorities;

E. whereas the EIB is also entrusted with sourcing resources, via borrowing activities, that are essential for the implementation of the EU’s policies;

F. whereas the European Council’s strategic agenda for 2024-2029 provides for an enhanced role for the EIB Group as a catalyst of EU defence and security, and highlights the need to bolster EU competitiveness through a significant collective investment effort, mobilising both public and private funding;

G. whereas the Draghi report on the future of European competitiveness made numerous suggestions for further expanding the role of the EIB in financing EU policies and enabling the EIB to take more risk;

H. whereas it is essential to address the barriers to access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-caps; whereas public lending and guarantee schemes are an important countercyclical policy tool, particularly during economic downturns, but also for the mitigation of structural market failures;

I. whereas the EIB is an essential component of the European financial architecture for development and the largest multilateral lender in the EU neighbourhood regions;

J. whereas the success of the EU’s policies and the effectiveness of their implementation increasingly relies on the EIB Group; whereas it is clear that the intensity and quality of Parliament’s scrutiny of the EIB’s financial activities should be consistent with the intensity of EIB-Commission cooperation, which has become very significant;

K. whereas the EIB’s business model demands the highest standards of integrity, accountability and transparency, and adequate measures need to be adopted and continuously updated to counter all forms of fraud, money laundering, financing of terrorism, and organised crime;

Financial operations and performance

1. Notes that the EIB has performed effectively and efficiently in an international context affected by global challenges related to geopolitical situations, the effects of climate change and other situations affecting the global economy;

2. Notes that the EIB Group’s consolidated result under the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) amounted to EUR 2.272 billion in 2023, compared to EUR 2.327 billion in 2022 (a decrease of 2.4 % year on year);

3. Observes that the EIB’s total liquidity ratio remained within internal limits to the end of 2023; stresses that the EIB’s AAA rating with a ‘stable’ outlook is necessary to ensure appropriate market sources of financing at preferential rates and that it must be preserved; underlines that the EIB’s high credit standing is key to its successful business model;

4. Notes that the EIB’s total disbursements amounted to EUR 54.4 billion in 2023 (of which EUR 53.4 billion under the EIB’s own resources), compared to EUR 54.3 billion (of which EUR 53.3 billion under the EIB’s own resources) in 2022; observes that, according to an economic model developed jointly by the EIB’s Economics Department and the Commission’s Joint Research Centre, the overall investment signed within the EU by the EIB Group in 2023 alone will create about 1 460 000 new jobs in the EU-27 by 2027 and will have an impact on the EU’s economy equivalent to a 1.03 percentage point increase in GDP;

InvestEU, the simplification of the multiannual financial framework, and the Recovery and Resilience Facility

5. Welcomes the adoption, on 13 December 2023, of the EIB Group Operational Plan 2024-2026, which summarises the priorities set and activities to be carried out to deliver the EIB Group’s strategy for the next three years;

6. Recalls that the EIB Group has been assigned 75 % (EUR 19.6 billion) of the EU budgetary guarantee provided under the InvestEU Regulation; highlights that in 2023 alone, the EIB approved 30 operations under InvestEU for a total of EUR 9.1 billion;

7. Stresses that, within the current 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework, the EIB manages 87 mandates from the Commission, increasing to about 130 if those relating to shared management and assigned by local governments and the Member States are included, and notes that the EIB produces no fewer than 457 reports a year for these; points out that de-bureaucratisation and simplification are deemed necessary to enable better use of resources;

8. Highlights that the EIB is managing six Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) mandates in four Member States, signed in 2021 (Greece and Italy), in 2022 (Romania) and in 2024 (Spain), for an overall value of EUR 8.7 billion; understands, however, that the introduction of instruments based on ‘financing not linked to costs’, which have greatly grown in volume with the RRF, objectively increases the risk of errors and mismanagement, in particular double funding; calls on the Commission and on the EIB, in its capacity as a main partner and advisor, to refrain from submitting from any new proposals that use the RRF as a blueprint for setting financing mechanisms, including in the Commission’s upcoming proposal for a multiannual financial framework for the period after 2027; reiterates that the simplification that the EIB pursues should not come at the cost of weakening the soundness of the management of EU’s resources and eroding the possibility to exercise scrutiny to keep the relevant actors accountable, as established under the Treaties;

Energy security

9. Notes the EIB’s continued support for security of supply, which mainly takes the form of reinforcing electricity grids and cross-border infrastructure, of reducing energy demand through energy efficiency projects and of fostering low-carbon power generation; underlines that the EIB has supported new dimensions of energy security, such as demand response and energy storage, and has promoted the development of a sustainable supply of critical raw materials needed for the energy transition;

10. Reiterates its call to tackle energy poverty and recalls that the energy crisis is fuelling inflationary pressures, increasing food insecurity and squeezing household budgets, and invites the EIB to use the Just Transition Mechanism and the Modernisation Fund to support the regions and populations most affected by the energy transition; is aware that many sectors are facing increasing challenges because of the joint effect of adaptation to Green Deal objectives and the consequences of the energy crisis and the rise in inflation; calls on the EIB to step up its efforts to lower the cost of capital of clean technologies;

11. Notes that in July 2023, the EIB Group increased the financing targets of the October 2022 commitment from EUR 30.0 billion until 2027 to EUR 45.0 billion (REPowerEU+), in order to scale up its efforts to support the EU’s energy security;

12. Underlines that in 2023, the EIB provided approximately EUR 21.4 billion of financing for energy-related projects, of which around EUR 19.8 billion in the EU and EUR 1.6 billion outside the EU;

13. Believes that hydrogen and its derivatives, especially when obtained from renewable sources, can play a role in meeting the EU’s decarbonisation objectives and reducing fossil fuel dependence; calls on the EIB to play a key role in mobilising private investments;

Defence and security policy

14. Stresses that in May 2024, the EIB’s Board of Directors approved the EIB Group Security and Defence Action Plan to step up support for the EU’s security and defence industry; points out that EIB support is provided to SMEs and innovative start-ups within the security and defence sector under the ‘dual use’ principle, upholding the ‘credible civil use’ criterion but discontinuing the revenue test;

15. Underlines the added value of the innovative measures that the EIB has adopted to accelerate investments in security and defence, and of the ‘one-stop shop’ that acts as the single point of entry for clients and external stakeholders, to whom it offers expert assistance to facilitate access to EIB Group support;

16. Is aware that in June 2023, the EIB approved an increase in the Strategic European Security Initiative for security investments in the EU from EUR 6.0 billion to EUR 8.0 billion for the period from 2022 to 2027, also including the space and cybersecurity sectors; encourages the EIB to strengthen institutional partnerships with the EU Agency for the Space Programme and other potentially relevant partners;

17. Appreciates the EIB’s cooperation with the European Defence Agency and welcomes the signing of an update to the memorandum of understanding between the two bodies on 3 October 2024;

Social infrastructure and housing

18. Stresses that housing purchase and rental prices have increased significantly in recent years, diminishing the affordability of many metropolitan areas in the EU and compromising access to these; welcomes the inclusion of support for social infrastructure in the EIB Group’s eight strategic priorities for 2024-2027 and agrees that investments in energy-efficient, sustainable and accessible housing, state-of-the-art healthcare, and education are vital for increasing productivity and contribute to strong and resilient societies;

19. Believes that cooperation with local authorities, local governments and civil society representatives should foster the development of social housing; is aware that the effectiveness of the EIB’s action in the housing and social infrastructure sector also depends on the removal of policy and regulatory hurdles;

Support for SMEs, mid-caps, start-ups and scale-ups, the capital market union and the role of the European Investment Fund

20. Emphasises that SMEs, start-ups and scale-ups are crucial for the EU’s economy; points out these businesses face significant challenges in accessing finance, markets and talent, which limits their growth; maintains that business growth and dynamism are key drivers for innovation, competitiveness and productivity; encourages the EIB Group to continue addressing these issues through tailored financial programmes, risk-sharing mechanisms, and business-targeted financial instruments;

21. Believes that a stronger capital markets union will boost securitisation and venture capital markets, making it possible to increase investment in the real economy, and that financing European scale-ups with European capital should be a priority, as exemplified by the European Tech Champions Initiative, which was launched in February 2023 to finance promising European tech companies; observes that the European Tech Champions Initiative is complemented by the European Scale-up Initiative, which is aimed at providing crucial financing for Europe’s high-tech companies in their late-stage development;

22. Acknowledges the mission of the European Investment Fund (EIF) to support access to finance for the European micro, small and medium-sized enterprises; believes that the EIF’s activities for the development of the European venture capital ecosystem should be increased;

23. Praises the support provided by the EIB Group to about 400 000 SMEs and mid-caps in 2023 alone, with EUR 31.1 billion in financing, including loans and guarantees for businesses (of which EUR 14.9 billion were deployed by the EIF), resulting in the mobilisation of over EUR 134 billion, and notes that it teamed up with almost 300 partner institutions across Europe to this end;

24. Recalls that the deployment of the European Guarantee Fund ended in 2023 and that its disbursements to help SMEs to recover from the adverse impact of the pandemic reached approximately 200 000 SMEs across the EU; recalls the concerns expressed in previous resolutions about the transparency of the decision-making processes and information about final recipients;

25. Notes that EIF measures on anti-money-laundering and countering the financing of terrorism include assessing the risks linked with products and transactions, carrying out counterparty due diligence, screening the ownership structure and key persons against sanctions and adverse media, introducing mandatory training for all staff and concluding an agreement with the Luxembourgish Financial Intelligence Unit on the reporting and follow-up of any suspicious transactions detected;

Key policy areas of cohesion, climate action and environmental sustainability, and digitalisation

26. Appreciates that in its 2021-2027 Cohesion Orientation, the EIB committed to dedicating at least 40 % of its total financing in the EU between 2022 and 2024 to projects in cohesion regions, and that in 2023, such financing accounted for 42 % of total EU lending (compared to 40 % in 2022); underlines that the share of EIB financing allocated to less developed regions increased from 24 % in 2022 to 26 % in 2023, for an amount of EUR 17.2 billion, well above the 21 % target set in the EIB Cohesion Orientation for 2023; reiterates its call for the EIB to continue monitoring and analysing the shortcomings preventing certain regions or countries from taking full advantage of the EIB’s financial support and assistance;

27. Acknowledges that over the last 15 years, EIB Advisory has supported more than 1 000 projects in cohesion regions; maintains that there should be more focus on reaching out and actively promoting financing opportunities in less developed and transition regions;

28. Notes the many measures fostered by the EIB in the cohesion regions in support of the healthcare sector, including HERA Invest, a EUR 100 million guarantee established in partnership with the Commission to support advanced research and development investments; encourages the EIB to promote targeted investments in cohesion regions’ key systemic enablers, such as access to healthcare and education, social and affordable housing, digital connectivity and local financing for cities and regions, either via direct lending (such as the Urban Framework Loan) or via financial instruments, and to build on the synergies between EU grants and EIB loans to sustain cross-border rail connectivity, which is crucial for better integration within the EU single market;

29. Emphasises that in 2023 alone, the EIB signed EUR 41.8 billion in financing for climate action and EUR 25.1 billion for environmental sustainability (EUR 35.1 billion and EUR 15.9 billion, respectively, in 2022); notes that EIB financing for climate change adaptation totalled EUR 2.7 billion in 2023, corresponding to 6.4 % of its total climate action (compared to EUR 1.9 billion, or 5.4 %, in 2022); stresses that climate action and environmental sustainability financing, as a whole, accounted for 60 % of EIB financing in 2023;

30. Welcomes the EIB’s inclusion of agriculture and bioeconomy among its key priorities; reiterates that the agricultural sector faces increasing challenges, and that EU farmers are being required to adapt to the objectives of the European Green Deal, cope with the disruption caused by the effects of the energy crisis and adjust to rising inflation; calls on the EIB Group to increase its involvement in the agricultural sector;

31. Appreciates that the EIB is one of the key supporters of digitalisation in the EU; encourages the EIB to enhance its support for digital networks and to foster the EU’s autonomy in key technologies;

32. Observes that the cybersecurity sector plays a crucial role in safeguarding businesses and governments against increasingly advanced digital threats; welcomes the increase in security investments from EUR 6 billion to EUR 8 billion, financed via the Strategic European Security Initiative to address security challenges, including in the New Space industry;

The EIB’s activities outside the EU

33. Underlines that in EIB Global’s second year of existence, it provided financing amounting to EUR 8.4 billion (compared to EUR 9.1 billion in 2022); notes that, as EIB Global financing is limited to 50 % of the total cost of a project, investment co-financing with development finance institutions and multilateral development banks is recurring; calls on the EIB and the Commission to invest in internal audit and independent control functions to guarantee the integrity and soundness of operations involving non-EU partners;

34. Stresses that all EIB interventions in Ukraine must be guided by the priorities for reconstruction and be fully aligned with the priorities and methods laid out in the Ukraine Plan; notes that the EIB is further enhancing its efforts to prevent, deter and investigate fraud and corruption in relation to EIB Group projects implemented in Ukraine; reiterates its call for strict conditionality to be ensured with regard to the financial assistance provided to Ukraine, which should allow clear oversight through policy clauses including visit rights and access to information and premises;

35. Believes that a greater role for the EIB will bring added value for both the reconstruction of Ukraine and the enlargement process and for prospective partnerships under the EU’s Global Gateway agenda and neighbourhood policy and in support of the Sustainable Development Goals; encourages the Commission to maximise cooperation with the EIB to leverage the EU’s strategic autonomy, particularly on energy and raw materials;

36. Stresses that, in order to support Ukraine, the EIB has built up a loan portfolio of over EUR 7 billion since the beginning of the conflict with Russia in 2014; underlines that, as at 31 December 2023, the EIB’s exposure (disbursed and not yet disbursed) amounted to EUR 5.750 billion, predominantly covered by EU guarantees under the External Lending Mandate;

37. Takes note of the many actions carried out in Moldova to mitigate the effects of the economic downturn and the energy crisis and to support the country’s path towards EU accession, and in the Western Balkans, where EIB Global invested EUR 1.2 billion in 2023, plus an additional EUR 700 million to enhance road safety and improve railway networks; welcomes the adoption of the Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans in 2024;

EIB accountability architecture

38. Recalls that internal oversight at the EIB is headed by the Inspectorate General (IG), which comprises three accountability-related divisions – operations evaluation, the complaints mechanism, and fraud investigation – that hold complementary roles, contributing to the consistent handling of allegations and complaints;

39. Observes that the EIB Complaints Mechanism (EIB-CM) handled a total of 104 cases in 2023 (97 in 2022); notes that 60 new complaints were received in 2023 (54 in 2022), of which 44 were considered admissible and 29 were related to EIB-financed projects, of which 27 were located outside Europe;

40. Notes that the EIB Procurement Complaints Committee is the independent EIB committee handling complaints about project procurement procedures relating to EIB-financed projects outside the EU;

41. Welcomes the efforts of the Investigative Division (IG/IN) to cooperate and coordinate efforts with the other components of the EU’s anti-fraud architecture, in particular the European Anti-Fraud Office and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, which received 37 % of the referrals made for investigations in 2023 (27 cases out of 74);

42. Notes that the IG/IN carries out proactive fraud detection activities using the Fraud and Integrity Risk Scoring Tool and the Corruption Risk In Procurement robot and that, in 2023, 24 reviews identified targets for three full and in-depth proactive integrity reviews;

43. Regrets the fact that, despite repeated calls by Parliament, the IG/IN annual report does not provide adequate information about the financial magnitude of the cases it handles, the funds or mandates affected, the kinds of projects concerned, the mitigating measures adopted, the role of the EIB services and of the intermediaries or partners in the cases, or even the Member States concerned; reiterates its call to the IG/IN to go beyond providing a mere narrative description of a few case studies in order to provide valuable insights into the extent to which financial interests are safeguarded;

44. Is aware that the EIB Exclusion Policy provides for an autonomous exclusion process that is not fully equivalent to the Commission’s Early Detection and Exclusion System in terms of decision-making standards, results and remedies; reiterates its call on the Commission to identify the potential gaps and to propose remedies, including an expedited procedure to enforce EIB exclusion decisions via the Early Detection and Exclusion System; observes that in 2023, exclusion proceedings based on IG/IN findings excluded five companies from participating in any EIB-financed activity for a period of five years;

45. Welcomes the approval, in 2023, of the EIB Group’s Internal Control Framework Policy; encourages the Bank to act on the Audit Committee’s remarks that both internal audit and the internal control framework should evolve to become group functions;

46. Notes that the EIB’s independent external auditor is the third line of defence; points out that the regular rotation of auditors and assignments allows fresh perspectives, and therefore observes that the EIB external auditor should be rotated periodically, yet its mandate was extended until 2027 and it has been the auditor of the EIB Group since 2009;

47. Appreciates that the EIB Group Risk Management Framework and EIB Group’s semi-annual Risk Management Disclosure Reports are effective and are aligned with the requirements and technical standards of the European Banking Authority;

48. Understands that, in line with the EU’s evolving needs, the EU institutions approved, in 2024, the change in statute proposed by the EIB Board of Governors by amending the statutory limit on its gearing ratio and raising it from 250 % to 290 %, to enable the EIB to invest more without increasing its equity base;

49. Takes the view that the amended gearing ratio paves the way for increased risk-taking; acknowledges that investments in renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure and investments in innovative technologies are essential for the EU’s competitiveness, but often involve greater risk because of the uncertainty of returns; points out that increased risk-taking may increase the volatility of the EIB’s returns, but observes that the EIB has capital buffers (reserves of over EUR 56 billion in 2023, compared to EUR 36 billion in 2014) that would allow it to expand its own risk activities;

50. Is concerned by the situation of Northvolt AB, a battery maker whose activities had been considered key in the green transition process; notes that Northvolt benefits from a significant EIB lending package of slightly over EUR 942.6 million as part of the debt financing raised to expand a gigafactory site;

51. Stresses that the expansion of the gigafactory site was expected to increase the annual output capacity for battery production and was of strategic importance for global competitiveness; believes that EIB’s intervention in this operation was in line with its mission and was consistent with the EU’s strategies in the sector;

52. Calls on the Commission to launch an internal review to verify the reasons for and the background to the failure of this flagship project and to learn from this experience in order to prevent the recurrence of a similar situation or enable the early detection thereof;

53. Maintains that the greatest added value of EU support lies in fostering higher-risk investments in innovative companies, scaling up EU strategic companies and enabling long-term transition projects that cannot get funding from the private sector; believes that to effectively pursue its targets in innovation and competitiveness, the InvestEU programme should focus on financing higher-risk and more scale-up investment and that the EIB Group should take on more and larger high-risk projects, combining a more risk-absorption-oriented deployment of InvestEU resources with an equivalent orientation in the use of the EIB Group’s own financial resources;

54. Is aware that members of the EIB’s Management Committee are often civil servants in their countries of origin before beginning their terms at the EIB, which typically last for two to six years, and that they are therefore entitled to pursue professional development opportunities subject to certain conditions during the cooling-off period (which has been extended to a period of 24 months after the end of their term at the EIB); notes that Management Committee members are asked to inform the Ethics and Compliance Committee and seek approval as soon as possible for any negotiations regarding prospective employment;

55. Recalls Parliament’s repeated calls to beef up the mechanism to prevent conflicts of interest within the EIB and improve how such cases are handled, and to provide a better definition of the terms under which EIB vice-presidents can take part in decisions about operations in their countries of origin, and insists that these matters be addressed in a future revision of the Management Committee code of conduct;

56. Points out that, with the decision of 31 October 2023 on Case 611/2022/KR, the European Ombudsman found that a former vice-president had participated in approving financing agreements between the EIB and a national promotional bank in his country of origin in the weeks before his appointment as Chief Executive Officer of that national promotional bank, despite the advice of the EIB’s Chief Compliance Officer to avoid any business with that bank while his appointment procedure was under way; understands that this case dates back to a time before the entry into force of the current Management Committee code of conduct, which now includes specific provisions on the prospective employment of Management Committee members;

57. Observes that mitigating measures, such as ring-fencing and cooling-off periods, are the most common precautionary clauses to be used when handling a revolving-doors case and understands that such measures are implemented and are complied with by the members of the Management Committee, including those recently reported on in the media;

Scrutiny, transparency and oversight

58. Regrets the fact that the European Court of Auditors (ECA) is still prevented from having full access to all the data relating to EIB operations; maintains that the ECA should be entitled to have access to all the information needed to comprehensively and exhaustively assess all EIB operations that are designed and carried out to implement any EU policy; calls on the ECA to fully scrutinise, to the best of its capacities, all operations that involve the EU budget to any degree;

59. Observes that the main relevant audit tasks are entrusted to the EIB Audit Committee, which is a fully independent body; believes that the participation of qualified external representatives in specific Audit Committee tasks could enhance the objectivity of the Audit Committee’s analyses;

60. Notes that the EIB’s Transparency Policy strikes a compromise between the principle of openness and the need to safeguard sensitive information; observes that the policy indicates what information should be published proactively and when – stipulating, for instance, that project summaries should be published at least three weeks before the project’s financing is considered for approval by the EIB Board of Directors – and sets out the relevant derogations;

61. Notes that in 2023, 449 projects were approved by the EIB Board of Directors and that almost all (94 %) of the project summaries were published, in the majority (57 %) of cases before approval; observes that all EIB operations conducted through financial intermediaries are published on the EIB’s website and that the EIB provides details on request;

62. Recalls that all EIB documents are accessible to anyone in line with the presumption in favour of disclosure; emphasises that all applicants should be informed in advance that the public will be granted the widest possible access to documents, and that any reasons for refusal should be based solely on the exceptions;

63. Reiterates that more structured dialogue between Parliament and the EIB would be enhanced by the adoption of a memorandum of cooperation; praises, in this connection, the EIB’s unprecedented cooperation with Parliament for the preparation of this resolution, noting that it is a tangible expression of openness and transparency;

Follow-up on Parliament’s recommendations

64. Calls on the EIB to continue reporting on the status of the previous recommendations issued by Parliament, especially with regard to the results achieved and the impact of the action taken to implement its priorities and the EU’s policies, and to the measures adopted to enhance the countering of conflicts of interest, fraud, corruption and other potential forms of misconduct;

°

° °

65. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission, and asks that the Council and the EIB Board of Directors hold a debate on Parliament’s positions presented herein.