Annex: Council Conclusions on the European Court
of Auditors' Special Report No. 14/2015
1. The Council welcomes the European Court of Auditors'
Special Report No 14/2015 on "The ACP Investment Facility:
does it provide added value?"
2. Recalling its Conclusions on "A stronger role of the private sector in development cooperation: An action oriented perspective"
and on the Agenda for Change, the Council acknowledges that the
private sector is an important driver for development. The 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development and as an integral part the
Addis Ababa Action Agenda further recognise that private business
activity, investment and innovation are major drivers of productivity,
inclusive economic growth and job creation. In this context, international
financial institutions are important for leveraging private finance
and mitigating risks, ensuring additional finance to the implementation
of the 2030 Agenda within their respective mandates.
3. Recalling its conclusions of May 2015, the Council
considers the use of blending modalities to be relevant for increasing
financial leverage and impact to support the overarching priority
of poverty reduction and sustainable development.
4. The Council welcomes the results of the audit
into the ACP Investment Facility, which finds the EIB's Investment
Facility to be overall coherent with and add value to the EU development
cooperation with ACP countries, as well as to have a catalytic
effect. By providing long-term loans in local currency in ACP
countries, the Investment Facility contributes to eliminating
exchange rate risk for borrowers, increasing access to finance
and leveraging, additional funds both for public and private sector
operations.
5. The Council positively notes the diversified nature
of operations financed through the Investment Facility and encourages
the EIB to further strengthen the delivery of social, economic
and environmental impact objectives, also in the areas of climate
change and migration.
6. The Council also welcomes the increased potential
for the Investment Facility to reach more private sector beneficiaries
by providing long-term funding for financial intermediaries, thereby
developing the local financial sector, and stimulating the financial
intermediaries' on lending to small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs).
7. The Council positively notes that the provision
of loans in local currency is a worthwhile means to increase the
development impact of the Investment Facility. Loans in local
ACP currencies targeted at local enterprises, which do not trade
internationally are key to the promotion of SMEs and microenterprises.
The Council encourages the EIB to explore methods to continue
meeting the demand for loans in local currency.
8. The Council welcomes the Court's recommendation
to further improve visibility and value-added, by ensuring the
disclosure of the source of funding all the way through the funding
process, notably in lines of credit. It also encourages the EIB
to enhance the development impact at the level of small and medium-sized
enterprises by ensuring that the end beneficiaries can fully benefit
from technical assistance.
9. The Council notes the Court's conclusion that
higher-risk projects with higher development impact through the
Impact Financing Envelope have contributed to the Investment Facility's
coherence with other areas of EU development cooperation with
ACP countries. The Council encourages the EIB to explore the Impact
Financing Envelope's potential to further increase this coherence
by focusing on projects which generate a strong development impact.
10. The Council stresses that ownership and alignment
with national and regional development strategies in ACP regions
should be ensured, particularly through strategic discussions
with relevant national and regional authorities. In this regard,
the Council welcomes the opening of new EIB offices in ACP regions,
as a means to strengthen further the EU dialogue with ACP countries
and regions and encourages close coordination between the EIB
offices and EU delegations.[104]
104 See Council Conclusions. Back
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