6.4.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 100/1

6.4.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 100/6

6.4.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 100/7

(1)

The task of the Bank is set out in Article 309 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

(2)

The recent economic developments in the EU call for enhanced action to be undertaken by the EIB, in particular with a view to respond to the European Council invitation to contribute to sustainable growth and employment in the EU.

(3)

A capital increase with an actual cash payment by existing shareholders is considered as the most effective way to reinforce the EIB’s lending capacity while strengthening the capital position of the EIB, thus responding to the current needs, whilst making sure that its highest credit standing in the financial markets is maintained.

(4)

It is crucial that all available EIB financing in the EU makes an optimal contribution to sustainable growth and employment in all Member States, particularly in the less developed regions.

(5)

While the EIB will maintain a sectoral approach in line with the Europe 2020 objectives, the Bank will develop, in cooperation with Member States, result-driven investment strategies properly tuned to regional growth priorities to be used from 2013 onwards.

(6)

The quality of the Bank’s loan portfolio should be maintained at the highest standard and the Bank should remain an attractive partner in all EU Member States, and should ensure an optimal value added of its operations.

(7)

According to the deliberations of the Board of Directors on the Bank's requirements for the capital at its meeting on 24 July 2012, the subscribed capital of the Bank should be increased to EUR 242 392 989 000; the portion to be paid in should increase from 5 % to 8,919255272 % of the subscribed capital, funded by the Member States in proportion to their current share of EIB capital, and the reserve fund should progressively be rebuilt by the Bank to its statutory requirement of 10 % of the subscribed capital,

1.

With effect from 31 December 2012, the capital of the Bank shall be increased as follows:

The capital subscribed by the Member States shall be raised pro rata by EUR 10 billion, namely from EUR 232 392 989 000 to EUR 242 392 989 000. This aggregate capital contribution shall be distributed across Member States as described below:

This capital shall be deemed to be part of the subscribed and paid-in capital, thus increasing the Bank's paid-in capital from EUR 11 619 649 450 to EUR 21 619 649 450.

2.

The portion to be paid-in by Member States shall increase from 5 % to 8,919255272 % on average of the subscribed capital, as a result of the present increase.

3.

Each Member State shall pay its share in the capital increase as soon as possible after the date of approval by the Board of Governors, but no later than 31 March 2013. However, Member States which have notified the Bank on or before 14 September 2012 will be allowed to pay their respective share of the capital increase in three instalments, 50 % no later than 31 March 2013 and the remaining 50 % in two equal instalments no later than 31 March 2014 and 31 March 2015,

4.

The Bank's Statute shall be amended, as from 31 December 2012, as follows:

5.

This decision shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

6.4.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 100/10

1.

On 25 September 2012, the Commission adopted the Amendment to the Commission proposal COM(2011) 628 final/2 for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy (hereinafter: ‘the Amendment’). The Amendment to the Commission proposal was sent to the EDPS for consultation.

2.

Before the adoption of the Amendment, the EDPS was given the possibility to provide informal comments. Previously, the EDPS had issued an Opinion on the legislative proposals on the future of the common agricultural policy (hereinafter: ‘the CAP’) (1).

3.

In the Schecke ruling (2), the ECJ declared invalid certain provisions on the publication of information of natural persons which were beneficiaries of CAP funds. The Amendment adds a new chapter on transparency to the Proposal for a Regulation on the financing, management and monitoring of the CAP (3). The chapter contains new provisions on the publication of beneficiaries of CAP funds which try to take into account the ECJ judgment in the Schecke case.

20.

The EDPS welcomes the effort of the Commission in striking a balance between the principle of transparency and the beneficiaries' rights to privacy and personal data protection.

21.

However, he recommends the following:

6.4.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 100/12

1.

On 3 July 2012, the Commission adopted a proposal for a directive on insurance mediation (hereafter ‘the IM directive’), a proposal for a directive amending certain provisions of Directive 2009/65/EC on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative sanctions relating to undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (hereafter ‘the UCITS directive’) and a proposal for a regulation on key information documents for investment products (hereafter ‘the KID regulation’). These proposals were sent to the EDPS for consultation on 5 July 2012.

2.

The EDPS welcomes the fact that he is consulted by the Commission and recommends that a reference to this Opinion is included in the preambles of the proposed legal instruments.

3.

Comparable provisions to the ones referred to in this Opinion are present in several pending and future proposals, such as those discussed in the EDPS Opinions on the legislative package on the revision of the banking legislation, credit rating agencies, markets in financial instruments (MIFID/MIFIR) and market abuse (1). Therefore, this Opinion should be read in close conjunction with the EDPS Opinions of 10 February 2012 on the abovementioned initiatives.

4.

The two proposed directives and the proposed regulation will affect the rights of individuals relating to the processing of their personal data in different ways as they deal with the investigatory powers of competent authorities including access to existing telephone records and traffic data, databases, publication of administrative sanctions including the identity of those responsible and the reporting of breaches (so-called ‘whistle blowing schemes’).

5.

As the issues discussed in this Opinion have been discussed in past EDPS Opinions in the financial area, the EDPS intends to publish guidelines on these and other issues concerned in order to give guidance on how do deal with data protection issues in future Commission proposals in this area.

6.

The Commission states that strong, well-regulated retail markets that place the best interests of consumers at their heart are necessary for consumer confidence and economic growth in the medium and longer term. Specifically, according to the Commission, the abovementioned legislative proposals introduce new, consumer-friendly standards for information about investments, raise standards for advice, and tighten certain rules on investment funds to ensure their safety.

34.

The EDPS recommends:

6.4.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 100/14

1.

On 19 September 2012, the Commission adopted a Proposal for a Regulation establishing the European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps (1) (the Proposal).

2.

Before the adoption of the Proposal, the EDPS was given the possibility to provide informal comments. The EDPS welcomes the fact that the Commission also consulted him formally after the Proposal was adopted and that this Opinion is referred to in the preamble of the Proposal.

3.

Pursuant to Article 214(5) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, this Proposal establishes the rules and procedures for the European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps (2).

4.

On the basis of the Proposal, trained volunteers are to be deployed as ‘EU Aid Volunteers’ in humanitarian projects worldwide. The EU Aid Volunteers are to be selected and deployed by certified humanitarian organisations that adhere to a set of European standards on managing humanitarian volunteers. These standards as well as the certification procedure are to be developed by the Commission. The Commission is also foreseen to provide funding, a European training programme, a central registry to include all trained volunteers, as well as an IT network for volunteers to interact online before, during, and after deployment.

5.

While it is not the main objective of the Proposal to process personal data, the Proposal nevertheless requires the processing of a personal data. These include personal data of volunteers registered in the Register of EU Aid Volunteers (Article 13) as well as personal data (of volunteers or third parties) that may be posted on the IT network provided for their online interactions (Article 16). The selection process of the candidates by the certified humanitarian organisations, as well as their subsequent management, which are to be standardised under Article 9, also requires processing of personal data.

6.

These processing activities require adequate data protection safeguards. The practical implementation of these safeguards could and should be further developed in the standards to be set under Article 9 and in the data protection policies to be developed by the Commission and by the certified humanitarian organisations.

7.

Articles 9 and 25 provide that the Commission shall adopt delegated acts to set the standards for the identification, selection and preparation of candidate volunteers as well as for their subsequent management and deployment. The EDPS recommends that these standards should in particular be used to help ensure that data protection provisions are appropriately considered during the selection procedure, registration, as well as during deployment of the volunteers and that in these regards, a consistent approach be taken by the certified humanitarian organisations across Europe.

8.

That said, certain essential elements regarding the application of the appropriate data protection safeguards should already be set forth in the proposed Regulation itself. To address these essential elements, Section 2 of the Opinion provides recommendations on Articles 13 and 16 of the Proposal.

9.

Section 3 of the Opinion, in turn, calls for the consultation of the EDPS when developing the standards under Articles 9 and 25 of the Proposal. Section 3 also already briefly calls attention to some of the data protection issues that should be taken into account when developing the standards, as well as at the practical level, when implementing the proposed Regulation.

34.

The EDPS recommends that a reference to the applicable data protection legislation to be included as a substantive provision of the proposal.

35.

The EDPS would recommend the following additional clarifications in the text:

36.

Further, the EDPS recommends that the Commission should consult the EDPS before the adoption of any delegated acts under Article 25 that would have an impact on the processing of personal data, in particular on the standards to be adopted under Article 9. These standards should require the adoption of appropriate data protection policies by the organisations carrying out the selection process for volunteers and managing and deploying volunteers. This may include harmonisation of the categories of data collected, and may possibly lead to a standard application form to be used across Europe.

6.4.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 100/16

Overall amount of the ad hoc aid awarded to the undertaking: EUR 0,05 million

Annual overall amount of the budget planned under the scheme: EUR 0,05 million

Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen

Gouvernementstraat 1

9000 Gent

BELGIQUE/BELGIË

Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen

Gouvernementstraat 1

9000 Gent

BELGIQUE/BELGIË

Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen

Gouvernementstraat 1

9000 Gent

BELGIQUE/BELGIË

Държавен фонд „Земеделие“

бул. „Цар Борис III“ № 138

1618 София/Sofia

БЪЛГАРИЯ/BULGARIA

Държавен фонд „Земеделие“

бул. „Цар Борис III“ № 138

1618 София/Sofia

БЪЛГАРИЯ/BULGARIA

Държавен фонд „Земеделие“

бул. „Цар Борис III“ № 138

1618 София/Sofia

БЪЛГАРИЯ/BULGARIA

Държавен фонд „Земеделие“

бул. „Цар Борис III“ № 138

1618 София/Sofia

БЪЛГАРИЯ/BULGARIA