(1)

Article 3(3) of the Treaty on European Union aims to establish an internal market that works for the sustainable development of Europe, based among others on balanced economic growth and a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment.

(2)

On 25 September 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted a new global sustainable development framework: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (4) having at its core the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) covering three pillars of sustainability: environmental, social and economic/governance. The Commission's Communication of 2016 on the next steps for a sustainable European future (5) links the SDGs to the Union policy framework to ensure that all Union actions and policy initiatives, within the Union and globally, take the SDGs on board at the outset. The European Council conclusions of 20 June 2017 (6) confirmed the commitment of the Union and the Member States to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in a full, coherent, comprehensive, integrated and effective manner and in close cooperation with partners and other stakeholders.

(3)

In 2016, the Council concluded on behalf of the Union the Paris Climate Agreement (7). Article 2(1)(c) of the Paris Climate Agreement sets the objective to strengthen the response to climate change, among other means by making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.

(4)

Sustainability and the transition to a low-carbon and climate resilient, more resource-efficient and circular economy are key in ensuring long-term competitiveness of the Union’s economy. Sustainability has long been at the heart of the European Union project and the Treaties give recognition to its social and environmental dimensions.

(5)

In December 2016, the Commission mandated a High-Level Expert Group to develop an overarching and comprehensive Union strategy on sustainable finance. The report of the High-Level Expert Group published on 31 January 2018 (8) calls for the creation of a technically robust classification system at Union level to establish clarity on which activities are ‘green’ or ‘sustainable’, starting with climate change mitigation.

(6)

In March 2018, the Commission published its Action Plan ‘Financing Sustainable Growth’ (9) setting up an ambitious and comprehensive strategy on sustainable finance. One of the objectives set out in that Action Plan is to reorient capital flows towards sustainable investment in order to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth. The establishment of a unified classification system for sustainable and of indicators for identifying the degree of sustainability of activities is are the most important and urgent action envisaged by the Action Plan. The Action Plan recognises that the shift of capital flows towards more sustainable activities has to be underpinned by a shared , holistic understanding of what ‘sustainable’ means the impact of economic activities and investments on environmental sustainability and resource efficiency . As a first step, clear guidance on activities qualifying as contributing to environmental objectives, should help inform investors about the investments that fund environmentally sustainable economic activities according to their degree of sustainability . Recognising the UN Sustainability Goals and the European Council conclusions of 20 June 2017, further guidance on the activities contributing to other sustainability objectives, including social and governance objectives, may should also be developed at a later stage thereby implementing the 2030 Agenda in full, coherent, comprehensive, integrated and effective manner . [Am. 80]

(6a)

While acknowledging the urgency of addressing climate change, a narrow focus on carbon exposure could have negative spill-overs by redirecting investment flows to targets that carry other environmental risks. Hence, adequate safeguards need to be put in place to ensure that the economic activities are not harming other environmental objectives, such as biodiversity and energy efficiency. Investors need comparable and holistic information regarding environmental risks and their impact, in order to assess their portfolios beyond carbon exposure. [Am. 2]

(6b)

Given the urgency in several interlinked fields of environmental degradation and resource overconsumption, there is a need to take a systemic approach to exponentially growing negative trends, such as the loss of biodiversity, the global overconsumption of resources, the appearance of new threats including hazardous chemicals and their cocktails, nutrition scarcity, climate change, ozone depletion, ocean acidification, fresh water depletion, and land system change. Hence, it is necessary that the actions to be taken are forward-looking and up-to-scale to the upcoming challenges. The scale of those challenges requires a holistic and ambitious approach and the application of a stringent precautionary principle. [Am. 3]

(7)

Decision No. 1386/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (10) called for an increase in private sector funding for environmental and climate-related expenditure, notably through putting in place incentives and methodologies that stimulate companies to measure the environmental costs of their business and profits derived from using environmental services.

(7a)

The European Parliament Own Initiative Report on Sustainable Finance of 29 May 2018 lays down essential elements of sustainability indicators and taxonomy as an incentive for sustainable investment. Consistency should be ensured among relevant legislation. [Am. 4]

(8)

Achieving SDGs in the Union requires the channelling of capital flows towards sustainable investments. It is important to exploit fully the potential of the internal market for the achievement of those goals. It is also important to ensure that capital flows channelled towards sustainable investment are not disrupted in the internal market.

(8a)

The scale of the challenge entails gradually moving the entire financial system to support the economy to function on a sustainable basis. To that end, sustainable finance needs to be brought into the mainstream, and consideration needs to be made of sustainability impact in respect of financial products and services. [Am. 5]

(9)

Offering financial products which pursue environmentally sustainable objectives is an effective way of channelling gradually shifting private investments into from activities with negative environmental impact and towards more sustainable activities. National requirements for marketing as sustainable investments financial products , services and corporate bonds , as defined in this Regulation , in particular requirements set out to allow the relevant market actors to use a national label, aim to enhance investor confidence and awareness of risks , to create visibility and to address concerns about ‘greenwashing’. Greenwashing refers to the practice of gaining an unfair competitive advantage by marketing a financial product as environment-friendly, when in fact it does not meet basic environmental standards. Currently a few Member States have in place labelling schemes. They build on different taxonomies classifying environmentally sustainable economic activities. Given the political commitments under the Paris Agreement and at Union level, it is likely that more and more Member States will set up labelling schemes or other requirements on market actors in respect of financial products or corporate bonds marketed as environmentally sustainable. In doing so, Member States would be using their own national taxonomies for the purposes of determining which investments qualify as sustainable. If such national requirements are based on different criteria and indicators as to which economic activities qualify as environmentally sustainable, investors will be discouraged from investing across borders, due to difficulties in comparing the different investment opportunities. In addition, economic operators wishing to attract investment from across the Union would have to meet different criteria in the various Member States in order for their activities to qualify as environmentally sustainable for the purposes of the different labels. The absence of uniform criteria and indicators will thus increase direct investments in an environmentally ineffective, and in some cases counterproductive, manner and lead to unmet environmental and sustainability targets. That absence thus increases costs and create creates a significant disincentive for economic operators, amounting to an impediment to access cross-border capital markets for sustainable investments. The barriers to access to cross-border capital markets for the purposes of raising funds for sustainable projects are expected to grow further. The criteria and indicators for determining whether an the degree of sustainability of an economic activity is environmentally sustainable should therefore be gradually harmonised at Union level, in order to remove obstacles to the functioning of the internal market and prevent their future emergence. With such harmonisation of information, of metrics and of criteria, economic operators will find it easier to raise funding for their green environmentally sustainable activities across borders, as their economic activities can be compared against uniform criteria and indicators in order to be selected as underlying assets for environmentally sustainable investments. It will therefore facilitate attracting investment across borders within the Union. [Am. 6]

(9a)

In order for the Union to reach its environmental and climate commitments, private investments need to be mobilised. Achieving this requires long-term planning as well as regulatory stability and predictability for investors. In order to guarantee a coherent policy framework for sustainable investments, it is therefore important that the provisions of this Regulation build upon existing Union legislation. [Am. 7]

(10)

Moreover if market participants do not provide any explanation to investors of disclose how the activities they invest in contribute negatively or positively to environmental objectives, or if they use different concepts metrics and criteria for determining the impact in their explanation of what is a ‘sustainable’ the degree of environmental sustainability of an economic activity, investors will find it disproportionately burdensome to check and compare these different financial products. It has been found that this discourages investors from investing into green sustainable financial products. Furthermore, the lack of investor confidence has major detrimental effects on the market for sustainable investment. It has further been shown that national rules or market-based initiatives taken to tackle this issue within national borders will lead to fragmenting the internal market. If financial market participants disclose how the financial products they claim are environment-friendly meet environmental objectives, and they use for such disclosures common criteria across the Union of what is an environmentally sustainable economic activity, this will help investors compare environment-friendly the environmental impact of investment opportunities across borders and will incentivise investee companies to make their business models more sustainable . Investors will invest in green financial products with higher confidence across the Union, improving the functioning of the internal market. [Am. 8]

(10a)

In order to deliver a meaningful environmental and broader sustainability impact, to decrease unnecessary administrative burden on financial market participants and other stakeholders and to facilitate the growth of European financial markets funding sustainable economic activities, the taxonomy should be based on harmonised, comparable and uniform criteria and indicators, including at least the circular economy indicators. Those indicators should be made consistent with the unified life cycle assessment methodology and be applied across Union regulatory initiatives. They should be the basis for the assessment of economic activities and investments risk and impact on the environment. Any overlap in regulation must be avoided which would not be in line with the principles of better regulation and would not be applied in a proportionate manner and the aim to create a consistent terminology and a clear regulatory framework. Any unnecessary burdening of both, authorities and financial institutions should also be avoided. In the same perspective, the scope and use of the technical screening criteria as well as the link to other initiatives should be clearly defined before the taxonomy and pertaining criteria enter into force. Setting harmonised criteria for environmentally sustainable economic activities should take into account the competence of the Member States in different policy areas. The requirements of this Regulation should apply in a proportionate manner to small and non-complex institutions as defined under this Regulation. [Am. 9]

(10b)

The indicators should be harmonised based on existing undertakings, such as the work of the Commission, the European Environmental Agency, and the OECD, among others, and should capture environmental impact on CO2 and other emissions, biodiversity, production of waste, the use of energy and renewable energy, raw materials, water, and direct and indirect land use, as laid out in the Commission monitoring framework on the circular economy (COM(2018)0029), the EU action plan for the Circular Economy (COM(2015)0614) and in the European Parliament’s resolution of 9 July 2015 on resource efficiency: moving towards a circular economy (2014/2208(INI)). Furthermore, the indicators should be designed also taking into account the recommendations of the Support to Circular Economy Financing Expert Group of the European Commission. The Commission should evaluate how to integrate the work of this expert group with the TEG. Indicators should take into account internationally recognised sustainable standards. [Am. 10]

(11)

To address existing obstacles to the functioning of the internal market and to prevent the emergence of such obstacles in the future, Member States and the Union should be required to use a common concept of environmentally sustainable investment regarding the degree of environmental sustainability of investments when setting up requirements for market actors for the purpose of labelling financial products, services or corporate bonds marketed as environmentally sustainable at national level. For the same reasons, fund managers and institutional investors that hold themselves out as pursuing environmental objectives should use the same concept of environmentally sustainable investment and the same indicators, metrics and criteria for calculating the environmental impact when disclosing how they pursue those objectives. [Am. 11]

(12)

Establishing criteria for environmentally sustainable economic activities may encourage firms to disclose on their websites, on a voluntary basis, information on the environmentally sustainable economic activities they carry out. This The information on the environmental impact of activities will not only help relevant actors in the financial markets to easily identify which firms carry out environmentally sustainable and determine the degree of environmental sustainability of the economic activities carried out by firms , but it will also facilitate for these firms to raise funding for their green activities. [Am. 12]

(13)

A Union classification of environmentally sustainable Union-wide indicators relevant for the determination of the environmental impact of economic activities should enable the development of future Union policies and strategies , including Union-wide standards for environmentally sustainable financial products and eventually the establishment of labels that formally recognise compliance with those standards across the Union , as well as to be the basis for other economic, regulatory and prudential measures . Uniform legal requirements for considering investments as environmentally sustainable the degree of environmental sustainability of investments, based on uniform criteria for environmentally sustainable determining the degree of environmental sustainability of economic activities and common indicators for assessing the environmental impact of investments , are necessary as a reference for future Union legislation aiming at enabling those facilitating the shift from investments with a negative environmental impact to investments with a positive impact . [Am. 13]

(14)

In the context of achieving SDGs in the Union, policy choices such as the creation of a European Fund for Strategic Investment, have proven to could be effective in contributing to mobilise and channel private investment alongside public spending towards sustainable investments. Regulation (EU) 2015/1017 of the European Parliament and of the Council (11) specifies a 40 % horizontal climate investment target for infrastructure and innovation projects under the European Fund for Strategic Investment. Common criteria for the sustainability of economic activities could and common indicators for the assessment of environmental impact may underpin future similar initiatives of the Union supporting mobilising investment pursuing climate-related or other environmental objectives. [Am. 14]

(15)

To avoid market fragmentation as well as harm to consumer interests due to divergent notions of environmentally sustainable regarding the degree of environmental sustainability of economic activities, national requirements that market actors should comply with when they wish to market financial products or corporate bonds as defined in this Regulation as being environmentally sustainable, should build on the uniform criteria for environmentally sustainable economic activities. Those market actors include financial market participants offering ‘green’ sustainable financial products or services and non-financial companies issuing ‘green’ sustainable corporate bonds. [Am. 15]

(16)

To avoid harming consumer interests, fund managers and institutional investors offering financial products as environmentally sustainable, should disclose how and to what extent the criteria for environmentally sustainable economic activities are used to determine the environmental sustainability of the investments. The information disclosed should enable investors to understand the share of the investment funding environmentally sustainable economic activities as a percentage of all economic activities and thus the degree of environmental sustainability of the investment. The Commission should specify the information that needs to be disclosed for that purpose. That information should enable national competent authorities to verify compliance with the disclosure obligation easily, and to enforce that obligation in accordance with applicable national law.

(17)

To avoid circumvention of the disclosure obligation, that obligation should also apply where to all financial products are offered as having similar characteristics as environmentally sustainable investments, including those having as their target environmental protection in a broad sense. Financial market participants should not be required to invest only in environmentally sustainable economic activities determined in accordance with the technical screening criteria set out in this Regulation. They Financial market participants and other actors should be encouraged to inform the Commission if they consider that an economic activity that does not meet the technical screening criteria, or for which such criteria relevant for the activities they finance have not been established yet, and thereby that their financial products should be considered environmentally sustainable, to help the Commission to evaluate the appropriateness of complementing or updating the technical screening criteria. [Am. 16]

(18)

For the purposes of determining whether the degree of environmental sustainability of an economic activity is environmentally sustainable, an exhaustive list of environmental objectives based on indicators measuring the environmental impact should be laid down , taking into account its impact on the entire industrial value chain and ensuring coherence with existing Union legislation such as the Clean Energy package . [Am. 17]

(19)

The environmental objective of protection of healthy ecosystems should be interpreted taking into account relevant legislative and non-legislative instruments of the Union, including Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (12), Council Directive 92/43/EEC (13), Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (14), the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 (15), the EU Green Infrastructure Strategy, Council Directive 91/676 (16), Regulation (EU) No 511/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (17), Regulation (EU) No 995/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council (18), the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Action Plan (19), and the Wildlife Trafficking Action Plan (20).

(20)

For each environmental objective, uniform criteria based on information provided by means of harmonised indicators for considering economic activities to be substantially contributing to that objective should be laid down. One element of the uniform criteria should be to avoid significant harm to any of the environmental objectives set out in this Regulation. This is in order to avoid that investments are considered environmentally sustainable although the economic activities benefitting from those investments cause harm to the environment to an extent outweighing their contribution to an environmental objective. The conditions for substantial contribution and for not causing significant harm should enable investments into environmentally sustainable economic activities to make a real contribution to the environmental objectives. [Am. 18]

(21)

Recalling the joint commitment of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission to pursue the principles enshrined in the European Pillar of Social Rights in support of sustainable and inclusive growth and recognising the relevance of international minimum human and labour rights and standards, compliance with minimum safeguards should be a condition for economic activities to qualify as environmentally sustainable. For that reason economic activities should only qualify as environmentally sustainable where they are carried out observing the International Labour Organisation’s (‘ILO’) declaration on Fundamental Rights and Principles at Work and the eight ILO core conventions. The ILO core conventions define human and labour rights that companies are due to respect. Several of these international standards are also enshrined the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, in particular the prohibition of slavery and forced labour and the principle of non-discrimination. Those minimum safeguards are without prejudice to the application of more stringent requirements on environment, health and safety and social sustainability set out in Union law, where applicable.

(22)

Given the specific technical details needed to assess the environmental impact of an economic activity and the fast-changing nature of both science and technology, the criteria of environmentally sustainable relevant for determining the degree of environmental sustainability of economic activities should be adapted regularly to those changes. For the criteria and indicators to be up to date, based on scientific evidence and input from experts as well as relevant stakeholders, the conditions for substantial contribution and significant harm should be specified with more granularity for different economic activities and should be updated regularly. To that purpose, granular and calibrated technical screening criteria and a set of harmonised indicators for the different economic activities should be laid down by the Commission, on the basis of the technical input of a multi-stakeholders Platform on Sustainable Finance. [Am. 19]

(23)

Some economic activities have a negative impact on the environment, and a substantial contribution to one or more environmental objectives can be achieved by reducing that negative impact. For those economic activities, it is appropriate to set out technical screening criteria that require a substantial improvement in environmental performance compared to, inter alia, the industry average in order to consider whether that the activity may deliver a substantial contribution to one or more environmental objectives . Those criteria should consider also the long term impact (i.e. more than 3 years) of a specific economic activity in particular the environmental benefits of products and services and the contribution of intermediate products, and thus provide an assessment of the impact of all the phases of manufacturing and use throughout the value chain and life cycle . [Am. 20]

(24)

An economic activity should not be considered environmentally sustainable if it causes more harm does not bring about a net benefit to the environment than the benefits it brings. The technical screening criteria should identify the minimum requirements necessary to avoid a significant harm to other objectives. When establishing and updating the technical screening criteria, the Commission should ensure that those criteria are reasonable, proportionate and based on available scientific evidence and take account of the whole value chain and the life cycle of technologies. It should also ensure that they are updated regularly. Where scientific evaluation does not allow for the risk to be determined with sufficient certainty, the precautionary principle should apply, in line with Article 191 TFEU. [Am. 21]

(25)

When establishing and updating the technical screening criteria and a set of harmonised indicators the Commission should take into account the relevant Union law, as well as non-legislative instruments of the Union already in place, including the Regulation (EC) 66/2010 of the European Parliament and the Council (21), the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (22), the EU Green Public Procurement criteria (23) , the Commission Circular Economy Platform, the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment, and the on-going work on Product and Organisation Environmental Footprint rules (24). To avoid unnecessary inconsistencies with classifications of economic activities that already exist for other purposes, the Commission should also take into account the statistical classifications relating to the Environmental Goods and Services Sector, namely the Classification of Environmental Protection Activities and Expenditure (CEPA) and the Classification of Resource Management Activities (CReMA) (25). [Am. 22]

(26)

When establishing and updating the technical screening criteria and harmonised indicators the Commission should also take into account the specificities of the infrastructure sector different sectors and take into account environmental, social and economic externalities within a cost-benefit analysis. In that regard, the Commission should consider the work of international organisations, such as the OECD, relevant Union legislation and standards, including Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (26), Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (27) Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (28), Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (29), Directive 2014/25/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (30), and current methodology. In that context, the technical screening criteria and indicators should promote appropriate governance frameworks integrating environmental, social and governance factors, as referred to in the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (31), at all stages of a project's lifecycle. [Am. 23]

(26a)

In defining the technical screening criteria, the Commission should also take into account transitional measures towards activities that support the transition to a more sustainable, low-carbon economy. For companies that are currently engaged in economic activities that are highly damaging to the environment there should be incentives to make a rapid transition to environmentally sustainable, or at least environmentally unproblematic status. The technical screening criteria should encourage such transition processes where they are happening. If the major part of the undertakings that conduct a particular harmful activity are demonstrably engaged in such a transition, the screening criteria may take this into account. The existence of serious transition efforts can be demonstrated through, among other things, sustained research and development efforts, large investment capital expenditure projects in new and more environmentally sustainable technologies, or concrete transition plans in at least the early stages of implementation. [Am. 24]

(27)

To encourage environmentally sustainable innovation and to avoid distorting competition when raising financing for environmentally sustainable economic activities, the technical screening criteria should ensure that all relevant economic activities within a specific sector macro-sectors (i.e. NACE sectors such as agriculture, forestry and fishing, manufacturing, electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, construction, transportation and storage services) can qualify as environmentally sustainable and are treated equally if they contribute equally towards one or more of the environmental objectives laid out in this Regulation , while not significant harming any other environmental objectives under Articles 3 and 12 . The potential capacity to contribute towards those environmental objectives may however vary across sectors, which should be reflected in the screening criteria. However, within each economic macro- sector, those criteria should not unfairly disadvantage certain economic activities over others if the former contribute towards the environmental objectives to the same extent as the latter, while not significantly harming any other environmental objectives referred to in Articles 3 and 12 . [Am. 25]

(27a)

Environmentally sustainable activities are the result of technologies and products developed all along the value-chain. For this reason, the technical screening criteria should consider the role of the whole value-chain, from the processing of raw materials to the final product and its waste phase, in the final delivery of environmentally sustainable activities. [Am. 26]

(27b)

To avoid disrupting well-functioning value-chains, the technical screening criteria should consider that environmentally sustainable activities are enabled by technologies and products developed by multiple economic actors. [Am. 27]

(28)

When establishing technical screening criteria, the Commission should assess potential transition risks, whether the pace of the adoption of those criteria for environmentally sustainable activities would give rise to stranded assets or deliver inconsistent incentives, and whether it would have any negative impact on liquidity in financial markets. [Am. 28]

(29)

To avoid overly burdensome compliance costs on economic operators, the Commission should establish technical screening criteria that provide for sufficient legal clarity, are practicable, easy to apply and with which compliance can be verified within reasonable cost-of-compliance boundaries.

(30)

To ensure that investments are channelled towards economic activities that make the biggest positive impact on the environmental objectives, the Commission should give priority to the establishment of technical screening criteria for the economic activities that potentially contribute most to the environmental objectives. Screening criteria should take into account the outcomes of projects to facilitate the identification and development of new technologies as well as to take into account of the scalability of these technologies. [Am. 29]

(31)

Appropriate technical screening criteria should be established for the transport sector, including for mobile assets, which should take into account the entire life cycle of technologies and that the transport sector, including international shipping, contributes close to 26 % of total greenhouse gas emissions in the Union. As evidenced in the Action Plan on Financing Sustainable Growth (32) the transport sector represents about 30 % of additional annual investment needs for sustainable development in the Union, including by increasing electrification or transition to cleaner modes of transport by promoting modal shift and traffic management. [Am. 30]

(32)

It is of particular importance that the Commission when preparing the development of the technical screening criteria, carry out appropriate consultations in line with Better Regulation requirements. The process for the establishment and the update of the technical screening criteria and the harmonised indicators should also involve relevant stakeholders and build on scientific evidence, socio-economic impact, best practice and existing work and entities, notably, the European Commission Circular Economy Platform, and the advice of experts with proven knowledge and global experience in the relevant areas. For that purpose, the Commission should set up a Platform on sustainable finance. This Platform should be composed of a wide range of experts representing both the public and the private sector to ensure that the specificities of all relevant sectors are duly taken into account . Public sector representatives should include experts from the European Environmental Agency and national environment protection agencies , the European Supervisory Authorities the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group, and the European Investment Bank. Private sector experts should include representatives of relevant stakeholders, including financial and non-financial market actors, representatives of the real economy representing a wide range of industries , universities, research institutes, associations and organisations. Where necessary the Platform should be allowed to request advice from non-members . The Platform should advise the Commission on the development, analysis and review of technical screening criteria and harmonised indicators , including their potential impact on the valuation of assets that until the adoption of the technical screening criteria were considered as green assets sustainable under existing market practices. The Platform should also advise the Commission on whether the technical screening criteria and indicators are suitable for further uses in future Union policy initiatives aimed at facilitating sustainable investment. The Platform should advise the Commission on the development of sustainability accounting standards and integrated reporting standards for corporates and financial market participants, including through the revision of Directive 2013/34/EU. [Am. 31]

(33)

In order to specify the requirements set out in this Regulation, and particularly to establish and update granular and calibrated technical screening criteria and indicators for different economic activities as to what constitutes a substantial contribution and significant harm to the environmental objectives, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission in respect of the information required to comply with the disclosure obligation set out in Article 4 (3), and the technical screening criteria mentioned in Article 6(2), Article 7(2), Article 8(2), Article 9(2), Article 10(2) and Article 11(2). It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate public consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making of 13 April 2016. In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council should receive all documents at the same time as Member States’ experts, and the experts of the European Parliament and the Council should systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts. [Am. 32]

(34)

To give sufficient time to the relevant actors to familiarise themselves with the criteria for environmentally sustainable economic activities set out in this Regulation and to prepare for their application, the obligations set out in this Regulation should become applicable, for each environmental objective, six months after the relevant technical screening criteria have been adopted.

(35)

The application of this Regulation should be reviewed regularly and at least after two years in order to assess the progress on the development of technical screening criteria and harmonised indicators for environmentally sustainable and environmentally harmful activities, the use of the definition of environmentally sustainable investment or investments having a negative environmental impact, and whether compliance with the obligations requires the establishment of further verification mechanism. The review should include also an assessment of whether the provisions required for extending the scope of this Regulation should be extended to cover social sustainability objectives. By 31 March 2020, the Commission should, where appropriate, publish further legislative proposals on the establishment of a verification mechanism of compliance. [Am. 33]

(36)

Since the objectives of this Regulation cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States, but can be better achieved at Union level, by reason of the need to introduce at Union level uniform criteria and indicators for environmentally sustainable economic activities, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives. [Am. 34]