Regulation (EU) 2023/2631 on European Green Bonds and optional disclosures for bonds marketed as environmentally sustainable and for sustainability-linked bonds

Ce que fait l'acte

to put in place a common set of requirements for a harmonised standard for European green bonds, which will further simplify environmentally sustainable investments and support a coordinated way of improving the functioning of the single market. PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council. BACKGROUND: over the last number of years, the EU has become significantly more ambitious in tackling climate change. The Commission has already taken unprecedented steps to build the foundations for sustainable finance. Sustainability is the central feature of the EU's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the financial sector will be key in helping to meet the targets of the European Green Deal. The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs adopted the report by Paul TANG (S&D, NL) on the proposal for a European Parliament and Council regulation on European green bonds. The committee recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should be amended as follows: The proposal as amended would aim to better regulate the green bond market, strengthen its supervision and reduce greenwashing. - to ensure the comparability of bonds marketed as environmentally sustainable in the EU; - to establish uniform requirements for the use of the name ‘European Green Bond’ or ‘EuGB’; - to establish a simple registration system and supervisory framework for external reviewers by making a single supervisory authority responsible for the registration and supervision of external reviewers in the EU. To facilitate comparison and prevent greenwashing, minimum sustainability disclosure requirements should apply to bonds marketed as environmentally sustainable and sustainability-related in the EU. Eligible capital expenditure should relate to economic activities that meet or will meet the taxonomy requirements within five years from the issuance of the bond, unless a longer period of up to ten years is duly justified by the specific features of the economic activities and investments concerned and documented in a CapEx plan. To avoid ‘brown’ companies (i.e. with highly polluting industries) using the EuGB label to pretend to be greener than they really are, the amended proposal requires that all EuGBs have verified transition plans . The text also ensures that all issuers of green bonds have processes in place to identify and limit the principal adverse impacts of their activity. Issuers of bonds marketed as environmentally sustainable in the Union that do not use the designation ‘European green bonds’ or ‘EuGB’ should disclose in their pre-contractual disclosures: (i) a clear and reasoned explanation of how the bond takes account of principal adverse impacts on sustainability factors; (ii) information on how the environment characteristics of the bond are met. They should also indicate in the annual periodic reports the extent to which the environmental attributes are met. Exclusion of non-cooperative countries and…