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Crazy: Billionaire oil investor advises EU on "green and social" finances - "Offer was very cheap"

2020-11-28T23:14:27.366Z


The EU Commission receives bitter criticism from the ombudsman. The reason is a bizarre decision. But in Brussels they are not aware of any guilt.


The EU Commission receives bitter criticism from the ombudsman.

The reason is a bizarre decision.

But in Brussels they are not aware of any guilt.

  • The EU wants to become much more ecological and climate-friendly in the coming years.

  • When it comes to “green” (and “social”) investment criteria, the EU Commission sought advice - and fell in love with the trillion dollar fund company Blackrock.

  • Now there is a sharp reprimand from European Union ombudsmen.

    But in Ursula von der Leyens commission one is not aware of any fault.

Brussels

- The

EU Commission

must allow its own ombudsman to ask extremely embarrassing questions.

The occasion is a seemingly bizarre case.

In

March,

President Ursula von der Leyen's commission

awarded a study to the trillion dollar investor Blackrock, who is heavily involved in oil business.

The topic is of all things: criteria for “green and social” investments.

The EU wants to become significantly “greener” in the coming years.

Blackrock scandal in von der Leyen's EU Commission: Ombudsman issues sharp reprimand

Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly

- the European

Ombudsman

- criticized the procurement on Wednesday.

If a company wanted to conduct a study that would later flow into the rules for the company's business area, "a much more critical review" would be necessary, she said.

The

EU's requirements

for such cases are also not robust and clear enough.

EU MPs had warned that the awarding of the course would turn the buck into a gardener.

However, the EU Commission had already defended itself against criticism in June.

Perhaps your most important argument now seems to be boomerang as well.

The

offer from the fund company Blackrock

was the best in terms of content and at the same time financially favorable, it was said at the time - the order value was given as 280,000 euros.

According to the Ombudsman, roughly half as much as the “maximum estimated value”.

Blackrock makes an extra-cheap offer - the ombudswoman has to inform the EU Commission of possible ulterior motives

O'Reilly then seemed to

accuse

the Leyens Commission of

barely concealed naivete.

Blackrock - where von der Leyens

party friend and CDU candidate for chairman Friedrich Merz

(CDU) sat on the German supervisory board

until the beginning of 2020

- could have optimized its chances through an "exceptionally low offer", she said.

This could be seen "as an attempt to gain influence on an investment area that is significant for its customers".

In other words: Blackrock could have gotten into a

grant

deal

with the study

in order to then influence the rules in his favor.

In addition, the large investor obtained valuable "insights" with the study, said O'Reilly.

In any case, the company's motivation should have been questioned, she explained.

EU Commission under fire: bitter scolding - but von der Leyen's spokesman "welcomes the result"

The Commission should define its internal guidelines more clearly and also check whether the

budget

rules

need to be improved, the Irishwoman said.

"The risk of conflicts of interest when awarding contracts related to EU politics needs to be dealt with much more robustly, both in EU law and with the officials who make the decisions," she said.

You couldn't just tick off a list.

However, the Commission does not appear to be contesting the dispute.

On Wednesday, a

Commission

spokesman stressed

that the Ombudsman's investigation had revealed

no malpractice on the part of the administration

.

“We welcome this result.

That confirms what we said throughout the process: We applied the rules fully and fairly. "

In

a

letter to von der Leyen

,

MEP Damien Careme

asked for

the Blackrock order to be withdrawn immediately and the proposed tightening of the rules to be implemented.

The commission spokesman said that O'Reilly's proposals would be examined in detail and replied in good time before the deadline of March 31, 2021.

Incidentally, Blackrock's interim report will be published as soon as it is available.

#BlackRock 👉J'ai envoyé un courrier à la #Commission pour qu'elle annule au plus vite ce contrat entaché de conflit d'intérêts.

Ne tardons pas.

Protégeons l'intégrité de nos institutions!

@vonderleyen @VDombrovskis @ChangeFinance_ @EUombudsman pic.twitter.com/OGwZGWuq8g

- Damien CAREME 🌍 (@DamienCAREME) November 26, 2020

The investment company Blackrock manages around

$ 7.3 trillion

(6.1 trillion euros) and is a

shareholder in large oil companies.

It recently announced that it wanted to take a leading role in sustainable and environmentally friendly investments.

(

fn with material from dpa and AFP

)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-11-28

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