Brexit: European Investment Bank (European Union Committee Report)

Baroness Falkner of Margravine Excerpts

Tuesday 16th July 2019 Lords Chamber

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[Baroness Falkner of Margravine]

That this House takes note of the Report from the European Union Committee Brexit: the European Investment Bank (25th Report, HL Paper 269).

[Baroness Falkner of Margravine (LD)]

My Lords, I am delighted to introduce this EU Committee report on Brexit and the European Investment Bank. In doing so, let me start by thanking all members of the sub-committee who participated in the inquiry, some of whom cannot be here today. As I have stood down as chairman of the sub-committee after four years, let me say a word or two about what a privilege it has been to lead this committee. Over four years, the sub-committee has had 28 Members of this House serve on it and assist it with the production of some five reports and other associated papers. Most related to issues arising for financial services due to Brexit. This has involved a considerable workload, and members have engaged with it with the wisdom and diligence that has made the EU committee and its sub-committees so well respected in the UK and beyond. I am grateful to each and every single member of them.

Let me turn to the sub-committee’s secretariat. They are among the most knowledgeable in the House and have a thorough command of the complexities of both the EU and UK financial services dossiers. I am sure committee members will agree that we have been excellently served by Matthew Manning, the clerk, Erik Tate, our policy analyst, and Hadia Garwell, our committee assistant.

Given the importance of the European Investment Bank’s lending to the UK and the lack of any detail on the UK’s future relationship with the EIB in the Government’s Chequers White Paper, the EU Financial Affairs Sub-Committee undertook an inquiry on this topic from September to November last year. We heard evidence from a range of experts, recipients of EIB funds and existing lending institutions, including the EIB itself. We are grateful to all those who contributed. Although the focus was primarily on the European Investment Bank, we also considered the European Investment Fund, which channels funds to venture capital and private equity funds and in which the EIB is the majority shareholder.

Prior to the referendum, the UK was an outsized recipient of EIB funding, supporting a range of important projects, from £525 million to support the construction of the Beatrice windfarm off the Caithness coast, £825 million for ports and harbours across the UK, to £1.5 billion for the affordable housing finance programme —and add to this the £1 billion loan for the construction of Crossrail.

Since the UK’s accession in 1973, it has borrowed more than €118 billion from the EIB. Seventy per cent of this has been in the past 20 years, 45% since the financial crisis. One significant advantage to borrowing from the EIB is that its loans are cheaper and longer term than commercial alternatives. While it may be that some sectors will find the EIB’s financing easy to replace, we were told that some projects would not be viable without EIB funding—for example, some of the large-scale infrastructure investments made by UK universities—and although borrowers may be able to secure alternative funds, this will very likely be at a higher cost.

The EIB can also play a crowding-in role. Its expertise and high-quality due diligence serve as a stamp of approval for projects, encouraging private-sector investment. This is especially important when it comes to the higher-risk, innovative infrastructure projects with the associated new technology risks—and these are exactly the projects that will prove vital to addressing some of the UK’s most pressing infrastructure needs in future.

Given these benefits to the EIB’s lending, it is slightly disconcerting that there was a precipitous decline in its lending immediately after the referendum. In 2015, the EIB lent €7.8 billion to 47 projects. In 2016 it lent €7 billion to 54 projects. But in 2017 this dropped to €1.8 billion to 12 projects, and in 2018 it was €932 million to just 10 projects. A nearly 90% fall in such a short span of time is hard to attribute to anything other than the effect of the referendum—and many of our witnesses agreed.

The withdrawal agreement states that the UK will no longer be a member of the EIB and so will lose access to its lending facilities. One might therefore expect some clarity from the Government on what will replace the EIB, and whether that will take the form of a new relationship or alternative sources of funding. Our witnesses presented us with a range of options, from establishing a UK EIB subsidiary to creating a new multilateral development bank to co-operate with the EIB.

In the light of reports that the EIB’s president, Werner Hoyer, would be “extremely sad” if the UK’s continued participation in the EIB was no longer an option, we were disappointed at the seeming lack of ambition from the Government in thinking through options for such a future relationship. The Government said nothing about the EIB in their Chequers plan, and the outline political declaration said only that,

“the Parties note the United Kingdom’s intention to explore options for a future relationship with the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group”.

I reiterate the committee’s conclusion that, at least as an interim measure and certainly as a first step, reaching a third-country agreement with the EIB should be a priority.

The Government have an array of existing tools to support infrastructure projects, such as the UK Guarantees Scheme operated by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, although witnesses told us that it is underutilised and insufficient. We also heard evidence of a range of examples of national promotional banks in other developed economies, from the Nordic Investment Bank to the Development Bank of Japan. Indeed, the UK had its own example of such an institution in the Green Investment Bank, set up in 2012 and privatised in 2017. Although focused on green infrastructure projects, this precedent could serve as a model and shows that such a lender can be created relatively quickly.

The Infrastructure Finance Review was announced in the 2018 Autumn Budget as our inquiry was ongoing. A consultation was launched in March this year, closing in June. In our report we called on the Government to consider the establishment of a UK infrastructure bank, and we welcome the inclusion of a question on this in the consultation. We hope that the Government take the committee’s view on board, alongside responses to the consultation.

There was more positive evidence on the European Investment Fund and the Government’s support of the SME sector. The Chancellor’s commitment in the 2018 Autumn Budget to increase the funding of the British Business Bank in the event of no deal was welcome. We also heard that the British Business Bank was increasingly acting as a “cornerstone” investor, involving itself earlier in investors’ activities, thereby replicating one of the advantages of the EIF. However, the BBB recognised that this fact might need to be broadcast more widely, as some witnesses did not seem to be aware of this change in their approach to financing.

Another issue that arose was the return of the UK’s €3.5 billion of paid-in capital. This was the issue that captured the most media attention and remains unanswered. Although the withdrawal agreement sets out a schedule of payments to return the money, we asked why the UK would not receive any share of the retained earnings. Member states are liable for uncalled capital, and the EIB’s retained earnings can be used by the EIB to avoid requesting such additional funding. There is a case to answer as to why the withdrawal agreement did not factor this in in its calculation of the financial settlement. Given the UK’s 16.1% stake in the EIB, a corresponding share of the retained earnings—€47.3 billion at the end of 2017—would amount to approximately €7.6 billion, which is more than twice the paid-in capital and almost a fifth of the £35 billion to £39 billion allocated to the financial settlement. Noble Lords will therefore appreciate the importance of establishing clarity on this matter.

We were unimpressed by the lack of any substantive response by the Government on this question. If there are good reasons for the UK not receiving a share of those earnings, whether legal or political, we would expect them to be set out explicitly so that their adequacy can be judged. The Minister failed to do so in evidence given to the committee and in the response to the report. I hope that tonight we will hear a response from this Minister as to the reasons, but I will go a little further and ask whether we can have an assurance that the return of the UK’s paid-in capital will be used for spending on projects similar to the EIB’s investments—in other words, to make up the shortfall, rather than being diverted into other areas of public spending.

The Government’s response to our report amounts to not much more than an acknowledgement of its publication. It fails to engage in any meaningful sense with the conclusions and recommendations contained in it. This falls well short of the expectations we have of how the Government should address recommendations made by a Select Committee of this House. Post Brexit, the UK will no longer be able to borrow from the EIB. This is a substantial loss. Given our green energy commitments, our housing priorities and our universities’ needs, venture and patient capital will be needed more than ever. Yet we find ourselves, with just over 100 days until the latest Brexit deadline, with no indication of how the UK will respond to the disappearance of a major lender to sectors that are central to meeting the UK’s present and future infrastructure needs. Surely we need to do better than that. I beg to move.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Falkner of Margravine]

My Lords, it remains for me to thank all Members who have spoken tonight. There were some excellent speeches that will merit rereading in Hansard tomorrow.

The Minister shone a little light on the negotiations with regard to our retained earnings—a very little light—but perhaps he shone slightly more light on the success of having got our money back a little earlier than originally envisaged when the negotiations started. However, given the late hour, and given that he has had an extremely long working day on his birthday, I think the whole House will wish for him now to be rewarded with a little light refreshment. I thank all noble Lords.

Motion agreed.