EN Official Journal of the European Union C 280/6

Resolution of the Committee of the Regions on ‘Deepening of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)’

2013/C 280/02

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

— having regard to the CoR resolution of 1 February 2013 on a sustainable future for the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) (1);

— having regard to the two Commission communications entitled "Ex ante coordination of plans for major economic reforms" (COM(2013) 166 final) and "The introduction of a Convergence and Competitiveness Instrument" (COM(2013) 165 final), published on 20 March 2013;

— having regard to the European Parliament resolution of 23 May 2013 on Future legislative proposals on EMU: response to the Commission communications (2013/2609(RSP));

— having regard to the final conclusions of the European Council of 27-28 June 2013;

— having regard to the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality;

General considerations

— recalls the principles and objectives of the Economic and Monetary Union as set out in Articles 3 and 120 TFEU;

— underlines that the implementation of already approved measures must have precedence over any new proposal and concurs with the European Parliament that any further legislative initiative must demonstrate a clear added value in relation to existing instruments;

— stresses that, in all decisions being made on the development of the EMU, the role of local and regional authorities in the strengthening of economies and facilitating jobs and growth should be fully recognised and strengthened wherever possible;

— regards the proposals for a single supervisory mechanism, with a central role for the ECB and a reform of the EBA's role as a move towards greater transparency and more democratic accountability;

— welcomes the call by the European Council of 27-28 June 2013 on the Commission to present its proposals on a draft regulation establishing a Single Resolution Mechanism as soon as possible and supports the intention to adopt the relevant legislation before the end of the current legislature;

Ex ante coordination of plans for major economic policy reforms

— expects the European Commission to clearly outline in its proposal on ex ante coordination due for publication in the autumn 2013 the difference between this coordination and the other instruments and mechanisms already in place (e.g. the European Semester) or envisaged (e.g. CCI see below);

— stresses that the European Commission's proposal for ex-ante coordination of the most important economic policy reforms, in which only the Commission and Council of Ministers are involved, needs to be complemented by European and national measures which ensure that relevant local and regional authorities are duly consulted and informed;

— asks the European Commission and the Member States to give special attention to regional spillover effects and their possible impact on the sustainability of public finances and on territorial cohesion, when undertaking ex ante coordination of major economic reforms in the EU;

— highlights that, given the strong link between the contractual arrangements and the envisaged ex ante coordination process, there should be a strong link between the governance and democratic accountability of the two processes; therefore, proposes that, in case the regional spill over effects are at stake, the involvement of the Committee of the Regions and the regional authorities concerned is ensured in the process of economic dialogue at EU level;

— agrees that ex ante coordination should concern only major national economic reform plans; underlines that reforms in the social protection systems should also be covered as they may have an important effect within Member States;

— regrets that, with respect to the democratic legitimacy and accountability pillar of EMU, little concrete progress has been made to avoid having the entire process called into question in cases where it is perceived that the European Commission and other Member States are interfering in decisions that have in the past usually been taken at national or even regional level;

Introduction of a convergence and competitiveness instrument (CCI)

— reiterates its conviction that a fiscal capacity is necessary to achieve a deep and genuine EMU and concurs that the proposed instrument could be a useful stepping stone in this direction;

— considers that the new instrument should be complementary to cohesion policy instruments; therefore expresses reservations with regard to the name of this new instrument given the congruence of terms between "convergence" and "cohesion" that may suggest an overlap;

— welcomes the setting up of a mechanism for stronger coordination and enforcement of structural policies based on arrangements of a contractual nature between Member States and EU institutions; stresses that these arrangements should be subject to joint decision-making and implementation and therefore requests that local and regional authorities are involved when contractual agreements are developed, with due respect of national legislations; the instrument should, however, also be open to Member States outside the Euro area on a voluntary basis;

— expresses concerns that the contractual arrangements as currently proposed in the Commission communication would further burden the already complex governance resulting from the new economic surveillance legislation (national reform programmes, country specific recommendations and related sanctions) and reformed cohesion policy (partnership agreements, operational programmes and related ex ante conditionalities);

— considers that structural reforms are long-term processes that require a multiannual programming and therefore questions the need to establish a link between the triggering of this new instrument and the European Semester;

— calls on contractual arrangements to be based on the community method with the full inclusion of the European and national parliaments;

— concurs that the EU should adopt a constructive approach to structural reforms at national level through a balance of incentives and sanctions;

— notes that local and regional authorities have direct competences in fields concerned by structural reforms and should therefore be involved in the design and implementation of these contractual arrangements;

— stresses that the above-mentioned multiannual programming and its implementation should therefore be based on effective multilevel governance involving local and regional authorities that respect the competencies of these authorities;

Social dimension of the EMU

— welcomes the recognition by the European Council of 27-28 June 2013 of the need to strengthen the EMU's social dimension; reiterates in this context its support to the call made by the European Parliament on Member States to consider signing a "Social Investment Pact" which would set investment targets for social investments at national level in order to meet the employment, social and education targets of the Europe 2020 strategy.

Brussels, 4 July 2013. The President of the Committee of the Regions Ramón Luis VALCÁRCEL SISO

(1) CDR2494-2012_00_00_TRA_RES.