P5_TA(2004)0117
PublicfinancesinEconomicandMonetaryUnion(2003)
EuropeanParliamentresolutiononthecommunicationfromtheCommissiontotheCounciland
theEuropeanParliamentonpublicfinancesinEMU/dash2003(COM(2003)283/dashC5-0377/2003/dash
2003/2151(INI))
TheEuropeanParliament ,
/dash havingregardtothecommunicationfromtheCommission(COM(2003)283/dashC5-0377/2003),/dash havingregardtoitsresolutionof12March2003onthecommunicationfromtheCommissionon
publicfinancesinEMU/dash2002(
1),
/dash havingregardtothecommunicationfromtheCommissiontotheCouncilandtheEuropeanParlia-
mententitled‘Strengtheningtheco-ordinationofbudgetarypolicies’(COM(2002)668),
/dash havingregardtothecommunicationfromtheCommissiontotheCouncilandtheEuropeanParlia-
mentonstructuralindicators(COM(2002)551),
/dash havingregardtoCouncilDecision2002/923/ECof5November2002ontheexistenceofanexcess-
ivedeficitinPortugalandtheadoptionofarecommendationofnecessarymeasurestocombatthedeficit(
2),
/dash havingregardtoCouncilDecision2003/89/ECof21January2003ontheexistenceofanexcessive
deficit inGermany andtheadoptionofarecommendationofnecessarymeasurestocombatthedeficit(
3),
/dash havingregardtoCouncilDecision2003/487/ECof3June2003ontheexistenceofanexcessive
deficitinFranceandtheadoptionofarecommendationofnecessarymeasurestocombatthedefi-cit(
4),
/dash havingregardtotheCommissionrecommendationof8October2003totheCounciltoadopta
decisionthatFrancehastakennoeffectiveactioninresponsetotherecommendationmadebytheCouncilpursuanttoArticle104(7)oftheECTreatywithintheperiodlaiddowninthatRecommen-dation,
/dash havingregardtotheJuly2003reportentitled‘AnAgendaforaGrowingEurope’byahigh-level
groupestablishedontheinitiativeofthePresidentoftheCommissionandchairedbyAndréSapir,
/dash havingregardtothePresidencyConclusionsadoptedbytheEuropeanCouncilinLisbonon24March
2000andinGothenburgon15/16June2001,withparticularreferencetothestrategyagreedon
withrespecttoeconomicgrowth,fullemployment,sustainabledevelopmentandsocialcohesion,
/dash having regard to the Presidency Conclusionsadopted by the European Council in Stockholmon
23/24March2001andinBarcelonaon15/16March2002,withparticularreferencetothe‘StabilityandGrowthPact’andthebudgetarychallenges,includingthequalityofpublicfinancesinthelightofdemographicchange,
/dash havingregardtotheconclusionsoftheItalianPresidencyadoptedbytheEuropeanCouncilinBrussels
on16/17October2003,withparticularreferencetothe‘GrowthInitiative’,
/dash havingregardtoRules47(2)and163ofitsRulesofProcedure,/dash havingregardtothereportoftheCommitteeonEconomicandMonetaryAffairs(A5-0044/2004),
A. whereas atthe endof2003the economic recovery heralded bythe Commissionin its previous
economicforecastshadyettomaterialise;whereasdue, interalia,toalackofstructuralreformsin
manyMemberStates,theGDPgrowthratefortheeurozonefellonceagainin2003,shrinkingfrom3,5%in2000to1,5%in2001,0,9%in2002and0,5%in2003andleavingEurope’seconomyonthebrinkofstagnation,
(1) P5_TA(2003)0092.
(2) OJL322,27.11.2002,p.30.
(3) OJL34,11.2.2003,p.16.
(4) OJL165,3.7.2003,p.29.C98E/168 EN23.4.2004 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanUnion
Thursday26February2004
B. whereaspublicandprivateinvestmentalikeacrosstheEuropeanUnionasawholehasfallensharply
by2,4%,therebyfurtherweakeninggrowth,
C. whereasgeopoliticaleventssuchasthewarinIraqandSARShavebeenparticularlydamagingto
confidenceintheeconomyandgrowthinEurope,
D. whereastheappreciationoftheeuroagainstthedollarcouldentailrisksinthemedium-termforthe
competitivenessoftheEuropeaneconomyandexportsinparticular,
E. whereasin2002theeuro-zonebudgetdeficitroseto2,2%ofGDPfrom1,6%in2001and1,1%in
2000andislikelytoapproach3%ofGDPin2003,
F. whereasattheendof2002onlyfourcountriesintheeurozone/dashtogetheraccountingforamere
18%orsooftheeuro-zoneGDP/dashhadreachedaclose-to-balancepositionandwhereas,conversely,threecountrieshadexceededthefigureof3%ofGDP,
G. whereasthreeexcessivedeficitprocedureshavebeeninitiatedtodateagainstPortugal,Franceand
Germany,
OnthecurrentstateofpublicfinancesintheMemberStates
1. Notesthat,intheCommission’sview,theeconomiccycleisonlypartlytoblameforthehigher
nominaldeficits,whichareinfactlargelytheresultofadiscretionarylooseningofbudgetarypolicyonthepartofsomeMemberStates;
2. Notesthat,pursuanttoArticle104(8)oftheECTreaty,on8October2003theCommissionrecom-
mendedtotheCouncilthatittakenoteofFrance’sfailuretointroducespecificmeasurestoreduceitspublicdeficittolessthan3%ofGDPin2004;
3. Notes that the French Government has taken a first step in implementing structural reforms
(pensionsreform,the implementationofsocialsecurity reform),which shouldbehighly beneficial to
publicfinancesinthelongtermbutwillnotreducethebudgetdeficitintheimmediatefuture;
4. Calls,therefore,ontheCommissiontoputforwardthenecessaryadjustmentsforamoreintelligent
applicationoftheStabilityandGrowthPactinlinewiththeLisbonobjectives;
5. Emphasisestheimportanceofintroducingstructuralreformpackageswhichinthemediumandlong
termwillprovecrucialforfinancialsustainability,forthecompetitivenessoftheEuropeaneconomyandforgrowth;
6. CongratulatestheCommissionontheprogressachievedindefiningmethodsforimprovingtheEU
budgetarysurveillanceframework,bothbyincludingtheapplicantcountriesintheframeworkandbyimprovingtheprocedurewherebybudgetstatisticsaredrawnup;
Ontheaccessioncountries
7. NotesthatthemanagementofeconomicchangeinthecountriesofcentralandeasternEuropehasin
someaccessioncountrieshadaheavyimpactontheirdeficitandpublicdebtlevels;
8. Urgestheaccessioncountriestoreducetheirdeficitlevelssignificantlytobelow3%ofGDPto
ensurefiscalandpricestabilityinanenlargedEuropeanUnion;recallsthatentrytoEMUissubjecttothefourconvergencecriteriasetoutinArticle121(1)oftheECTreatyandtheprotocolrelatingtothatprovision;
9. Urgestheaccessioncountriestospeedupreformoftheirpublicfinancesbyreallocatingresourcesas
afurthermovetowardsensuringthegenuineconvergenceoftheireconomiesandtofocusinparticularonthemodernisationoftheirpensionsandsocialbenefitssystemsinsupportofaneffectiveemploymentpolicy;23.4.2004EN C98E/169 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanUnion
Thursday26February2004
10. Emphasisestheneedforcontinuousimprovementsinfiscaladministrationandtheestablishmentof
aneffectivetaxcollectionsystem;
Onpotentialproposals
11. RemindstheMemberStatesofthecommitmentwhichtheygaveintheStabilityandGrowthPact
tobringbudgets‘closetobalanceorinsurplus’;emphasisestheimportanceofbalancedbudgetsandpricestabilityasprerequisitesforsustainablegrowth;
12. Reiteratesitscallforaclearmethodthatincludesadefinitionof‘high-qualitypublicspending’to
quantify public budgetary positionsand their contribution to growth and investment with a view tomakingapositivecontributiontoachievingtheLisbongoals;
13. WelcomestheCommissionproposalonthelistofstructuralindicatorsandcallsontheCommis-
siontoestablishaprecisedefinitionofstructuraldeficit;
14. WelcomestheproposalsoftheItalianPresidencyandoftheFrenchandGermanGovernmentsto
promoteinitiativesforgrowthinEurope;considersthattheseproposalsshouldbemoreclearlyreflectedintheCouncilconclusionsontheEuropeanInitiativeforGrowth;emphasisesthatthebestwayforEuropeto
cope with the challenges ofaninnovation-basedglobaleconomyisby investing in human resources
throughsecondaryandlife-longlearning;insistsontheneedformoreambitiousinvestmentactivitiestoincrease the employment rate, improve education and life-long learning and help develop clean andenvironmentally-friendlytechnologies;
15. CongratulatestheItalianPresidencyonitsinitiatives forgrowthinEurope, andcallsonfuture
presidenciesoftheUnionandtheCounciltopursuethisroutebyworkingtowardsagenuineinternalgrowthstrategyfortheEuropeaneconomy;
16. Considers,however,thatarealboosttotheEuropeanUnion’sproductivityandeconomicpotential
requiresanincreaseinbudgetaryallocationsatEuropeanandnationallevelinordertosupportmoreeffectivepan-Europeaninvestment;
17. Isoftheopinionthat,intheinterestsofboostingpublicandprivateinvestment,itismostimport-
anttoexceedthecurrentpan-Europeanpublicspendinglimitof0,8%ofGDP,insistingthatthereisroomformanoeuvreinspendingbetween1%and1,27%ofGDP2004-2006inlinewiththepresentfinancialperspective2000-2006andtheLisbonobjectivesaswellaswiththepromotionofprivateinvestmentactivities;furthermorecallsforpublicexpendituretoberedirectedinsuchawayastoensurethatthevariousbudgetheadingsatEuropeanandnationallevelreflectthemajorpoliticalprioritiessetfor2010;
18. Isoftheopinionthatamid-termevaluationoftheEuropeanActionforGrowthinitiativeshouldbe
submittedtoboththeEuropeanCouncilandtheEuropeanParliamentby2006sothatthenecessaryconclusionscanbedrawnconcerningthenewFinancialPerspective 2007-2011andthenewfundingperiodoftheEUStructuralFunds;callsfortheEuropeanParliamenttobefullyinvolvedinthemid-termevaluationoftheActionforGrowthinitiativeandcallsontheEuropeanInvestmentBanktoreporttothe
EuropeanParliamentonitspreparatoryworkassoonaspossible;requests,inaddition,thatregionswhich
havetodatebeenbeneficiariesofthestructuralfundscontinuetobeeligiblefollowingenlargement,onthebasisofnewparameters;
*
**
19. InstructsitsPresidenttoforwardthisresolutiontotheCouncil,theCommission,theEuropean
EconomicandSocialCommittee,theCommitteeoftheRegionsandtheparliamentsoftheMemberStates.C98E/170 EN23.4.2004 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanUnion
Thursday26February2004