30.3.92 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC79/15
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDecisionadoptingtheAnnualEconomicReport1991/
1992ontheeconomicsituationintheCommunityanddeterminingtheeconomicpolicy
orientationfortheCommunityin1992—AnnualEconomicReport1991/1992
(92/C79/07
On23December1991theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,
inaccordancewithCouncilDecision90/141/EECof12March1990ontheattainmentof
progressiveconvergenceofeconomicpoliciesandperformanceduringStageOneofEconomic
andMonetaryUnion(EMU),ontheabovementioned proposal.
TheCommitteeinstructedtheSectionforEconomic,FinancialandMonetaryQuestionsto
prepareitsworkonthesubjectandappointedMrPompenasRapporteur-General .
Atits293rdplenarysession(meetingof29January1992),theEconomicandSocialCommittee
adoptedthefollowingOpinionbyamajorityvotewith5abstentions .
1.Generalcomments —TheCommunity'sbalanceoncurrentaccountis
deteriorating ,asisitsinternationalcompetitiveness .
—Theobjectiveofcohesionstillrequiresattention.
Thesetting-upofaspecialcohesionfundcouldhelp
considerablytoreducethedifferencesinlevelsof
development ;MemberStates'domesticpoliciesare
stillofcrucialimportance .1.1.TheCommitteestressesthattheCommission's
forecastsmayprovetobetoooptimistic.Economic
recoveryintheCommunityisslowerthananticipated,
theeconomicsituationintheUSisfallingshortof
expectations ,worldtradeliberalization isstilluncertain
andmajorriskspersistinthefinancialsphere.
—TheCommissionrightlyacknowledgesthatthe
environmentisapolicypriority.Effortstoachieve
lastinggrowthstillneedtobeconsolidatedbysus­
tainedmeasures,takenafterconsultationofallsec­
torsofsociety,toencourageindividualsandfirms
tochangetheirways.1.2.TheCommitteehasexaminedthefindingsof
thedraftreportinthelightofthesocialandeconomic
objectivessetoutbytheCommitteeinitsOpinionof
26September1991(Doc.ESC1120/91)andinthelight
oftheEMUcriteriaaslaiddowninthedraftprotocol
toArticle109FofthedraftCommunityTreatyof
10December1991.
1.4.ItsanalysisintermsofEMUcriterialeadsthe
Committeetotheconclusionthat:
—Priceconvergenceappearsattainable;theaverage
levelmust,however,fallfurther.
—InprincipleallMemberStatesshouldbeable,by
theendofthe90s,tomeettherequirementofa
governmentdeficitofmaximum3%oftheGross
DomesticProduct(GDP),evenifthisistrueofonly
aminorityofStatesatthemoment.1.3.Itsanalysisintermsofsocialandeconomic
objectivesleadstheCommitteetotheconclusionthat:
—Economicgrowthmustbeincreasedinanecologi­
callyresponsiblemanner.Boththelongerand
shortertermtrendshavebeenunfavourableduring
theperiod.Atthesametimethereareinsistentcalls
forhigherspending,particularlyonimprovingthe
environment ,developinginfrastructure ,financing
socialsecurityinanageingsocietyandhelping
thirdcountries,includingtheCentralandEastern
Europeancountries.
—Unemployment isunacceptably high.Actionis
requiredatbothnationalandCommunitylevel.
Specialattentionmustbepaidtothefunctioningof
thelabourmarketandinparticulartheimportance
ofvocationaltrainingandwagesetting.
—Theaverageriseinpricesistoohigh,especially
bearinginmindtheeconomicsituation.—Therequirementofagovernmentdebtofmaximum
60%ofGDPbytheyear2000wouldnotseem
feasibleforsomeMemberStates.IntheCom­
mittee'sviewthisreferencevaluemustbeapplied
vigorouslyinthecomingyearsinaccordancewith
Article104BoftheTreaty,withparticularimport­
anceattachingtothedirectionandrateofchange
ofthisvalue.

NoC79/16 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 30.3.92
—TheCommitteerecommendsthat,aspartofthe
efforttoputgovernmentfinancesonasounder
footing,subsidiestofirmsbereducedinaccordance
withtheprovisionsoftheTreatysoastoencourage
competitionontheinternalmarket.
—Long-terminterestratesareonthehighside.
Savingswillhavetobeboosted.3.Concludingcomments
3.1.BearinginmindthattheCouncilonlyaskedfor
theOpinionon23December1991,theabovecomments
onthe1991/1992AnnualEconomicReportaregeneral
andbrief.Theywillbesupplemented byamoredetailed
AdditionalOpinionattheplenarysessionattheendof
February.
3.2.Thiswillenablethesocialinterestgroups,via
theESCmembers,toexaminetheCommissiontext,
contributetheirviewstotheOpinion,andincorporate
theanalysesandrecommendations intheirnational
policies.Onlysuchaprocedure,whichwasintroduced
aboutayearago,willmeettheconcernexpressedin
theconvergenceDecisionof12March1990stipulating
thattheEconomicandSocialCommitteemustbecon­
sultedontheAnnualReport.Thiswillcontributeto
thedialogueembodiedinthe'cooperativegrowthstrat­
egyformoreemployment'launchedafewyearsago.
3.3.Theprocedureusedthistimeisunsatisfactory .
TheCommitteethereforecallsontheCommissionand
theCounciltoconsider,togetherwiththeEuropean
ParliamentandtheCommittee,amoreefficientpro­
cedure.Theaimmustbetogivethesocialpartners,in
thebroadestsenseoftheterm,sufficienttime,taking
intoaccounttheCommissionandCounciltimetables,
tostudytheeconomicsituationandtheCommission's
recommendations .2.TheCommittee'sposition
2.1.InitsOpinionof27September1991theCom­
mitteesetoutareferenceframeworkoffiveeconomic
andsocialobjectivesanddescribedtherolewhichthe
ESCcouldplayinthecontextofconvergence .Inits
Opinionof27February1991(doc.ESC273/91)the
Committeestatedthatitwishedtobeconsultedonthe
pluri-annualeconomicpolicyguidelinestobedrawn
upperiodicallybytheCouncil.
2.2.TheCommitteeregretsthatnomentionismade
ofthisineitherthedrafttreatiesorthedraftannual
report.TheCommitteeurgestheCounciltogiveits
opinionontheproposalsputforwardin2.1.
DoneatBrussels,29January1992.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
MichaelGEUENICH