European Parliament resolution on the Commission's recommendation for the broad guidelines of the economic policies of the Member States and the Community for 2001 (COM(2001) 224 — C5-0169/2001 — 2001/2081(COS))
Date: 2001-05-15
Institutions: Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, European Parliament
Subjects: capital market, coordination of EMU policies, economic policy, economic priority, economic reform, labour market, public finance, single market, sustainable development

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(ai) Calls for specific initiatives to be taken to foster the development of appropriate educational software
for women and girls; calls for support for regional and local training centres especially for women and
girls, and calls for a reduction in the current (cid:145)digital divide(cid:146) by involving marginalised groups, such as
unemployed single mothers;

(aj) Endorses the stated objective of stepping up the interconnection of virtual forums and campuses, the
networking of universities, schools, training centres, and multi-disciplinary learning centres open to
all; calls for this to be used as an opportunity to organise and establish a register of exchanges of best
practice in the teaching and training of young girls and women.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission and the govern-

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ments and parliaments of the Member States.

19. Broad economic guidelines for 2001

A5-0165/2001

European Parliament resolution on the Commission(cid:146)s recommendation for the broad guidelines of
the economic policies of the Member States and the Community for 2001 (COM(2001) 224 (cid:129)
C5-0169/2001 (cid:129) 2001/2081(COS))

The European Parliament,

(cid:129) having regard to the Commission(cid:146)s recommendation (COM(2001) 224 (cid:129) C5-0169/2001),

(cid:129) having regard to Articles 98 and 99 of the Treaty establishing the European Community,

(cid:129) having regard to Rule 41 of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:129) having regard to the Commission(cid:146)s report on the implementation of the 2000 broad economic policy

guidelines (COM(2001) 105),

(cid:129) having regard to the Commission(cid:146)s report on economic reform: report on the functioning of Com-

munity product and capital markets (COM(2000) 881),

(cid:129) having regard to the report of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and the opinion of

the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (A5-0165/2001),

A. whereas the start of 2002 is an historic juncture in that, for the first time in history, twelve sovereign

states will be sharing a common currency and using the same notes and coins,

B. whereas this represents a further stage in the process of the integration of national economies, follow-

ing on from the free-trade area, customs union and the internal market,

C. whereas it appears appropriate to use a new term for this form of cooperation between states and

describe a common market with a common currency as a (cid:145)home market(cid:146),

D. whereas at the Lisbon meeting of the European Council the Union set itself the new strategic goal of
becoming (cid:145)the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world with more and
better jobs and greater social cohesion(cid:146);

E. whereas the Union is now faced with the challenge of formulating appropriate common economic
policies for this (cid:145)European home market(cid:146) with a single monetary policy. These should be drawn up in
accordance with the principles of a (cid:145)social market economy(cid:146),

F. whereas, for the time being, the procedure establishing the European Union(cid:146)s broad economic policy
guidelines is the main instrument for coordinating the economic policies of the European Union,

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G. whereas the broad economic policy guidelines are not legally, but most certainly are politically, bind-

ing,

H. whereas a major problem with the broad economic policy guidelines is that they lose substance if
economic development during the period in which they are implemented departs from the forecasts
on which they are based,

I. whereas flagging international economic activity in conjunction with developments on financial mar-
kets needs to be closely monitored as, following 3,4 % economic growth last year which was the best
performance of the European Union since 1991, the immediate task ahead is to maintain strong
economic performance in a context of less supportive global economic conditions;

J. whereas the European Union must assume its responsibility for the world economy in view of the

economic downturn in the USA and Japan,

K. whereas the Commission was still assuming 3 % growth in its autumn forecast but today economic

growth of between 2 and 2,5 % appears realistic for this year;

L. whereas US economic growth trends have a considerable psychological impact on financial markets,
but need not impact to a large extent on the EU economy, since exports to the US only account for
some 3 % of European Union GDP,

M. whereas last year, for the first time in a long time, the rise in employment in the European Union
exceeded that in the US, and that trend is likely to continue this year if the necessary further reform
measures are taken,

N. whereas unlike the US central bank, which is required to safeguard monetary stability and economic
growth, the mission of the European Central Bank primarily focuses on ensuring price stability, and
the exchange rate is a factor in its deliberations only to the extent that it influences price stability,

O. whereas, according to current forecasts, the inflation rate in the euro area will be over 2 % for two

years in succession (2000 and 2001), thus exceeding what the ECB defines as price stability,

P. whereas a certain rise in prices in connection with the introduction of the euro cannot be ruled out,

Q. whereas the influence of monetary policy on economic development is limited, since interest rate

levels are but one of many factors in businesses(cid:146) investment decisions,

R. whereas, under the Stability and Growth Pact, the Member States committed themselves to achieve

balanced budgets or surpluses,

S. whereas although the objective of balanced budgets has been achieved in general, this has been made
possible by increased tax receipts as a result of last year(cid:146)s favourable economic situation, low interest
rates and UMTS proceeds,

T. whereas a number of Member States have not adequately exploited the favourable environment in

order to reduce budget deficits and indebtedness,

U. whereas,

in the (cid:145)new economy(cid:146), technological and scientific knowledge is crucial to the economic
future of national economies, and therefore more efforts must be directed at promoting training com-
mensurate with this,

Notes that with the introduction of the single currency twelve EU Member States have entered a

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further stage of integration which can be called the (cid:145)euro zone(cid:146) or (cid:145)European home market(cid:146);

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Calls on the Member States to base their economic policies on the objectives and specific measures
agreed by the European Council in Lisbon and developed further by the European Council in Stockholm,
including the agreements concluded in connection with European economic coordination;

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Urges, moreover, Member States to design their economic policies in such a way so as to fully

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incorporate sustainability requirements and to live up to the commitments in Kyoto;

Takes the view that, in view of the worsening world economic situation, the European Union must

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look to its own strengths;

5. Welcomes in particular the identified political priority to improve the quality and sustainability of
public finances in line with the results endorsed by the Stockholm European Council; underlines in this
context the importance of public spending towards the contribution to growth and employment and the
achievement of the objectives agreed within the framework of the (cid:145)Lisbon strategy(cid:146), including greater social
cohesion;

6. Welcomes the fact that the economic policy guidelines include the promotion of sustainable devel-
opment; however, underlines that the environmental dimension must be developed for all economic policy
fields concerned ((cid:145)mainstreaming(cid:146)); calls, therefore, for the development of more horizontal measures and
initiatives, taking into consideration the environmental effects of all kind of economic activities in an effort
to achieve sustainable development;

7.
Calls on the Member States to undertake appropriate reforms of capital, product and labour markets
in order to foster investment and create a level playing field while ensuring services of general interest and
a high level of social security and environmental protection;

8.
Supports the efforts of the Member States, bearing in mind the budgetary restrictions and demo-
graphic challenges, to adapt pension systems without abandoning pension targets; stresses that, above all
in view of this necessity, the necessary financial scope for taking action must be created; points out that, to
date, the necessary reform of pension systems has been put off in many Member States;

9.
Points out that not all Member States exploited the opportunity for sustainable budget consolidation
last year and, in view of the less favourable conditions emerging, cautions against any slackening of efforts;

10.
Takes the view that the potential for spending cuts must be fully exploited in all areas; stresses in
this connection the importance of developing education and of public investment, which must, however,
be targeted and based on strategic objectives, and must not drive out private investment, which has prior-
ity;

11.
Expresses its support for all measures, especially all timetabled policy steps, in the direction of a
transition to a knowledge-based economy; underlines, however, that the achievement of a knowledge-
based economy presupposes increased activity in the areas of research and development, of higher edu-
cation, of training and retraining of the labour force and ultimately the emergence of a process of lifelong
learning for all members of society, such increased activity requiring both additional private and public
investment in human resources as well as in projects to develop information highways, e.g. in the form of
common satellite projects or TENs projects, and asks the Council to remedy this deficiency in the final
version of the guidelines;

12.

Recalls that the ECB(cid:146)s primary objective is to ensure price stability;

13.
Stresses that the ECB(cid:146)s monetary policy is ensuring a favourable monetary environment for growth
and employment in the euro area but that there is a need, within that environment, for greater coor-
dination of euro countries(cid:146) economic policies in order to create the appropriate conditions for sustainable
growth and employment;

14.
Calls, in this spirit, for the rapid launch of a debate on the establishment of a political economic
policy coordination mechanism which, going beyond the system of broad economic policy guidelines,
would aim to guarantee on an annual basis convergence of the fiscal and budgetary policy of the Member
States belonging to the euro;

15.
Takes the view that any European Union sanctions against individual Member States must take into
consideration whether developments in the Member State concerned impact on the euro area as a whole;

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16.
Regrets that the Stockholm meeting of the European Council did not reach concrete agreement on
the liberalisation of the European electricity and gas markets, and stresses that a balanced process of
liberalisation in the outstanding sectors is essential in order to realise the ambitious objective of making
the European Union the world(cid:146)s most competitive and dynamic economic area by 2010, provided this has
no negative effect on high standards of environmental protection and working conditions or on access to
universal services and security of supply requirements. Requirements of the product and the production
process should play a crucial role in the decision making about liberalisation,

17.
Calls (cid:129) in order to realise that objective (cid:129) for greater efforts to complete the internal market and in
particular, in the process, for agreement finally to be reached on the Community patent and for a suitable
legal framework to be created for biotechnology, information and communications technologies;

18.
Stresses that the legislation on public procurement currently under revision should be re-designed
in such a way so as to allow Member States(cid:146) procurement practices to be pro-active in order to achieve the
goals set out in Articles 2 and 6 of the EC Treaty, namely the promotion of sustainable development,
ensuring a high level of social protection and improving quality of life of the citizens;

Stresses that the area of defence must also be opened to the Community rules on public procure-

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ment in so far as this is justifiable;

20.
Points to the low share of businesses(cid:146) expenditure going on research and development or on edu-
cation and training in the European Union, by comparison with the US, and stresses the need for European
coordination among the Member States and the need for development of new or improved systems of
incentives, such as have already been introduced by some Member States, in order to increase that share;

Stresses the critical importance and urgency of the EU and Member States providing an encouraging
in particular those

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environment for the development of new science and technology based industries,
which have the potential to make the EU economy more sustainable;

22.
Regards the progress in reducing unemployment in some Member States as encouraging, but
stresses the need to continue reform of labour markets and takes the view that with regard to the decisions
on employment (Cardiff, Luxembourg and Lisbon) there must be clear identification of where responsibility
for the various areas lies;

23. Welcomes the Commission(cid:146)s intention of taking purposeful steps with a view to developing and
opening up European labour markets and, by drawing up proposals for a more uniform system for the
recognition of qualifications, achieving greater transparency and flexibility on the labour markets;

Reiterates its call for an amendment to Article 99(2) so that the broad guidelines of economic policy
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are discussed and decided on a proposal from the Commission and not on a recommendation from the
Commission; stresses once more, however, that the democratic deficit in European economic policy must
be overcome through the conclusion of an interinstitutional agreement between the Council, the Commis-
sion and Parliament;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the parlia-

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ments of the Member States.