WRITTEN QUESTION E-1749/03 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Partial financing by Europe of the American balance of payments deficit as a result of the dominance of the dollar on the oil market.
Date: 2003-05-26
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: United States, balance of payments, balance-of-payments deficit, co-financing, international payment, monetary policy, monetary relations, petroleum

6.3.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 58 E/93

1.

Is the Commission aware of the above-mentioned National Cycling Day?

Is the Commission prepared to investigate the prospects of creating an annual European Cycling Day

2.
and linking it to the National Cycling Day in the Netherlands?

If these prospects prove positive, is the Commission prepared to encourage the organisation of such
3.
an event and, where appropriate, to provide financial support for it, so that the policy areas mentioned
above can be further developed?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(15 July 2003)

The Commission is aware of the Dutch National Cycling Day event, which it regards as a valuable
initiative. The Environment Directorate General of the Commission supports cycling in many different
ways. The Member of the Commission responsible for the Environment, launched the European Car Free
Day 2000 on 4 February 2000 in Brussels and invited Member States to join the initiative. In just a few
months, this event not only enticed 14 Member States in the Union to participate, but also 12 other
countries in Europe and beyond. In 2002 1446 European cities and local authorities participated in the
European Car Free Day.

Based on the success and lessons learnt from the European Car Free Day, the European Mobility Week was
launched on 19 April 2002 in Brussels (during the Green Week).

The first edition of the European Mobility Week, organised from 16 to 22 September 2002, consisted of a
whole week of awareness raising events focusing on various aspects of sustainable mobility. Public
Transport, Cycling and Living Streets/Greenways were chosen as common themes for the whole of Europe.
A list of other themes was also available for the other days and of course the Car Free Day on Sunday
22 September 2002 was the highlight of the whole Mobility Week.

At European level the Commission feels that cycling is an important alternative mode of transport and that
this is highlighted sufficiently in the framework of the European Mobility Week. There is a web site
promoting the European Mobility Week (http://www.mobilityweek-europe.org/).

In addition, the Commission also promotes innovative integrated actions in urban mobility (cid:1) including
cycling (cid:1) in the context of the Civitas initiative, which aims to encourage the introduction of sustainable
urban transport policy strategies in a number of European cities. The aim is to achieve a significant change
in the modal split towards sustainable transport modes. Further information on the Civitas initiative can be
found at (http://www.civitas-initiative.org).

The lack of physical exercise will also be taken into account in the Public Health Programme (2003-2008),
via the activities of the Network for Nutrition and Physical Activity: (http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/
ph_determinants/life_style/nutrition/nutrition_en.htm).

In view of the above, the Commission considers that cycling and its health effects are sufficiently addressed
and is therefore not prepared to investigate the prospects of an annual European Cycling Day linked to the
National Cycling Day in the Netherlands. As a consequence, no Community funding will be available to
support such an initiative.

(2004/C 58 E/109)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1749/03

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(26 May 2003)

Subject: Partial financing by Europe of the American balance of payments deficit as a result of the

dominance of the dollar on the oil market

1.
Is the Commission aware that, since 1983, the United States of America has had a permanent
external balance of payments deficit, with expenditure and imports high in relation to production and
exports, that the deficit has grown from 1 % at that time to almost 6 % or USD 600 thousand million in

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6.3.2004

2003, and that, even without
USD 680 thousand million is forecast in 2004?

taking into account

the high costs of the war in Iraq, a deficit of

2.
Can the Commission confirm that these American deficits are only possible as long as American
importers are able to settle their accounts in dollars, which leaves those receiving payment in Europe,
Japan or Arab oil states with little choice than to lend, or invest, their large amounts of dollars in America?

3.
In the Commission’s view, can the US continue with its combination of over-consumption, low oil
prices and low taxes if the dollar is no longer the automatic means of payment in world trade and a
substantial proportion of payments is made in euros?

4.
Are we to expect that the US, in order to avoid the necessity to devalue the dollar and cut domestic
consumption, will do everything possible to maintain the dominance of the dollar and to reduce the role
of the euro?

Is there now a danger that, for supplies of oil from Iraq, there will be a return from payments in

5.
euros to payments in dollars?

6. What action is being taken by the EU to ensure that Europe is no longer, or not again, placed in the
position of contributing to financing American deficits and to avoid the unnecessary flight of capital to
America?

Source: Netherlands daily ‘de Volkskrant’, 10 May 2003

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(30 June 2003)

1.
The United States has since 1983, with a short interruption in 1991, recorded a current account
deficit. The deficit amounted to 4,7 % of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2002 on a national accounts
basis. In the Commission’s Economic Forecast from Spring 2003 a further deterioration of the United
States current account is projected for 2003 and 2004, when it could reach 5,6 % and 6,1 % of GDP
respectively. This evolution has been followed regularly by the Commission in its bi-annual Economic
Forecasts.

2.
Large current account deficits do not only occur in countries whose currencies are used widely in
international trade. The sustainability of a country’s current account deficit depends on many factors,
including the size of the deficit in relation to GDP, the growth rate and the other fundamentals of the
economy. It also depends on the willingness of international investors to continue to finance the deficit.
This willingness is a function of the risk assessment and the relative rate of return on investment in that
country compared to the rest of the world. In the end,
investors can freely convert their US Dollar
holdings into other currencies through foreign exchange market transactions.

Changes in the international role of a currency usually take place only gradually. Neither economic
the international status of a currency affects domestic

3.
theory nor historical experience show that
consumption and domestic taxes in that country.

Since the early 1970s the exchange rate of the US Dollar is not fixed but is the result of market
4.
forces. The strength of the exchange rate of a currency should not be mistaken with its use as an
international currency, though investors might prefer to invest in an appreciating currency.

Iraq’s oil exports were denominated in euro from January 2001 under the Oil-for-Food programme.
5.
With the lifting of sanctions in May 2003 through Resolution 1483, and the termination of the Oil-for-
Food programme within six months, Iraq’s exports of oil might be denominated in dollars since this is the
main invoicing currency for trade in oil and primary commodities. However,
in any particular trade
agreement for oil, there is contractual freedom between the buyer and seller such that a contract may be
denominated in whichever currency the private parties deem appropriate.

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Union companies have over the last decade invested heavily in the United States, contributing to the
6.
financing of the United States current account deficit. These investments were based on an assessment of
relative risks and returns. The attractiveness of the Union for both domestic and international investors
needs to be enhanced. To this end, the Member States are committed to pursue stable macroeconomic
policies to ensure sustainable growth, to creating a single financial market by 2005 and to further
implement structural reforms to improve the growth potential of the Union’s economy.

(2004/C 58 E/110)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1773/03

by Claude Moraes (PSE) to the Commission

(28 May 2003)

Subject: Thessaloniki June Council meeting

Will the Commission please give its view of the agenda of the June Council meeting in Thessaloniki?
Will the meeting discuss the question of EU border police, policing resources for the new EU external
borders post-enlargement, coordination of integration issues in relation to migrants, and the issue of
coordination of managed economic migration?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(14 July 2003)

The Commission presented a package of initiatives on immigration, asylum and the management of
external borders to the Thessaloniki summit. These provided an overview of the work accomplished since
Tampere together with proposals designed to pave the way for new policy initiatives. The package
consisted of three Communications (1), adopted by the Commission on 3 June 2003, dealing with illegal
immigration, border controls, more accessible asylum systems and immigration,
integration and
employment. These were accompanied by a proposal for a co-operation programme with third countries
in the area of migration, building on the preparatory actions financed since 2001 under the current budget
line B7-667.

The first of the three Communications gives particular attention to burden sharing and to the more
efficient management of the external borders of the Union. The European Council noted the Commission’s
estimate that EUR 140 million were necessary for this purpose for the period 2004 to 2006 and accepted
its proposals to make use of the margin available (heading 3 of the financial perspectives) to obtain
additional funding. It also agreed that the post 2006 budgetary perspectives should reflect more adequately
political priorities in this area. There will thus be a first effort of solidarity in the field of external borders,
return and the initial investment required for the development of a visa information system that will be
covered. The Commission will report in due course to the Council on the need to establish a Community
structure, with the necessary human, material and financial resources, to be in charge of operational co-
operation among the national services and specialised centres responsible for the external borders of the
Union.

The European Council welcomed the Commission’s proposals in its Communication on immigration,
integration and employment for strengthening integration policies for third country nationals, in the light
of the growing importance of immigration in the context of demographic ageing and decline. It agreed on
the necessity to reinforce policy co-ordination both at Union and national level inter alia in the form of an
annual report to be presented by the Commission on the development of the common immigration policy
and to develop exchange of information and good practice at Union level via the national contact points
on integration, established by the Council
in October 2002 and through the work of the European
Migration Network which should be strengthened.

With the Communication ‘towards more accessible, equitable and managed asylum systems’,
the
Commission responded to the March 2003 European Council invitation to explore further the ideas put
forward by the United Kingdom on new approaches to international protection, and to report to the
European Council meeting in June 2003. This Communication sets out the Commission’s views and