European Parliament legislative resolution on the proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1466/97 on the strengthening of the surveillance of budgetary positions and the surveillance and coordination of economic policies (COM(2005)0154 - C6-0119/2005 - 2005/0064(SYN))
Date: 2005-06-09
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Community budget, Economic and Monetary Union, coordination of EMU policies, economic convergence, economic policy, multilateral surveillance

25.5.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 124 E/517

Thursday 9 June 2005

P6_TA(2005)0231

Budgetary positions and economic policies **I

European Parliament legislative resolution on the proposal for a Council regulation amending
Regulation (EC) No 1466/97 on the strengthening of the surveillance of budgetary positions and
the surveillance and coordination of economic policies (COM(2005)0154 — C6-0119/2005 —
2005/0064(SYN))

(Cooperation procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Commission proposal

to the European Parliament and the Council

(COM(2005)0154) (1),

— having been consulted by the Council pursuant to Article 252 and Article 99(5) of the EC Treaty

(C6-0119/2005),

— having regard to Rule 51 of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (A6-0168/2005),

1.

Approves the Commission proposal as amended;

Calls on the Commission to alter its proposal accordingly, pursuant to Article 250(2) of the EC

2.
Treaty;

Calls on the Council to incorporate Parliament's amendments in the common position that it adopts

3.
in accordance with Article 252(a) of the EC Treaty;

Calls on the Council to notify Parliament should it intend to depart from the text approved by Parlia-

4.
ment;

Calls for the conciliation procedure to be initiated should the Council intend to depart from the text

5.
approved by Parliament;

6.

7.

Asks to be consulted again if the Council intends to amend the Commission proposal substantially;

Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission.

TEXT PROPOSED
BY THE COMMISSION

AMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT

Amendment 1

Recital 2 a (new)

(2a)
The implementation of the fiscal framework, the
surveillance and coordination of economic policies and their
credibility rely on the quality, reliability and timeliness of
fiscal statistics. The quality of statistics at national and
Community level must be ensured in order to guarantee the
independence, integrity and accountability of both national
statistical offices and Eurostat.

(1) Not yet published in OJ.

C 124 E/518

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

25.5.2006

Thursday 9 June 2005

TEXT PROPOSED
BY THE COMMISSION

AMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT

Amendment 2

Recital 2 b (new)

The Commission should

figures
(2b)
submitted to it by the Member States with the reports
submitted by the national central banks to the ECB.

compare

the

Amendment 3

Article 1, point 1

Article 2 a (Regulation (EC) No 1466/97)

Medium-term objectives of budgetary positions close to
balance or in surplus shall be set for every Member State in
the framework of the procedure referred to in Article 99 (2)
of the Treaty. These medium-term budgetary objectives shall
be regularly reviewed and, where appropriate, revised. These
country-specific medium-term budgetary objectives shall be
set at a level which allows Member States to deal with normal
cyclical
fluctuations while keeping the government deficit
below the 3 % of GDP reference value, ensure rapid progress
towards fiscal sustainability and,
taking this into account,
allow room for budgetary manoeuvre, in particular for public
investment.

Medium-term objectives of budgetary positions close to
balance or in surplus shall be set for every Member State in
the framework of the procedure referred to in Article 99 (2)
of the Treaty. These medium-term budgetary objectives shall
be reviewed, at least annually and whenever major structural
and budgetary reforms are undertaken, and, where appro-
priate,
revised. Each Member State may establish an
economic council of wise people to advise on the main
macro-economic projections. These country-specific medium--
term budgetary objectives shall be set at a level which allows
Member States to deal with normal cyclical fluctuations while
keeping the government deficit below the 3 % of GDP refer-
ence value, ensure rapid progress towards fiscal sustainability
taking this into account, allow room for budgetary
and,
manoeuvre, in particular for public investment.

Amendment 4

Article 1, point 2 a (new)

Article 4, paragraph 1 (Regulation (EC) No 1466/97)

(2a) Article 4(1) is replaced by the following:

‘1.
Stability programmes shall be submitted before 1
March 1999. Thereafter, updated programmes shall be
submitted annually for a period of two years. A Member
State adopting the single currency at a later stage shall
submit a stability programme within six months of the
Council Decision on its participation in the single
currency.’

25.5.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 124 E/519

TEXT PROPOSED
BY THE COMMISSION

AMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT

Thursday 9 June 2005

Amendment 5

Article 1, point 3, point a

Article 5, paragraph 1, subparagraph 1 (Regulation (EC) No 1466/97)

1.
Based on assessments by the Commission and the
Committee set up by Article 114 of the Treaty, the Council
shall, within the framework of multilateral surveillance under
Article 99, examine whether the adjustment path in the
programme is sufficiently ambitious, whether the economic
assumptions on which the programme is based are realistic
and whether the measures being taken and/or proposed are
sufficient to achieve the targeted adjustment path towards the
medium-term budgetary objective. The Council, when asses-
sing the adjustment path toward the medium-term budgetary
objective, shall consider whether the Member State concerned
pursues a minimum annual improvement of its cyclically-ad-
justed balance, net of one-off and other temporary measures
and whether a larger improvement is pursued in economic
good times. The Council shall also take into account the
implementation of major structural reforms which have direct
long-term cost-saving effects,
including by raising potential
growth, and therefore a verifiable impact on the long-term
sustainability of public finances;

1.
Based on assessments by the Commission and the
Committee set up by Article 114 of the Treaty, the Council
shall, within the framework of multilateral surveillance under
Article 99, examine whether the adjustment path in the
programme is sufficiently ambitious, whether the economic
assumptions on which the programme is based are realistic
and whether the measures being taken and/or proposed are
sufficient to achieve the targeted adjustment path towards the
medium-term budgetary objective. For
this purpose the
Commission shall undertake financial auditing missions in
the Member States. The Council, when assessing the adjust-
ment path toward the medium-term budgetary objective, shall
consider whether the Member State concerned pursues a
minimum annual
cyclically-adjusted
balance, net of one-off and other temporary measures and
whether a larger improvement is pursued in economic good
times. The Council shall also take into account the implemen-
tation of major structural reforms which have direct long-term
cost-saving effects, including by raising potential growth, and
therefore a verifiable impact on the long-term sustainability of
public finances;

improvement of

its

Amendment 6

Article 1, point 3, point b

Article 5, paragraph 2 (Regulation (EC) No 1466/97)

(b) In paragraph 2, the words ‘two months’ are replaced by

(b) Paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

the words ‘three months’.

‘2.
The Council shall carry out the examination of the
stability programme referred to in paragraph 1 within at
most three months of the submission of the programme.
The Council, on a recommendation from the Commission
and after consulting the Committee set up by Article
114, shall deliver an opinion on the programme. Where
the Council, in accordance with Article 99, considers that
the objectives and contents of a programme should be
in particular regarding the improvement
strengthened,
on the adjustment path toward the medium-term
budgetary objective pursued in economic good times, the
Council shall, in its opinion, invite the Member State
concerned to adjust its programme.’

C 124 E/520

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

25.5.2006

Thursday 9 June 2005

TEXT PROPOSED
BY THE COMMISSION

AMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT

Amendment 7

Article 1, point 3 a (new)

Article 6, paragraph 1 (Regulation (EC) No 1466/97)

(3a) Article 6(1) is replaced by the following:

‘1.
As part of multilateral surveillance in accordance
with Article 99(3), the Council shall monitor the imple-
mentation of stability programmes, on the basis of
information provided by participating Member States
and of assessments by the Commission and the
Committee set up by Article 114, in particular with a
view to identifying actual or expected significant diver-
gence of the budgetary position from the medium-term
budgetary objective, the adjustment path towards it, as
set in the programme for the government surplus/deficit,
and the expected path of the general government debt
ratio.’

Amendment 8

Article 1, point 3 b (new)

Article 6, paragraph 2 (Regulation (EC) No 1466/97)

(3b) Article 6(2) is replaced by the following:

of

the

position

In the event that the Council identifies significant
‘2.
divergence
from the
budgetary
medium-term budgetary objective, the adjustment path
towards it or the expected path of the general govern-
ment debt ratio, it shall, with a view to giving early
warning in order to prevent the occurrence of an exces-
sive deficit or debt ratio, address, in accordance with
Article 99(4), a recommendation to the Member State
concerned to take the necessary adjustment measures.’

Amendment 9

Article 1, point 3 c (new)

Article 6, paragraph 3 (Regulation (EC) No 1466/97)

(3c) Article 6(3) is replaced by the following:

In the event that the Council in its subsequent
‘3.
monitoring judges that the divergence of the budgetary
position from the medium-term budgetary objective, the
adjustment path towards it or the expected path of the
or
general
worsening, the Council shall, in accordance with Article
99(4), make a recommendation to the Member State
concerned to take prompt corrective measures and may,
as provided for in that Article, make its recommendation
public.’

government

persisting

ratio

debt

is