Conclusions of the European Council meeting ( 28 - 29 June 2012 ) European Parliament resolution of 4 July 2012 on the June 2012 European Council meeting (2011/2923(RSP))
Date: 2012-07-04
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Economic and Monetary Union, economic growth, euro area, investment, job creation, public debt, single market








CE2013349EN.01007201.xml










29.11.2013   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CE 349/72





Wednesday 4 July 2012Conclusions of the European Council meeting (28-29 June 2012)
P7_TA(2012)0292
European Parliament resolution of 4 July 2012 on the June 2012 European Council meeting (2011/2923(RSP))
2013/C 349 E/09

The European Parliament,






—


having regard to the informal European Council meeting of 23 May 2012,










—


having regard to the European Council meeting of 28-29 June 2012,










—


having regard to Rule 110(2) of its Rules of Procedure,










1.


Welcomes the concrete steps taken by the European Council to face up to the eurozone crisis and its recognition of the need for a response that addresses both fiscal consolidation and growth; believes that the summit reflects the European Council’s approach to the challenges Europe faces, aimed at a more balanced, economically effective and socially fair anti-crisis agenda;










2.


Underlines the significance of the eurozone’s agreement on important and substantial measures to break the vicious circle between banks and sovereign debt and to narrow the spreads among eurozone sovereign debt yields; welcomes, in this connection, the flexible and efficient use that could be made of the existing EFSF/ESM instruments for Member States meeting their Country Specific Recommendations and their other commitments, including the European Semester and the Stability and Growth Pact;










3.


Considers that this agreement is an important step on the road to a fully-fledged banking union for the EU as a whole, but points to the critical fact that this possibility cannot be activated immediately since it is conditioned by agreement on a single supervisory mechanism;










4.


Welcomes also the Compact for Growth and Jobs, in particular the agreement to mobilise EUR 120 billion to stimulate investment, growth and jobs and the call for differentiated growth-friendly fiscal consolidation, with due consideration for the role of investment; considers this to be an important step towards the necessary revitalisation of sustainable growth-oriented public and private investment in Europe, notably geared towards the attainment of the Europe 2020 objectives, and in particular towards resource efficiency and sustainability, as well as towards the completion of the Single Market;










5.


Welcomes, furthermore, the commitment to make the EU budget a tool for growth; notes, in this connection, that no tangible progress was achieved at the June European Council meeting towards striking an agreement on the next MFF, i.e. for 2014-2020; urges the Cypriot Presidency to step up its efforts on this matter, with full involvement of Parliament in the MFF negotiations, including full respect for its codecision rights; insists, however, that own-resources reform is an essential element, without which no agreement on the multiannual financial framework will be possible; reiterates its conviction that an agreement on both the revenue and the expenditure sides of the MFF, which should correspond to the actual needs and ambitions of the Union for the next period, would need to be reached by the end of this year;










6.


Welcomes the statement by the Heads of State or Government on reinforcing single market governance; strongly supports the Commission in its assessment of the state of the single market and calls for action as regards the full achievement of the single market;










7.


Welcomes the draft proposals contained in the report entitled ‘Towards a Genuine Economic and Monetary Union’, as presented by Presidents Van Rompuy, Juncker, Barroso and Draghi, as a good starting point towards a sound and genuine EMU; believes, in particular, that the proposals regarding the establishment of an integrated financial framework and a European banking supervisor also represent important steps towards a more stable long-term future for European banking; looks forward also to the inclusion in the proposal of greater EU social responsibility and a strengthening of the transparency and accountability of the new European provisions in this area;










8.


Believes that rapid action is required within each of the four building blocks identified in this report:






(a)


an integrated financial framework to ensure financial stability in particular in the euro area and minimise the cost of bank failures to European citizens; such a framework elevates responsibility for supervision to the European level, and provides for common mechanisms to resolve banks and guarantee customer deposits;










(b)


an integrated budgetary framework to ensure sound fiscal policy making at the national and European levels, encompassing coordination, joint decision-making, greater enforcement and commensurate steps towards common debt issuance (including short-term funding instruments on a limited and conditional basis, or gradual roll-over into a redemption fund); this framework could include also different forms of fiscal solidarity;










(c)


an integrated economic policy framework which has sufficient mechanisms to ensure that national and European policies are in place that promote sustainable growth, employment and competitiveness, and are compatible with the smooth functioning of EMU;










(d)


ensuring the necessary democratic legitimacy and accountability of decision-making within the EMU, based on the joint exercise of sovereignty for common policies and solidarity;














9.


Welcomes the decision to call for further work on the development of a roadmap for genuine economic and monetary union; insists that the European Parliament must be fully involved as an equal partner in this task beyond its role as co-legislator; calls, furthermore, for the process of reform of European Union institutions and decision-making procedures to engage not only the European institutions and national parliaments, but also the social partners, civil society and other stakeholders in a broad public debate on deeper political, economic, social and fiscal integration of the European Union; stresses that close involvement of the European Parliament and national parliaments will be central, with due respect for the Community method; believes that Protocol 1 to the TFEU on the role of national parliaments in the EU offers an appropriate framework for interparliamentary cooperation;










10.


Believes, nevertheless, that much legislative work still remains to be done in order to deliver a global, structural and comprehensive response to the crisis; calls, therefore, on the Commission to table a package of legislative proposals by September 2012, in line with the Community method, on the basis of these four building blocks;










11.


Calls on the Council to agree to a coordinated programme of targeted investment at national level in order to stimulate the European economy;










12.


Commits itself, once it has received the above-mentioned legislative package within the requested timeframe and has examined it, to ensure efficient and rapid decision making;










13.


Notes, however, that it will draw its own conclusions should it not receive the above-mentioned legislative package within the requested timeframe;










14.


Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.