REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 1173/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2011 on the effective enforcement of budgetary surveillance in the euro area
Date: 2014-06-27
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European Commission, budgetary control, delegated legislation, euro area













EUR-Lex - 52014DC0393 - EN











|



52014DC0393

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 1173/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2011 on the effective enforcement of budgetary surveillance in the euro area /* COM/2014/0393 final */









REPORT
FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND
THE
COUNCIL
on
the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission
pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 1173/2011 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 16 November 2011 on the effective enforcement of budgetary
surveillance in the euro area
1.
        INTRODUCTION
Regulation
(EU) No 1173/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the
effective enforcement of budgetary surveillance in the euro area[1]
is one of the six legal acts in the economic governance package called ‘the
six-pack’.  The economic governance package, as a whole, was designed to
address the gaps and weaknesses identified in the EU economic governance system,
which were partly responsible for the spread of economic crisis in EU countries.

Regulation
(EU) No 1173/2011 empowers the Commission to adopt delegated acts with respect
to certain procedures in connection with sanctions concerning the manipulation
of statistics. In particular the Commission is empowered to establish detailed
rules concerning the procedures for the investigations together with expressly
defined associated measures. These powers delegated to the Commission were an
illustration of the move towards more robust surveillance of economic and
monetary cooperation, including sanction mechanisms.
2.
        LEGAL BASIS
This
report is required under Article 11(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1173/2011.
Pursuant to this provision, the power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on
the Commission for a period of three years from 13 December 2011 and the
Commission is required to prepare a report in respect of the delegation of
power.
3.         EXERCISE
OF THE DELEGATION
The
exercise of the empowerment was deemed necessary in order to respond to the need
to supplement the rules on calculating fines imposed for manipulation of
statistics and the rules on the procedure to be followed for investigations
into possible misrepresentation of data (as described under Article 8(3) of
Regulation (EU) No 1173/2011).
In
accordance with Article 8(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1173/2011, the Council,
acting on a recommendation from the Commission, may decide to impose a fine on
a Member State which intentionally, or by serious negligence, misrepresents
deficit and debt data. Moreover, it follows from Article 8(3) of the Regulation
that the Commission may conduct all investigations necessary to establish the
existence of such misrepresentations of data.
Pursuant
to Article 8(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1173/2011, the Commission is empowered to
adopt delegated acts concerning detailed criteria establishing the amount of
the fine referred to in paragraph 1; detailed rules concerning the procedures
for the investigations referred to in paragraph 3, the associated measures and
the reporting on the investigations; and detailed rules of procedure aimed at
guaranteeing the rights of the defence, access to the file, legal
representation, confidentiality and provisions as to the timing and the
collection of the fines referred to in paragraph 1. 
The
Commission adopted one single delegated decision on investigations and fines to
cover all the aspects for which it was empowered to adopt delegated acts: Commission
Delegated Decision 2012/678/EU of 29 June 2012 on investigations and fines
related to the manipulation of statistics as referred to in Regulation (EU) No
1173/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the effective
enforcement of budgetary surveillance in the euro area[2].
The
parties consulted on the draft delegated Decision included national experts
invited to two experts’ meetings organized in January and March 2012. The Commission
adopted the delegated act on 29 June 2012 and notified the European Parliament
and the Council. In July 2012, a number of Member States voiced the opinion
that more time was needed to examine the act. On 24 July, the Council therefore
decided to extend the objection period by two months (in addition to the
standard two-month period allowed) as provided for in Article 11(5) of
Regulation (EU) No 1173/2011. Neither the European Parliament nor the Council
issued any objection to the delegated act within the four-month period. On the
expiry of the additional two-month period, the delegated act was published in
the Official Journal of the European Union and entered into force on 26
November 2012.
4.
        CONCLUSION
The
Commission has exercised its delegated powers correctly and invites the
European Parliament and the Council to take note of this report.
[1]               OJ L
306, 23.11.2011, p. 1.
[2]               OJ L 306, 6.11.2012,
p. 21.