Activities of Reimer BÖGE related to 2015/2344(INI)
Reports (1)
REPORT on budgetary capacity for the Eurozone PDF (616 KB) DOC (93 KB)
Amendments (40)
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2
Citation 2
– having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), in particular Articles 122, 136, 175, 310, 311, 329 and 352 thereof,
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 a (new)
Citation 4 a (new)
– having regard to the Report on Economic and Monetary Union in the European Community (Delors report, 1989),
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 12 a (new)
Citation 12 a (new)
– having regard to its resolution of 16 December 1998 on the adjustment mechanism in cases of asymmetric shocks,
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17 a (new)
Citation 17 a (new)
– having regard to the rapporteurs’ study visits to Berlin, Paris and Rome and to the meetings held with national parliaments, Finance Ministers and sherpas,
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the Treaty on European Union establishes the creation of the single market, whose currency is the euro; whereas the European Monetary Union currently consists of 19 members, two of whomhat have adopt-out clauses, the remaining seven EU Member Statesed the euro as their currency, seven that havinge yet to join and two that have opt-out clauses; whereas no financial liability will be incurred by the two countries with opt-outs from EMU in the framework of any fiscal capacity for the euro area;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the European Monetary Union established under the Maastricht Treaty was not complemented by a genuine European Economic Union; whereas this has created a situation of incompleteness of the EMU where too much has been done to take the blame but not enough to take the credit;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas repetitive currency devaluations brought trade wars and economic instability in the past, jeopardizing the European Economic Community and its successor, the single market;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas it became apparent during the sovereign debt crisis that the EMU framework did not provide the euro area with the instruments to deal effectively with shocks;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas keeping the Balance of Payments Facility for non-euro Member States while depriving euro area Member States of this instrument as a consequence of the no-bail-out clause reflects one of the original flaws of EMU; whereas the creation of the EFSM, followed by the EFSF and the ESM, was a first step to correct it in urgency;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Recalls that the Delors Report (1989) already stressed that a monetary union without a sufficient degree of convergence of economic policies is unlikely to be durable and could be damaging to the Community, and recommended to set up a financial assistance mechanism to provide support to countries experiencing temporary difficulties;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Recalls that the EU budget was not reconsidered following the creation of the Economic and Monetary Union and the adoption of the euro to take account of the major impact of the associated changes on the functioning of the EU and its internal market;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that the introduction of the euro as a common currency has eliminated tried and tested policy options for counterbalancing asymmetric shocks such as exchange rate fluctuation; reminds, however, that in addition to these policy options, sovereign bond issuances on international capital markets were also possible before the introduction of the euro; reiterates that the relinquishing of autonomy over monetary policy therefore requires alternative adjustment mechanisms to cope with asymmetric macroeconomic shocks in order to make the euro zone an optimal currency area able, inter alia, to implement a proper policy mix;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Stresses that private risk-sharing, e.g. through capital and financial markets, alleviates the burden on governments to provide insurance and furthermore has a smoothing potential; regrets, therefore, that private risk- sharing in the EMU is still relatively limited due also to the outstanding completion of the Banking Union and the Capital Markets Union;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Observes that the stabilisation of the economic cycle since the beginning of the crisis has relied almost exclusively on the ECB, and that the reduced options available for monetary policy in a context of zero lower bound rates have led the ECB to implement unconventional monetary policy measures; recalls that the President of the ECB hasnotes that, despite these measures, investment levels remain low; points to the criticism by the ECB Governing Council regarding the consistency of the EMU’s fiscal policies; welcomes its call for growth enhancing fiscal policies while maintaining the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact; believes that restoring trust in the EMU’s future evolution and a proper balance between monetary and fiscal tools requires the set- up of more investment-stimulating tools; recalls that the Presidents of the ECB and the Eurogroup have both called for integrated institutions, for a stronger and proactive fiscal policy on the euro area scale and for euro area Member States to deliver on structural reform;
Amendment 237 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. AcknowledgValues the results achieved since the crisis broke in terms of risk reduction and better coordination; points in particular to the many measures taken by the EU institutions to address the shortcomings revealed by the crisis by strengthening coordination of national fiscal policies, in particular via the adoption of the Six-Pack and the Two-Pack Regulations; welcomes further the fact that the EU institutions have set up frameworks for action in current and future crises, namely by creating the European Financial Stability Mechanism (EFSM), the temporary European Financial Stabilisation Facility (EFSF) and its permanent successor, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM); underlines, however, that these mechanisms dramatically lack democratic oversight and parliamentary control, and hence ownership;
Amendment 248 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Recalls that in 2012 the Commission introduced in its ‘Blueprint for a deep and genuine EMU’ the idea of a Convergence and Competitiveness instrument for euro area Member States, whereby euro area Member States could get financial support for ‘reform packages that are agreed and important both for the Member States and for the good functioning of the euro area’, and that this financial support ‘could be set up in principle as part of the EU budget’ and be established by secondary law on the basis of Article 352 TFEU and financed by either a commitment on the part of the euro area Member States or a legal obligation to that effect enshrined in the EU’s own resources legislation; believes that any such contributions should be entered into the EU budget as ‘assigned revenues’; considers the review by the Commission of the European Semester, including the Structural Reform Support Programme (SRSP), as a follow-up to this approach;
Amendment 265 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Is of the opinion that the current threat to the Schengen agreement on free movement of persons raises a particular challenge to the euro area given the importance of labour mobility within a currency zone;
Amendment 279 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Considers that the achievement of EMU needs to be supported by a strong political narrative rather than debates on specific instruments; warns against piecemeal technical reforms without a clear contribution to this objective; believes that the settlement of a fiscal capacity for the euro area is only one piece of the puzzle that needs to go hand in hand with a clear re-foundation spirit among its members and the ones to join;
Amendment 308 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Stresses that the euro area needs to diminish the risk for the public budgets and to financial stability by creating an environment conducive to private risk- sharing and, in that regard, by achieving a genuine Banking Union and Capital Markets Union, which together with the shock absorbing function of the fiscal capacity will enable trade-offs in shock absorption;
Amendment 360 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Considers that three different functions have to be fulfilled; argues, first, that in order to foster economic and social convergence within the euro area and to improve the economic competitiveness and resilience of the euro area, Member States’ structural reforms should be incentivised in good economic times; argues, secondly, that differences in the business cycles of euro area Member States stemming from structural differences create the need for an instrument to address asymmetric shocks; considers, thirdly, that symmetric shocks should be addressed so as to increase the resilience of the euro area as a whole;
Amendment 369 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Argues in consequence that three pillars of a fiscal capacity should be distinguished, wherein action should be undertaken in the framework of a common toolbox to address the different functions, i.e. incentivisingwith complementary but distinct instruments to support convergence and sustainable structural reforms, absorbing asymmetric shocks, and absorbing symmetric shocks; takes note of the various proposals regarding designs put forward on this matter by politicians and academia and to address crises;
Amendment 378 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Believes that real convergence should be incentivised through a better use of existing funds from the EU budget, while asymmetric and symmetric shocks should be addressed, notably by the ESM and a special fund providing targeted financial assistance in accordance with Articles 136, 175 and 352 TFEU;
Amendment 393 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Demands that the ESM be integrated into the Union’s legal framework and evolve towards a Community mechanism, as provided for in the ESM Treaty and as constantly requested by the European Parliament and foreseen in the Five Presidents’ report; underlines that the ECJ Pringle case-law and jurisprudence open up the possibility of bringing the ESM within the Union’s framework, within the existing Treaties, on the basis of Article 352 TFEU; calls, therefore, on the Commission to bring forward as a matter of urgency a legislative proposal to that end; demands that the ESM be made fully accountable to the European Parliament;
Amendment 404 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
Amendment 426 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Insists that once it is integrated into Community law,the instruments under the second and third pillar of the fiscal capacity for the euro, including the EMF, area should be integrated into the EU budget, but over and above the ceilings of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF); believes that they should be financed through assigned revenue;
Amendment 460 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Believes that compliance with a convergence code should be the condition for access to funding from the ESM/EMFfiscal capacity; reiterates its call on the Commission to put forward a legislative proposal to this end;
Amendment 566 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 – indent 3 – paragraph 2
Paragraph 26 – indent 3 – paragraph 2
This five-year period should in exchange allow for a phasing-in of the new tasks attributed to the ESM/EMFfiscal capacity;
Amendment 578 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Considers that a financial instrument is needed to work as an incentive-based mechanism for convergence and sustainable structural reforms with clear conditionality; stresses the need for strong efforts at national and regional level to eliminate persistent legal and administrative obstacles to investment and to accelerate procedures altogether; believes that the Structural Reform Support Programme (SRSP), which is designed to provide technical support to "national authorities for measures aimed at reforming institutions, governance, administration, and economic and social sectors"1a with a view to enhancing growth and jobs, can be further developed as a contribution to this function of the fiscal capacity; __________________ 1aRecital 23 of the Commission’s proposal for the Structural Reform Support Programme (COM(2015)0701)
Amendment 604 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28a. Calls for the ESM, whilst fulfilling its ongoing tasks, to be further developed and turned into a European Monetary Fund (EMF) with adequate lending and borrowing capacities and a clearly defined mandate, including its contribution to a euro area fiscal capacity; stresses that the EMF should be managed by the Commission, evolve in its governance and voting rules, and be held democratically accountable by the European Parliament; emphasises that national parliaments should be involved in the process to respect their constitutional prerogatives regarding financial resources;
Amendment 614 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Notes thatConsiders that the stabilisation provided through the ESM should be complemented by at least one of the two models for theautomatic shock absorption function are featured most prominently in the academic literature: a Rainy Day Fund and aor the European Unemployment Benefit Scheme;
Amendment 630 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Points out that thea Rainy Day Fund (RDF) would increase the flexibility of government budgets in the short term without compromising the long-term sustainability of public finances; believes that the RDF should be funded by all theeuro area Member States and non-euro area countries willing to participate, with contributions on the basis of a cyclically sensitive economic indicator, and be used for payments to allcontributing Member States suffering from economic downturns; based on strict conditionality in line with Article 136 TFEU; is convinced that, in order to effectively prevent permanent redistribution and to keep long-term net contributions close to zero, an ex post clearing mechanism should be included in the RDF design; considers that the RDF can initially be set up without Treaty change but should eventually be integrated into the Community framework to ensure proper democratic accountability;
Amendment 662 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Considers that the EMF should providSM could also manage the financial resources for either of these models, which could require increa; points to the necessity, should this management model be chosen, to ensure that its amount of capital is adequate to its tasks, singce the amount of capitalpaid-in capital is an indispensable security buffer guaranteeing the fund's creditworthiness; points out that the fund should avoid long- term redistribution effects by ensuring Member States’' contributions are balanced over the cycle;
Amendment 690 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Warns that future symmetric shocks could destabilise the euro area as a whole since the currency area is not yet endowed with the instruments to cope with another crisis of the extent of the previous one; is convinced that the right instrument to deal with symmetric shocks depends on the nature of the shock; recalls that the EMF should be used as an appropriate financial resource;
Amendment 699 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Considers that in the case of symmetric shocks brought about by a lack of internal demand, monetary policy alone cannot reignite the economy, particularly in a context of zero lower bounds; is therefore convinced that public and private investment must be increased, the administrative burden reduced and a proper regulatory framework developed, with a view to stimulating potential growth;
Amendment 710 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. Considers that symmetric shocks that are caused by a lack of supply must be diminished by improving the competitiveness of the euro area via appropriate financial incentives, including viafor the financing of professional training or financial incentives for R&D spending, by the reduction of administrative burden, the simplification and acceleration of procedures and the development of a proper regulatory framework;
Amendment 762 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
39. Calls urgently for the European Parliament and national parliaments to be given a strengthened role in the renewed economic governance framework in order to reinforce democratic accountability; calls for increased national ownership in the European Semester in order to improve compliance with the CSRs; suggests, based on the model of the European Interparliamentary Week, to foresee one week per quarter in the calendars of the European Parliaments and the national parliaments of all Member States for joint parliamentary sessions, thereby allowing for a substantial discussion throughout the cycle of the European Semester and promoting a European public debate;
Amendment 780 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40 a (new)
Paragraph 40 a (new)
40a. Believes that making the ESM fully accountable to the European Parliament as a consequence of this communitarisation would upgrade and streamline the parliamentary control compared to the existing situation characterised by uncoordinated scrutiny by 19 national Parliaments; calls for this streamlining of accountability to be also applied in the field of auditing;
Amendment 816 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43
Paragraph 43
43. Acknowledges that the current political climate characterised by deep inequality, mistrust and uncertainty is not conducive to proper reforms to achieve and complete EMU; believes, therefore, that a comprehensive roadmap, including clear milestones withihowever, that the various crises and referenda require the euro area to make, as soon as possible, a qualitative leap of integration; consequently calls for a comprehensive, binding roadmap to be proposed by the Commission and agreed timetable and taking into account the political situation, should be urgently adopted with a clear commitment by euro area Heads of State and Government to achieving a genuine and complete EMUdopted by euro area Heads of State and Government in December 2016, with the aim to finalize all legislative measures that do not require Treaty change by the end of the current mandate of the Commission and the European Parliament and to set the stage for the necessary Treaty changes to allow for a sustainable euro area;
Amendment 828 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
44. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the President of the Council, the Commission, the Eurogroup and the ECB, the Managing Director of the ESM and the national parliaments.