Activities of Bernd LUCKE related to 2014/2157(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
European Central Bank annual report for 2013 (debate) DE
Amendments (21)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas, according to the Commission services’ spring 2014 forecast, GDP in the euro area fell by 0.4 % in 2013 after a decline of 0.7 % in 2012, and whereas the Commission services expected a recovery, with GDP rising by 1.2 % in 2014 and by 1.7 % in 2015; whereas the Commission services' autumn 2014 forecast revised growth projections downward, with GDP rising by only 0.8 % in 2014 and 1.1 % in 2015;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas, according to the sameautumn forecast, unemployment in the euro area rose from 11.3 % at the end of 2012 to 121.9 % at the end of 2013, and may fall slightly to 11.86 % in 2014;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas there are major disparities among the unemployment rates in different Member States, with figures varying between 5 % and 268 %; whereas percentages for youth unemployment are evenmuch higher;, peaking at 58.3 % in Greece in 2013.
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas, according to the Commission services’ springautumn 2014 forecast, the average inflation rate in the euro area was 1.34 % in 2013, down from 2.5 % in 2012; whereas inflation in the euro area has continued to be on a downward path since the beginning of 2014, reaching a low of 0.3 % in September;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the level of public and private investment in the euro area has been stagnating at levels significantly below those registered before the start of the crisis;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas credit to the private sector has moved further into negative territory, with an annual rate of change of -2.4% in December 2013, compared with -0.2% in December 2012; whereas the lack of credit affecting SMEs in some Member States is one of the main problems delaying thetrust and transparency in the banking system as well as the persistent need for balance sheet adjustments affect the availability of credit for SMEs in some Member States; whereas this dampens economic recoveractivity;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas financial fragmentation is still a major problempresent, with SMEs sufferfacing much higher borrowing costs depending on the country of the eurozone in which they are situated, creating distortions in the single marketrepresenting deeper underlying structural differences among Member States;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas the size of the euro system’s balance-sheet has declined steadily over the course of 2013, whereas it is unclear whether this reflectings receding financial fragmentation;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the swiftNotes the reaction of the ECB in the face of a very challenging environment, and the fact that monetary policy hwas succeedaimed inat reducing the level of stress in financial markets of the euro area, and inat restoring investors’ confidence in the soundness of the single currency; notes that this was reflected in the general reduction of long-term domestic yields – notably in the most indebted countries of the euro area – to unprecedented levels since the beginning of the crisis;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Considers that it is of utmost importance to create conditions for a rebound in investment in the euro area; calls on the ECB, in this taking into accountext, to that despite the ECB pursueing its actions in order to maintain favourable financing conditions and to reduce the financial fragmentation that remains highly penalising for private borrowers in many Member Statinvestments have not picked up yet; calls on the Member States, in this context, to work on the underlying causes of the financial fragmentation such as diverging risk structures that make lending more costly in respective countries;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Underlines that Mario Draghi, in his speech at the annual central bank symposium in Jackson Hole on 22 August 2014, stated that we need action on both sides of the economy, noting that: aggregate demand policies have to be accompanied by national structural reforms and policies; on the demand side, monetary policy can and should play a central role, which currently means an accommodative monetary policy for an extended period of time; there is little scope for fiscal policy to play a greater role alongside monetary policy especially since the sustainability of public debt needs to be taken into account; and no amount of fiscal or monetary accommodation can compensate for the necessary action on the supply side through structural reforms in the euro area;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. WelcomesTakes note of the measures announced by the ECB in June 2014 aimed at enhancing the functioning of the monetary policy transmission mechanism; acknowledgnotices that the TLTRO introduces, for the first time, a link between loans to the non- financial private sector granted by banks and the amount of refinancing the banks can claim;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Notes that the ECB has announced that it will purchase asset-backed securities (ABS) and covered bonds in order to empower the credit-easing impact of the TLTROs; stresses that such interventions on ABS market must be conducted in a transparent manner that does not create excessive risks for the ECB’s balance sheet; believes that the transferring of bad debt to the ECB balance sheet is not an appropriate solution and unfairly burdens EU taxpayers;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Stresses its concern regarding the considerable fragmentation of lending conditions for SMEs across the eurozone countries, and by the existing gap between financing rates granted to SMEs and those granted to bigger companies; insists that these long-standing problems are not appropriately addressed by the recent measures announced by ECB to boost bank lending, and that the ECB should study the possibility of launching a specific programme to supportunderlying factors hindering SMEs' access to credit;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. WelcomNotes the fact that the ECB has repeatedly stated its readiness to use additional unconventional instruments within its mandate, and to alter the size or composition of its interventions, in the event of an excessively lengthy period of low inflation;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Stresses that the impact of the unconventional monetary policy measures currently in use on the real economy should not be overestimated; stresses that such measures are transitory in nature and that their main advantage is that they can givey aim at giving Member States time to consolidate their fiscal situation and implement structural reforms that will create conditions for economic activity to rebound;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Notes that conducting non-standard monetary policies for an extended period of time creates distortions on the capital market; asks the ECB to strike the right balance between the risk of exiting its accommodative monetary policy prematurely and the risks associated with further delaying such a departure;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Recalls that monetary policy alone cannot stimulate aggregate demand unless it is complemented by adequate fiscal and structural national reforms and policies that ultimately target the underlying reasons for the sluggish development;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. WelcomeAsserts the fact that the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), the first pillar of the Banking Union, became fully operational on 4 November 2014; notes that this major step in European financial integration was achieved thanks to the successfulafter the completion of the preparatory work, including the Asset Quality Review (AQR);
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Emphasises that the SSM contributes toaims at ensuring confidence in the euro area banking sector, and thus ato financial stability; recalls that democratic accountability of the new SSM towards European and national Parliaments is crucial to ensuring the credibility of the new supervisory regime; stresses, therefore, the importance of the Interinstitutional Agreement between Parliament and the ECB, concluded in November 2013, on the practical modalities of the exercise of democratic accountability over the SSM, and of its full implementation;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Recalls that the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM), the second pillar of the Banking Union, will come into force by the beginning of 2015; stresses the need to continue developing the third pillar of the Banking Union;