Activities of Gunnar HÖKMARK related to 2008/2334(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
European Economic Recovery Plan (A6-0063/2009, Elisa Ferreira) (vote)
Amendments (61)
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A (new)
Recital -A (new)
-A. whereas the international economy and global markets have been able to deliver an unprecedented and historically unique growth the last 25 years, with a capacity of production that has established prosperity for more people than ever before, a capacity that needs to be readjusted in an economic slowdown followed by decreasing demand,
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A a (new)
Recital -A a (new)
-Aa. whereas the main reason for the ongoing downturn of the international and the EU economy now is the lack of confidence and trust on the financial and capital markets, created by the failure of systemic crucial financial institutions, thereby undermining credit markets, hindering capital flow, investments and trade as well as putting downward pressure on prices and values, eroding solidity and capital assets needed for financial institutions to lend and for companies to secure their own financing,
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A b (new)
Recital -A b (new)
-Ab. whereas this problem should be the primary and main challenge for EU policy makers in the short-term, in order to get the financial and capital markets back to function, by coordinated actions in the framework of EU legislation regarding competition and State aid, thereby not distorting competition between companies or creating an imbalance in financial market security between the Member States,
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A c (new)
Recital -A c (new)
-Ac. whereas the problem of the functioning of financial and capital markets should be solved in order for other targeted actions to be able help the EU economy returning to growth, investments and new jobs,
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A d (new)
Recital -A d (new)
-Ad. whereas the causes of and reasons for the financial crisis were lax monetary policies and politically enforced increased credits for housing as well as macro- economical imbalances mainly between the US and emerging economies, such as China; underlines the need to develop further EU competitiveness and investments in infrastructure and research as well as in new companies and new markets,
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the unprecedented dimension of the current financial crisis and the depth of the ensuing downturn requires an urgent need to rethink considered overhaul, at European Union and at an international level, of the regulatory and governance framework of financial markets, in order to prevent future problems in the international economy, create problems of the same kind on the financial markets and make the EU economy more robust to changes,
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the consequences of the financial crisis on the real economy result in exceptional economic circumstances that require exceptimely, targeted and proportional measures and decisions, and whereas public intervention, although inevitable, drives a wedge between the gains of the private sector in the recent past and the losses of the public sector in the present and near future,
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas Member States have the ultimate responsibility and capacity in all sorts of crises for guarantying stability,
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas short-term actions must fit in with and support the long-term objectives of making the EU the most competitive knowledge economy, not undermining future trust and confidence as well as ensuring macro economical stability,
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas Member States’ different capacities to engage in recovery programmes should be recognised; whereas a sizeable complementary European Union approach with strong focus on multi-supportive policy mix measures in the fields of economic, environment, employment and social policies should beis being developed,
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas joining the euro has proved to enhance economic stability in the Member States; whereas, however, citizens expect, particularly in a time of economic recession, a strong enforcement of the Treaty provisions on social and regional cohesionresponsible government intervention to counter the economic downturn and offset the social effects, whilst preserving the rules and principles that guarantee a strong and stable single currency,
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas it is of the utmost importance that confidence is restored in order to allow for an orderly functioning of the financial markets and to dampen the effects on the real economy,
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. welcomes the Commission'’s prompt initiative to launch a European economic recovery plan (Recovery Plan) as a reaction to the serious ongoing downturn; regrets, however, that the Community dimension of that proposal amounts to only 15 % of the budget for the recovery programmeeconomic downturn;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. welcomes the Commission's prompt initiative to launch a European economic recovery plan (Recovery Plan) as a reaction to the serious ongoing downturn; regrets, however, that the Community dimension of that proposal amounts to only 15 % of the budget for the recovery programme;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. stresses that the top priority of the Recovery Plan must be to protect citizens of the Union from the effects of the financial crisis, as they are the most strongly affected whether as workers, as members of households, or as entrepreneursenable financial markets to function again and to facilitate investments improving opportunities for growth and jobs, thereby enabling the EU economy to recover and grow and giving citizens the best available opportunities and security through a growing and dynamic economy;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. stresses that the top priority of the Recovery Plan must be to protect citizens of the Union from the effects of the financial crisis, as they are the most strongly affected whether as workers, as members of households, or as entrepreneurscounter the economic decline whilst intensifying its strategy to strengthen the EU economy and labour market and improving the framework conditions for growth and job creation;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. insists that all financial aid be timely, targeted, and temporary so that it ceases once the worst of the crisis has been overcome; warns of possible crowding-out effects; urges for a return to sound state finance as soon as possible as foreseen in the revised Stability and Growth Pact in order to avoid putting too much burden on future generations;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. underlines the need to keep actions in the framework of financial stability and competition legislation, exceptions and deviations from the common rules and goals must be turned into normality in clearly defined time perspectives;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2c. stresses that actions aiming for restoring trust and confidence on the financial markets must be taken as the first steps of the Recovery Plan, making other actions relevant and meaningful by a functioning market for financing, housing and investments;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. strongly regrets the absence of clear growth and job benchmarks and targets from the Recovery Plan; calls for the European Union to agree on sustainable job creation, the safeguarding of employment, and the prevention of mass unemployment as its most important common goals, which should determine the size and components of the Recovery Plancalls for the European Union to step up its efforts to invest in skills training and sustainable job creation, and the prevention of mass unemployment;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. strongly regrets the absence of clear growth and job benchmarks and targets from the Recovery Plan; calls for the European Union to agree on sustainable job creation by investments in infrastructure, the safeguarding of employment by lower taxes and wage costs, and the prevention of mass unemployment as its mostby turning the European economy back to growth as very important common goals, which should help determine the size and components of the Recovery Plan;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. strongly calls focalls for assessing whether new horizontal initiatives at European Union level, given that different national capacities and margins of budgetary manoeuvre may generate very asymmetric outcomes across Europe might be necessary;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. strongly calls for new horizontal initiatives at European Union level, given that different national capacities and margins of budgetary manoeuvre may generate very asymmetric outcomes across Europe; recalls, however, the responsibility of each Member State to exercise fiscal discipline and structural reforms;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. calls onsupports the Commission to give clear guidance on the interpretation of the flexibility clause of the revised Stability and Growth Pact, namely when addressing short-term investment decisions which are compatible with medium-term budgetary targets and conducive to sustainable growth and long-term Lisbon goal´s commitment to the revised Stability and Growth Pact and notes its willingness to use all the flexibility which is foreseen by the pact in order to allow Member States to respond adequately to the economic crisis;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. calls on the Commission to give clear guidance on the interpretation of the flexibility clause of the revised Stability and Growth Pact, namely when addressingto assess whether short-term investment decisions which are compatible with medium-term budgetary targets and conducive to sustainable growth and long-term Lisbon goals;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. underlines that government intervention in the credit market should be temporary and that the strategy for government retraction must be clear from the outset;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. notes with concern the rapid rise of public debt and budget deficits; concerned that public debts may become an excessive burden for future generations;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. calls for coordinated action between Member States allowing for general and explicit national bank guarantees covering liabilities, but excluding equity capital, in order to reduce uncertainty in the credit markets and facilitate the functioning of those markets;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. welcomes the short-term measures adopted to return confidence to the financial system; recalls that those emergency measures are insufficient to tackle one of the fundamental problems at the source of the crisis, namely excessive risk- taking, leveraging and rewarding short- termism;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. warns of possible overregulation of the financial sector which might render innovation in the field of financial products impossible and reduce the attractiveness of EU financial markets, diverting financial flows towards third markets;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. recalls the necessity for regulators and appropriate Member States' authorities to scrutinise the banking and bankers' activities over the last months in depth, so asand also to determine whether criminal behaviour might have contributed to the banking meltdown;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. insists on the need for conditionality to be attached to the banking sector rescue plans in terms of dividend distribution, remuneration policy, provision of credit, lending conditions and protection of social policy terms;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. underlines the importance of ensuring that central interest rate cuts are passed on to borrowers;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. encourages the Commission urgently to put forward relevant proposals to tackle the issue of cross-border flows following the case ofand the Member States urgently to tackle the problem of banking guarantees, in order to ensure that similarly designed schemes would prevent banks to fail across the EU, thus allowing interbank lending to revive, a revival that is a necessary condition for putting an end to the banking crisis and allowing for new credit to be given to the real economy, increasing investment and consumption and so leading the way out of the economic crisis; considers that sound interbank lending would also help stem the massive repatriation of funds from central Europe by western banks, which added to the economic and financial difficulties of those countries;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. strongly urges an increase in the effectiveness of financial supervision at Member State and EU level; suggests that the de Larosière Group to take on board the recommendations put forward in Parliament's previous resolutions, relating to financial market supervision; urges the Commission to endorse its contributions to create a stable and efficient structure of regulation and supervision, which may prevent or limit the adverse impacts of future crises; would support a greater role of the ECB in financial supervision such as provided for by Article 105(5) of the Treaty;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. reaffirms that more transparency and better risk-management provide most of the solutions to further crisis-prevention and that the regulatory reform must be all- encompassing, applying to all actors and transactions in the financial markets; underlines that regulatory initiatives must cover executive remuneration, transparency, leverage, capital requirements and securitisation; reminds the Commission of its obligation to respond to Parliament's requests on the regulation of hedge funds and private equity;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. reaffirms that more transparency and better risk-management as well as coordinated supervision provide most of the solutions to further crisis-prevention and that the regulatory reform must be all- encompassing, applying to all actors and transactions in the financial markets; underlines that regulatory initiatives must cover executive remuneration, transparency, leverage, capital requirements and securitisationpoints to the fact that the global nature of financial markets necessitates an international coordination of reforms; underlines that regulatory initiatives must aim at creating transparency, sustainability, stability and responsibility in the market; reminds the Commission of its obligation to respond to Parliament's requests on the regulation of hedge funds and private equity;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. strongly recommends that sufficient, affordable and reasonably secure access to credit is urgently guaranteed across the European Union to SMEs, citizens and to those sectors in which a sustainable future is endangered due to the crisislack of credit; calls on the Commission to ensure exchanges of best practices in this respect;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. asks Member States to consider the possibility of reducing labour taxation in lower incomes in order to increase the purchasing power and stimulate demand for retail products;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. calls for a true European Pact for Employment; supports the Commission'’s initiative to put forwardadvance European Social Fund spendingpayments, to promote the development and matching of skills;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. calls for a true European Pact for Employment; supports the Commission's initiative to put forward European Social Fund spending, to promote the development and matching of skills;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. underlines the need to guarantee minimum living standards for all citizens of the Union and calls for adequate emergency measures to be taken; calls for social policies to be adapted to cope with the recession, supporting active labour market policies, living conditions (in particular in the housing market and access to quality public services) and paying special attention to the most vulnerable members of society;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. calls on the Commission urgently to assess the recession risks affecting industrial sectors across Europe in order pro-actively to intervene at European Union level, if needed;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. calls on the Commission urgently to assess the recession risks affecting industrial sectors across Europe in order to pro-actively to intervene at European Union level, if neededlevel if needed; stresses however, that some of the woes of EU industries may have been exacerbated, but certainly not caused by the financial crisis; is of the view, therefore, that State aid measures should be carefully targeted so as to not go beyond offsetting the effects of the financial crisis, and they must be accompanied by the strictest conditions of restructuring, investment in innovation and sustainability;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. warns against the undue loosening of the EU competition rules, as this might weaken the internal market; is concerned that national responses to the economic downturn may lead to protectionism and distortion of competition, which, in the long term, would seriously undermine the economic prosperity of the citizens of the Union;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. welcomes all the Commission proposals that simplify and accelerate access to the available cohesion instruments, and speed up project implementation, namely through anticipating funds, temporarily increasing community support rates, and improving technical assistance and accelerating payment procedures;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. calls on the development offor refining the recovery instruments and policies both at European Union and at Member State level, capable of boosting demand and confidence across the European Union, in accordance with a common set of priorities within the Lisbon strategy, such as: investing in education, skills and lifelong learning, energy efficiency and green technologies, broadband networks, urban transport, creative industries and services, health services, and services for children and older people;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28a. asks the Commission when presenting the list of specific projects applying for EU budget financing, and as requested by the 2008 European Council on 12 December, to take into account the need to increase the competitiveness of the EU economy with a long-term perspective, advancing infrastructure projects already decided and planned;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)
Paragraph 29 a (new)
29a. stresses the need to reduce the bureaucratic burden on investment projects co-financed by private companies; therefore calls on the Commission and the Member States to take measures that accelerate and facilitate investments;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. calls for adequate detailed criteria and standards to be developed for close monitoring and permanent reregular assessment of the effectiveness of the recovery plans, bearing in mind that the full extent of the crisis cannot yet be totally assessed;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. considerunderlines that the present disinflationary recessive environment renders a broad interpretation of the ECB mandate crucial; underlines that the ECB has a responsibility to ensure supportive monetary policy for recovery in the euro areaECB has a major role in ensuring that its monetary policy is conducive to recovery in the euro area; recalls the independence of the ECB and its mission to ensure price stability;
Amendment 192 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 - indent 2
Paragraph 34 - indent 2
- the establishment of a binding framework for Member States within which consult each other andconsultation and coordination between Member States and with the Commission before takingon major economic policy decisions, based on a common understanding of problems and priorities while accepting some national specificities;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. considers that involvement of the European Investment Bank (EIB) is crucial and that a large share of lending referred to in the Recovery Plan is within its competence; welcomes the Member States' agreement on a capital increase for the EIB; recalls that some of the EIB interventions also require support from the EU budget, but that this is not currently provided for in the Recovery Planemphasises the EIB role in refinancing commercial banks, including existing PPP structures;
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
Amendment 211 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37
Paragraph 37
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
38. recommends a flexible approach to the European budget spending structure, reinforcing its internal social and cohesion dimensions; strongly supports the mobilisation ofproposes to assess the options for using unspent EU funds tofor priorities identified under a cohesion framework;