53 Amendments of Gunnar HÖKMARK related to 2010/2038(INI)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas fiscal policy is not sustainable if it implies an excessive accumulation of government debt over time,
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the projections underpinning the communication are based on assumptions that will inevitably change between now and 2060, which is a long way off,
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas theseveral Member States have taken steps to reduce their administrative expenditure, bring their healthcare spending under control and reform their health and retirement systems, whilst other Member States are still lagging behind with their structural reforms,
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas a positive correlation could be observed during these times between sound public finances and the economies' resilience,
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas government debt in some Member States has increased in a way that undermines stability and results in high government expenses related to interest payments at the expense of the increasingly important spending on health and retirement systems,
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
Eb. whereas increased public borrowing distorts financial markets due to higher interest rates, with negative consequences for households as well as for investments in new jobs,
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the long-term growth rate is, affected by short-termmongst others, dependent on business investment,
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L a (new)
Recital L a (new)
La. whereas the current debt and deficit levels threaten the very existence of the welfare state,
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L b (new)
Recital L b (new)
Lb. whereas the lack of implementing structural reforms and of consolidating public finances will have an adverse effect on expenditure with regard to health care, pensions and employment,
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L c (new)
Recital L c (new)
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Title before first paragraph
Title before first paragraph
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 a (new)
Paragraph -1 a (new)
-1a. Regrets that even before the crises started a number of Member States' performance in consolidating their public finances were not impressive despite the fact that the economic conditions were favourable; which was a breach of the preventive arm of the SGP, especially after its re-drafting in 2005, and which seriously diminished the capacity to act in a counter-cyclical way as the crises unfolded, leading to more uncertainty, higher unemployment and increased social problems;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 b (new)
Paragraph -1 b (new)
-1b. Is aware that the current levels of public expenditure cannot be maintained indefinitely; welcomes the European Councils' decision to refrain from deciding on a follow-up package of help measures until the present one's results have been thoroughly analysed and the need for further action is clearly demonstrated;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 c (new)
Paragraph -1 c (new)
-1c. Acknowledges that the operations destined to prevent a melt-down of the financial sector were successful, although vigilance is still highly necessary; expects the financial burden in relation to the saving of the banking sector to decrease; lauds the central banks' coordinated approach to achieve this goal; is proud of the ECB's leading role in saving the banking sector; puts its full weight behind the reform of the system of prudential supervision and the re-drawing of the framework of the financial architecture;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 d (new)
Paragraph -1 d (new)
-1d. Underlines that the SGP must aim for balance or surplus over time, requiring surplus in economic good times and pension schemes transparently financed in the framework of public budgets or by funded private schemes;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 e (new)
Paragraph -1 e (new)
-1e. Points out that the long-term sustainability of public finances is essential for stability and growth, and for maintaining appropriate levels of public expenditure; stresses that high debt and deficit levels are a threat to sustainability and will have adverse effects on public health care, pensions and employment;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 f (new)
Paragraph -1 f (new)
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 g (new)
Paragraph -1 g (new)
-1g. Reminds that the consolidation of public finances, the reduction of deficit and debt levels is essential to maintain a modern welfare state and a system of redistribution which caters for society as a whole but especially supports the less privileged parts of it;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 h (new)
Paragraph -1 h (new)
-1h. Stresses that, if public debt continues to increase, the costs in the form of interest rate payments cannot be borne anymore by future generations without endangering welfare state models;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 i (new)
Paragraph -1 i (new)
-1i. Is deeply concerned that many Member States are in breach with the Stability and Growth Pact; regrets that Member States have not consolidated their public finances in economic beneficial times before the crisis; agrees with the Commission statement that debt sustainability should get a very prominent and explicit role in surveillance procedures; urges the Commission to rigorously ensure compliance with the Stability and Growth Pact;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. DWarns against an abrupt end of support to the real economy in order to avoid a double dip; draws attention to the undesirable effects – in terms of deteriorating employment, human capital and purchasing power – of prematurely withdrawing support measures; reminds that these measures were explicitly meant to be timely, targeted and temporary; welcomes the Commission's work on the exit strategy from the present contingency measures; supports the Commission's approach of exit strategies that are differentiated between countries in time and scope; understands that the withdrawals from the measures will start in 2011 for the first batch of countries; encourages the Member States to do their utmost to implement the exit strategies as soon and as firmly as possible;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Considers that the fiscal exit strategy should start before the monetary exit strategy in order to allow the latter to be correctly implemented, thus ensuring that the ECB, which successfully avoided a slip into deflation, can equally well insure that inflation does not ruin the recovery; understands that the ECB has hinted that in the absence of timely fiscal reining-in, its monetary tightening would regrettably have to be stronger than anticipated;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Underlines that a decrease of financial stimulus must be combined with efforts to make the internal market more dynamic, competitive and attractive to investments;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Underlines that a gradual and controlled exit from the deficits is of crucial importance in order to keep interest rates down and the debt burden limited, thereby securing the ability to uphold the spending of welfare systems and economic standards of households;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Reminds that low interest rates are favourable for investment and the recovery; is aware of the effects of a government's intense borrowing activities on interest levels; deeply regrets that this has led to increased interest rate spreads within the EU; warns Member States to take into account the effects of their budgetary decisions on the market's interest rates; is of the opinion that sound public finances are a pre-requisite for secure jobs; reminds that by driving up the cost of borrowing, the governments also increase the burden weighing on their own budgets;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Points to the fact that the anti-cyclical effects of the SGP can only work if the Member States effectively achieve a budgetary surplus in good times; calls in this respect for a better implementation also of the preventive arm or the SGP; urges to move from the 'spend first, reimburse later' attitude to a 'save for a possible future emergency' principle; reminds that the SGP requires the Member States to achieve a budget that is balanced or in surplus over the medium term, meaning that a deficit of three percent is not an aim, but the extreme limit allowed for, even under the revised Pact; warns decision-makers as well as businesses to get used to non- conventional fiscal and monetary measures to expect these to become the norm;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Urges to carry out structural reforms in parallel to the unwinding of the help packages in order to prevent future crises as well as to increase the competitiveness of the European businesses, achieve more growth and boost employment;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Takes the view that the Commission should define indicators of a ‘recovering economy’ in order to determine the point at which exit strategies should be deployed, for example where an economy has reached its normal production capacity utilisation rate;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Agrees with the Commission that ‘successful fiscal expansion to counter recession and longer-term fiscal sustainability are not incompatible’, as long as the measures are not made permanent;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Emphasises that a substantial part of the public-sector and welfare spending is more than just unproductive expenditure, since it also has a beneficial impact on the accumulation of physical and human capital and on effective demand; underlines the need to control the increase of debt burden in order to secure that rising costs for interest rates do not squeeze out crucial welfare spending;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Emphasises that the resulting increase in the potential growth rate would in turn be likely to relax constraints on financing such expenditure, thanks to the ensuing tax revenue;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Emphasises that the role of social protection systems as ‘social safety nets’ has proven particularly effective in times of crisis, and that such systems can be maintained by, inter alia, broadening their financing bas; underlines that stability in public finances is a precondition for ensuring that this is also the case in the future;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Points out that therising deficits markets and credit- rating agencies may overestimate the risks of holding government securities, just as they underestimated the risks of acquiring private securities before the financial crisiborrowing more expensive, partly due to the fact that markets assess risks higher when the debt burden is increasing faster than the economic growth and the ability to pay back loans;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Suggests, in particular, that the Commission assess the effects of the fiscal spending deployed by the Member States in order to kick-start their economies, in terms of its impact on production and on government accountsboth in the short- and the long-term;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Recalls that the Stability and Growth Pact was revised in 2005 in order to allow the de facto adoption of the principles underpinning a counter-cyclical macroeconomic policy, which have come into their own in the face of the crisi, which was already allowing a contra-cyclical macro economic policy from its start on, was revised in 2005 in order to allow the necessary flexibility that is needed to withstand the onslaughts of major crises and ensure that Member States build up budgetary reserves in good times;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Asks the Commission to ensure that any recommendations on deficit reduction are compatible with this principle of counter-cyclical managcounter-cyclical management of public finances is carried out in accordance with the requirements of public financesthe Stability and Growth Pact;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Considers a renewed growth and jobs strategy as key contributor to sustainable public finances in the European Union; believes that the European Union needs to modernise its economy and particularly its industrial base; calls for a re-allocation in the EU and the Member States' budgets towards greater investment into research and innovation; points out that the new EU 2020 strategy needs binding instruments to succeed;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 b (new)
Paragraph 20 b (new)
20b. Reminds that the interest rates' spreads on the capital markets are the main indicators of the Member States' solvency;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Is extremely worried about the divergence in the quality of statistics that can be observed within the EU in general and the Eurozone in particular;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and, Commission, the ECB and the governments of the Member States.