8 Amendments of Gunnar HÖKMARK related to 2015/2344(INI)
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas it became apparent during the sovereign debt crisis that the European Treaties do not provide the euro area with the instruments to deal effectively with shocks; countries which did not comply with the fiscal rules of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), which did not budget responsibly but triggered large budget deficits through high spending and had postponed relevant reforms of their labour markets and public administration, were more vulnerable and could not effectively handle economic shocks; whereas it became apparent that the lack of responsibility of one Member of the euro area is a risk for the euro area as a whole, meaning that one country not adhering to the rules can affect the economy of all Member States of the Union; whereas the currency union is only as strong as its Members, which requires all participating countries to respect economic and financial rules at national level and at the same time to strengthen their economies in their own interest and in that of the whole euro area, thus guaranteeing the well-being of all citizens in the long-term, as the consequences of irresponsible policies at national level have to be borne by the Union as a whole;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas Member States that failed to adhere to the SGP and enforce fiscal rules at national level have lost credibility of financial markets and herewith the possibility to finance themselves and a great deal of trust has been lost in the process, both between Member States and on the part of citizens and the markets in the EU institutions and the Union as a whole;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Considers, against this background, that shortcomings have existed in the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) since its inception undtronger enforcement of existing fiscal rules such as the SGP, the Six-Pack and the Two-Pack is necessary, and not the transfer of more financial means; whereas the SGP is a set of rules designed to ensure that EU Member States pursue sound public finances and coordinate their fiscal policies, however, the Maastricht Treaty with the attribution of monetary policy to the European level, while budgetary policy remains within the competencies of the Member States and is only framed by provisions on light coordination of national policiesmain shortcoming is the non-implementation of existing rules as well as the underestimation of macroeconomic imbalances, which were not addressed in a sufficient and timely manner; whereas governments of euro countries are required by European economic governance rules to submit their draft budgetary plans for the following year to the European Commission by October 15 each year to ensure the coordination of fiscal and economic policies among euro countries and that EU economic governance rules are respected, but the implementation rate of the guidelines put forward by the European Commission subsequently has to be improved;
Amendment 257 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Makes it clear that rapidfurther action is needed to ensure the sustainability of the euro; stresses that this requires strong joint efforts on the part of the EU and its Member States to complete the EMU and to restore the trust of citizens and markets; stresses that the responsibility of transposing reforms to complete the EMU lies primarily with the Member States;
Amendment 283 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Argues that convergence, good governance and conditionality enforced through institutions being held democratically accountable at the euro- area and national level are key, notably to preventingthe enforcement of fiscal rules, the implementation of CSRs and good governance at euro area and national level are key to pursue sound fiscal responsibility, address macroeconomic imbalances, implement structural reforms and boost investment, in addition there is a need for monitoring and evaluating transposed reforms, notably to prevent and avoid any form of permanent transfers and moral hazard;
Amendment 346 #
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 thmore efforts have to be made to stabilise business cycle movements 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 wholeover time, since business cycle fluctuations across euro countries are highly correlated, but differ in variance, which explains why shocks in the euro area are of a more symmetric nature with differences in the boom-bust dynamics of growth rates in individual Member States, especially experienced by euro countries of the periphery; considers, thirdly, that symmetric shocks should be addressed at national level, while respecting the SGP and maintaining budgetary discipline, by making economies more competitive so as to increase the resilience of the euro area as a whole; adds that in the reform of the SGP in 2005, the European Council asked EU Member States to strengthen their domestic fiscal governance through fiscal rules and institutions at national level and further reinforced national fiscal frameworks following the adoption of the Budgetary Frameworks Directive, the Fiscal Compact and the Two-Pack;
Amendment 485 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24a. Suggests that reforms advocated in the CSRs can be incentivised through financial and technical assistance facilitated by a fiscal capacity without Treaty change and therefore be realisable in the short-term; considers that fundamental attention should be given to the CSRs, which already emphasize thoroughly the areas in need of reform, however, since the implementation rate of these measures is not satisfactory and recent reflections have not yielded to any significant tools able to improve it, the fiscal capacity could leverage the transposition of CSRs by providing positive incentives in form of financial assistance for Member States to implement reforms, especially in years of economic growth; stresses that no compensation should be granted to countries that did not pursue budgetary discipline and postponed necessary reforms; emphasizes that convergence towards the level of the most competitive countries in the euro area should be fostered through reforms that are conducive to more investment, profitable projects, productivity enhancing and have the objective of reaching full employment;
Amendment 679 #
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 endowed with the instruments to cope with anotherif Member States do not adhere to the SGP and only make limited progress in transposing the CSRs; notes that since the crisis of 2009, the European Union has introduced several new instruments in order to increase resilience against possible crisies of the extent of the previous one; is convinced that the right instrument to deal with symmetric shocks depends on the nature of the shockin the future, notably the ESM, the Six-Pack, the Two-Pack, the Fiscal Compact, the Euro-Plus Pact, launched the Banking Union and introduced the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) to further complete the EMU; is further convinced that symmetric shocks should be addressed at national level, while respecting the SGP and maintaining budgetary discipline; recalls that the EMFfiscal capacity should be used as an appropriate financial resource; to incentivise structural reforms;