53 Amendments of Philippe LAMBERTS related to 2012/2256(INI)
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. Whereas the disparity in the unemployment rates between the Member States has grown dramatically however;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas it should be recalled that, in 2007, at the start of the crisis, the average public deficit for the euro area stood at only 0.6 % and was on a declining path towards equilibrium; overall balanced budgets; whereas insufficient counter-cyclical efforts were made during the good years as the debt bubble contributed to increasing artificially public revenues in a non sustainable way in several Member States;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the sharp deterioration of public deficits and debt, which has been seen since 2009 in manyseveral Member States, has been triggered by the reaction of governments to the crisis, in the absence of European anticyclical instruments and more specifically by the subsequent socialisation of costs arising from extraordinary public support granted to the financial sector as well as the need to trigger automatic stabilizers, whereas the absence of European anticyclical instruments and asymmetric shock absorbers has created negative externalities and spill-over effects and has not contributed to alleviate the overall situation;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the analysis of 2010 and 2011 statistics now clearly documents that the policy options taken causedstrongly contributed to a reversal of the mild recovery of 2010 resulting from the premature and massive tightening of fiscal policy in combination with the ongoing deleveraging process, with contractionary effects across Member States that still persist;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the Commission forecasts for 2012 have been successively revised downwards from 1.8 % in spring 2011 to - 0.4 % in autumn 2012 for 2012; whereas in its autumn forecasts the Commission predicts a GDP growth of a mere 0.1 % for 2013; whereas there are serious doubts as to the accuracy ofwnside risks to these 2013 forecasts, since inter alia they are likely to be based on an underestimated fiscal multiplier, thereby underestimatbiasing the negative effect of current fiscal contraction on economic growth;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the size of fiscal multipliers in bad economic times and more specifically in the aftermath of severe financial crises can be 2 to 34 times higher than in normal economic times, when the output gap is close to zero;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas this fiscal tightening strategy forces down demand,reduces aggregate demand, and creates downward pressures on wages and prices while driving up unemployment;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L a (new)
Recital L a (new)
La. whereas HIPC rates show significant differences across the EMU;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas austerity measures adopted by several Member States have reached an unprecedented dimension: the fiscal stance for Greece from 2010 to 2012 amounts to 18 points of GDP, for Portugal, Spain and Italy respectively 7.5, 6.5 and 4.8 points of GDP without any significant signs of improvement of the economic and fiscal situation and with huge social disruption, calling for a new assessment of the policies imposed; whereas primary surpluses have generally improved;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas sovereign interest rates show unprecedented divergences within the euro area and remain at unsustainable levels for certain Member States; whereas the OMT announcement has had non-negligible effects in the reduction of interest-rate spreads;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P
Recital P
P. whereas surplus countries should have been asked to share the adjustment burden by stimulating their internal demand, notably by adjusting wages and by stimulating investments oriented towards sustainable growth enhancing sectors as well as by increasing overall capital and resource productivity;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital R
Recital R
R. whereas lending to the private sector remains weak and private credit flows are subdued in several Member States;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital S
Recital S
S. whereas the contributing capacity of taxpayers is almost exhausted in several Member Statput under serious pressure in several Member States whereas there is however scope for a fairer and more balanced distribution of efforts in all Member States so as to alleviate the tax burden on labour and increase the burden on polluting activities an more generally on activities originating costly negative externalities; whereas the European shadow economy is estimated to represent 22.1 % of total economic activity and the resulting loss of tax to be around EUR one trillion each year;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the recognition in the AGS 2013 that growtha comprehensive shift towards sustainable growth enhancing and green job rich sectors and activities is necessary in order to exit the crisis, but doubts whetheris however circumspect on the positive signs of recovery seen by the Commission are accurate; warns of the risk of a continued contraction of economic activity over the coming year resulting from the aggregate negative effect of significant and simultaneous procyclical budget cuts across the EU and the euro area;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Welcomes the commitments made by the Commission in the framework of its 'blueprint for the future of the EMU" regarding the adoption of proposals for the gradual establishment of an EMU fiscal capacity aiming at fostering solidarity and creating an EU couter- cyclical and shock absorption function; deems that such proposals need to be truly ambitious and far reaching regarding their size and scope;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Looks forward to the forthcoming steps announced by the Commission as a follow-up to the review clause of the 'two pack' on public finances quality;
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Welcomes the provision agreed on the 'two pack' regarding a more qualitative surveilance and assessment of public finances as well as cost-benefits assessments of public investments;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1d. Welcomes the provisions agreed in the two pack enhancing the economic dialogue and the overall scrutiny on the Semester process of National Parliaments and the European Parliament;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls on the Commission to study seriously the possibility of spreading fiscal adjustment over a longer period, thereby providing additional temporary room for manoeuvre to re-ignite growth as soon as possible;.uncil and the Commission to assess thoroughly the option of spreading fiscal adjustment over a longer period, in light of the current macroeconomic context and negative spillover effects as well as in light of the principle of differentiated, smart and growth-friendly fiscal consolidation in the Member States thereby providing additional temporary room for manoeuvre to re-ignite sustainable growth so as to make full use of the flexibility foreseen in times of economic downturn by the updated Growth and Stability Pact;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Points to the potential positive spill- over effects on Member States in severe economic difficulties if Member States with relatively strong public finances are allowed to invest in a coordinated and responsible manner; believes that this could be an important element for a common economic recovery coordinated in the context of the European Semester;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission to admit the self-defeating natureput forward in its next AGS an overall cost-benefit assessment of the policy-mix implemented across the Union, taking proper account as appropriate of counter-productive effects of the prevailing policy stancemix and to revise its horizontal policy recommendations for next year, as contained in its AGS;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Believes that the recent debate on the size of the fiscal multiplier, notably following the IMF analysis on this matter in its latest World Economic Outlook, has been unduly downplayed by the Commission, while a broad consensus has been emerging on this matter from recent theoretical and empirical work in the existing economic literature; considers this matter to be of central importance to policy-making, as wrong fiscal multipliers canestimations may lead to massive policy mistakes; calls on the Commission, therefore, rapidly to open its macroeconomic modelling and forecasting to serious and systematic scrutiny by independent institutes on a regular basiwelcomes therefore, the agreement reached in the two-pack negotiations on the full disclosure of the Member States and Commission models and assumptions underpinning macroeconomic forecasts and the scrutiny role provided to independent fiscal councils regarding these assumptions;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Looks forward in that respect to the Commission report on the quality of public spending and the review of the scope for possible action within the boundaries of the EU framework regarding the qualification of investment programmes.
Amendment 184 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. Recalls its demand that the consolidation strategy should also target the revenue side of the budgets of the Member States; insists that the necessary investments cannot in the current economic situation be financed solely by increased public debt; underlines therefore that investments must be financed by new, smart tax sources;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 c (new)
Paragraph 8 c (new)
8c. Stresses, in particular, that consolidation measures on the revenue side should be focused on decreasing tax expenditures that create unproductive niches or inefficient rent-seeking behaviours, on decreasing environmentally harmful subsidies, as well as on creating environmental taxes targeting the source of negative externalities and which can bring double dividends in so far as they improve the budgetary situation and help fulfilling the objectives set in the EU2020 strategy;
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Commission and the Council to improve substantially the quality, the national specificity and the adequacy of the country-specific recommendations, notably through a competentrehensive interpretation and application of the macroeconomic imbalances exercise and by making sure the these recommendations are not merely repetition of the stability and convergence programmes;
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Underlines that these recommendations defer significantly on their scope and quality from one Member State to another; believes that further proposals regarding the setting-up of standards and procedures for the elaboration and follow-up of NRP and CSRs would be welcomed in the framework of the Commission blueprint for a genuine EMU;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Member States to agree on a enhanced Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) as a matter of urgency, ensuring that its role is reinforced as a source of much- needed long-term investment in sustainable growth enhancing and green job rich sectors and activities;
Amendment 212 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Calls on the Commission and the Council to revise the recommended fiscal adjustment policies whenever economies move into recession, guaranteeing minimum levels of social welfare, safeguarding basic labour rights and avoiding a recessionary spiral; calls on the Commission and the Council to propose Union instruments for social protection and minimum social standards calls on member States to implement diligently a Youth Guarantee scheme and more generally asks for the adoption of an overarching Social Pact as referred to in the 'Thyssen' report on the Genuine EMU;
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Urges the European Council to foster progress on the implementation of the Youth Guarantees in the European Semester process;
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls also on the Commission to come forward with a holistic approach to tackling growthsustainable growth and the EU2020 objectives, which should include a genuine European industrial policy and the guarantee that Europe will use all its strength and influence in its external trade relations; calls on the Commission to exploit to the full the sources of growth stemming from trade with third countries and establish reciprocity as appropriate as well as fair trade; calls on the Commission to include strong social clauses in trade agreements on the basis of International Labour Organisation labour standards and to take proper account of the overarching urgency to fight against climate change at all levels;
Amendment 233 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Takes note of the addition of a new indicator to the scoreboard for macroeconomic imbalances regarding the financial sector; deplores that the Commission did not respect the procedure foreseen in the Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 according to which: "the Commission should closely cooperate with the European Parliament and the Council when drawing up the scoreboard and the set of macroeconomic and macrofinancial indicators for Member States" and more specifically according to which the Commission should present suggestions for comments to the competent committees of the European Parliament and of the Council on plans to establish and adjust the indicators and thresholds";
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14b. Points out that besides procedural issues involved it is not unequivocally clear that from among a number of financial sector indicators possible, this specific indicator is the best choice. E.g. the ESRB opinion of December 2011 seems to argue against this kind of leverage based financial indicator as chosen by the Commission;
Amendment 235 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 c (new)
Paragraph 14 c (new)
14c. Reminds the Commission that in order to build interinstitutional trust and a high quality economic dialogue it is of paramount importance to respect the procedure foreseen in Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 more faithfully in the future;
Amendment 236 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 d (new)
Paragraph 14 d (new)
14d. Calls on the Commission to add social indicators into the scoreboard for the correction of macro-economic imbalances such as income inequality and labour market participation; as well as indicators on resource efficiency and productivity;
Amendment 237 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 e (new)
Paragraph 14 e (new)
14e. Regrets that the threshold retained so far regarding on current account (+6%, - 4%) abolish the principle of symmetry and openly favours on an ex ante basis Member States with current account surpluses;
Amendment 238 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 f (new)
Paragraph 14 f (new)
14f. Is of the opinion that the current focus on unit labour costs should be calibrated and refined so as to provide more granularity given that unit labour costs calculated with aggregate data are not just a weighted average of the firms' unit labour costs; point out that it may well be that profit rates grow (fall) faster (more slowly) than capital productivity with a consequent increase in unit capital costs, hence also reducing competitiveness;
Amendment 239 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 g (new)
Paragraph 14 g (new)
14g. Point out that the statistical data shows clear evidence that capital productivity has experienced a clear downward trend across the EU over the last decade affecting therefore negatively competitiveness; deems therefore that it would be appropriate to add an indicator on unit capital costs to the scoreboard on macroeconomic imbalances;
Amendment 240 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 h (new)
Paragraph 14 h (new)
14h. Points out that aggregate unit labour costs reflect the distribution of income between wages and profits which has overall implications in regarding aggregate demand; notes in that respect that no lower threshold has been retained so far for unit labour costs in the scoreboard for macroeconomic imbalances; deems that such a lower threshold would be appropriate if he objective is to survey whether wages evolve in line with productivity;
Amendment 247 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls on the Commission to present a Tax Pact including inter alia concrete proposals to improve the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion as well as tax planning, including in relation to third countries, as an essentialdeems that such measures would be key tools for a fairer distribution of the fiscal effort and for increasing Member States' revenue;
Amendment 259 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Calls on the Commission and Council to enter into an Interinstitutional Agreement with the Parliament in order to give the Parliament a full role in the drafting and approval of the Annual Growth Survey and the Economic Policy and Employment Guidelines;
Amendment 262 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Paragraph 17 b (new)
17b. Recalls its invitation to the Commission to publish its methodology underpinning the assessment of the structural balances of the Member States, as well as the changes introduced in this methodology since 2008 and the impact of those changes in the assessment of the structural balances of the Member States;
Amendment 263 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 c (new)
Paragraph 17 c (new)
17c. Calls on the Member States to ensure that negative effects of fiscal consolidation on gender equality, female employment and poverty are reversed by adopting a gender mainstreaming approach in national budgets, addressing stronger gender-specific recommendations to Member States, and disaggregating the EU 2020 headline targets and the corresponding national targets by gender.
Amendment 275 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex - Part 1 – paragraph 1
Annex - Part 1 – paragraph 1
1. The fiscal consolidation should be delayed and spread in due respect of current EU fiscal rules. Instead of nearly 130 billion euros of consolidation effort for the whole euro area, a more balanced fiscal consolidation of 0.5 point of GDP, in accordance with treaties, the SGP and even the fiscal compact, would give for 2013 alone a concrete margin for manoeuvre of more than 85 billion euros. By merely delaying and capping the path of consolidation, the average growth for the Eurozone between 2013 and 2017 may be improved by 0.7 point per year.
Amendment 284 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex - Part 1 – paragraph 2
Annex - Part 1 – paragraph 2
2. The speculationunsustainable spreads on the sovereign debt of Member sStates must be stopped. The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) must be brought as soon as possible into the community management structure with the ECB as a backstop;
Amendment 288 #
Annex - Part 1 – paragraph 3
3. The persistent and long-lasting cumulative imbalances that have been increasing throughout the functioning of the common currency due to the asymmetric impact of shocks and common policies across different economies need to be adequately addressed through specific convergence Community instruments and targets to foster the sustainability and competitiveness of laggingEU economies, in particular by increasmproving the conditions for triggering investments in sustainable growth- enhancing investment in the latterand green job rich sectors and activities.
Amendment 292 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex - Part 1 – paragraph 4
Annex - Part 1 – paragraph 4
4. Lending by the European Investment Bank so as to target sustainable growth enhancing and green job rich sectors and activities must be significantly increased as well as other measures (notably the use of structural funds and project bonds), so as to genuinely advance the European Union growth agenda. The Compact for Growth and Jobs has to be urgently transformed into concrete investments.
Amendment 295 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex - Part 1 – paragraph 5
Annex - Part 1 – paragraph 5
5. Legal initiatives and policy instruments have to be diligently implemented so that credit flow to the real economy is re- established. Companies, especially SMEs, need to have access to financing and the conditions for such financing should be similar inside the Internal Market, more so inside the eurozone.
Amendment 299 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex - Part 1 – paragraph 6
Annex - Part 1 – paragraph 6
6. A close coordination of economic policies must aim at reducing internal imbalances including the continuous downward trend in capital productivity in the EU and in the Eurozone in particular. The adjustment must not only rely on deficit countries. Surplus countries must also take measures to boost their internal demand and receive recommendations from the Commission accordingly.
Amendment 300 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex - Part 1 – paragraph 6a (new)
Annex - Part 1 – paragraph 6a (new)
6a. A deeper coordination of economic policy should also address the continuous downward trend in capital productivity by a set of policy instruments aiming at increasing capital productivity and a proper surveillance of capital productivity developments. As a complement for a more granular surveillance of Unit Labour Costs it is therefore critical to survey Unit Capital Costs.
Amendment 317 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex - Part 3 – paragraph 3 – point 5
Annex - Part 3 – paragraph 3 – point 5
5. Strengthening regulation and transparency of company registries and registers of trusts and foundations
Amendment 322 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex - Part 3 – paragraph 3 – point 5a (new)
Annex - Part 3 – paragraph 3 – point 5a (new)
5a. Review the Directives on Interest and Royalties, Mergers and Parent- Subsidiary;
Amendment 323 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex - Part 3 – paragraph 3 – point 5b (new)
Annex - Part 3 – paragraph 3 – point 5b (new)
5b. Adopt a blacklist of tax havens, based on: (a) whether advantages are accorded only to non-residents or in respect of transactions carried out with non- residents, or cb) whether advantages are ring-fenced from the domestic market, so they do not affect the national tax base, or (c) whether advantages are granted even without any real economic activity and substantial economic presence within the third country offering such tax advantages, or (d) whether the rules for profit determination in respect of activities within a multinational group of companies departs from internationally accepted principles, notably the rules agreed upon within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or (e) whether the tax measures lack transparency, including where legal provisions are relaxed at administrative level in a non-transparent way.