Brussels, 02/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - At an economic dialogue with Commissioner Moscovici at the economic and monetary affairs committee of the EP on Tuesday 2 December, a number of MEPs, notably German ones, criticised the European Commission for giving three countries (France, Italy and Belgium) extra time to come into line with their budgetary commitments taken at European level.
In the 2 pack and 6 pack legislative packages which revised the Stability and Growth Pact, “there is no mention of a timescale”; “why have the rules of the game been watered down?”, asked Markus Ferber (EPP, Germany). Bernd Lucke (ECR, Germany) expressed “concern” at the flexible application of the rules which should, he argues, be applied strictly. What is the “legal basis” which makes it possible to postpone a decision on the French budgetary policy until March 2015, asked Sylvie Goulard (ALDE, France), referring to the risk that the Commission's budgetary decisions will carry as little weight as those of the UN on human rights. Esther de Lange (EPP, Netherlands) feels that the Commission applies the rules differently depending on whether the country is small or large. “It is very, very worrying”, she said.
Having presented the Commission's opinions on the draft budgets of the countries of the eurozone with the exception of Greece and Cyprus (EUROPE 11207), the Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, said that the Commission did not make up new rules or apply a two-tier approach. He said that “sanctioning does not in itself bring credibility”, but is rather the confirmation of a “failure”, as it means that the Commission has failed to convince the government of the importance of reforming to boost its competitiveness. To have taken the next step in the excessive deficit procedure opened against Paris, we needed the “certainty” that effective measures had not been taken for 2014, said the former French finance minister. At this moment in time, we have a “feeling” that this is the case, but “no actual certainty”, he added.
The Commissioner reiterated the importance for the three countries in question of making use of the grace period granted to make progress with their structural reforms. “If there is a bit of time, this time must not be wasted on just any old thing”, he warned. In March 2015, the Commission will be in a position to make decisions on the basis of “definitive” figures in three areas: the impact of the measures taken to comply with the budgetary commitments for 2014, the level of structural effort (adjusted for changes in the economic cycle) laid down in the budgets for 2015 and the structural reforms adopted to boost competitiveness. If it turns out that the actions on these three planks are “insufficient”, then the “Commission will take its responsibilities”, said Moscovici. He went on to say that in the future, the Commission would be able to move the lines more easily by getting to work on the draft national budgets “earlier”, in the month of “September” if possible.
On the application of the 2 pack and 6 pack texts, the Commission believes that the revised Pact is contributing to a better coordination of the national policies and to increased economic convergence in the eurozone. “Margin for improvement exists” to tackle problems of “complexity” and “overlaps of the rules”, Moscovici added. He said that any legislative revision should serve to make it easier for the member states to appropriate the rules, to involve the stakeholders more and to reinforce the democratic legitimacy of the process.
As for the flexibility laid down in the Pact, the Commission will publish its analysis of this issue early next year. The Commissioner reiterated that the European institution already takes account of the specific situations of each country in its analyses. He went on to say that “improvements” are possible, for instance, in the calculation of the structural deficit, for which there are two methods which do not give the same results. (MB)