Brussels, 03/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 3 February, Jean-Claude Juncker promised that the European Commission he presides over will act to “simplify” the budgetary process of the European Semester.
During the first half of each year, the EU lays down orientations for socio-economic policies, which are then translated into country-specific recommendations the member states must apply in their budgetary and economic policies.
The European Semester is “a very serious matter” and must be “the common property” of the Council, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the national parliaments, Juncker said on Tuesday 3 February, at the opening of the European Parliament week bringing together representatives of the EP and the national parliaments. “What we are lacking is the national parliaments taking ownership”, he noted. Lamenting the fact that the European leaders have set in place a “gas factory, which nobody really understands”, he undertakes to “simplify” the European Semester, making it more visible and easier for the national leaders responsible for applying the recommendations made at European level to assimilate.
Taking the ball on the rise, Pervenche Berès (S&D, France) said that the question of the procedure defined in the European Semester should not overshadow that of the “content” of the policies. “What economic policy does the eurozone need?”, asked the MEP responsible for the drafting of an EP report on the stakes of the economic governance framework. Welcoming the investment plan put forward by the Commission, she said that the Juncker plan could also be interpreted as a response to a phenomenon of under-investment in Europe, which she feels is partly due to the application of European budgetary rules.
On the Stability and Growth Pact, Juncker stressed that there were no budgetary rules which apply wholesale to all member states, as the specific characteristics of each country are now better taken on board. Hence the extra time, until March, the Commission has given itself to rule on the budgetary status of three countries: France, Italy and, “to a lesser extent”, Belgium. However, the recent injection of a “dose of flexibility” into the Pact does not aim to turn it into a “Flexibility Pact”, he warned (see EUROPE 11229).
The Luxembourg Christian Democrat promised closer involvement for the the President of the EP in the drafting of the report of the 'four presidents' (Commission, European Council, Eurogroup, ECB) on the future of economic and monetary union, which will be presented at the European summit of June. This subject is already on the agenda of the European Council of 12 February. (MB)