Brussels, 20/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 20 July, the European Commission debated the fines it will propose next week for Spain and Portugal, which failed to take sufficiently effective measures to comply with their budgetary trajectories between 2013 and 2015.
Following the decision of the Ecofin Council of mid-July (EUROPE 11592), the Commission is “legally obliged” to propose a fine, the Commissioner for Energy, Maros Sefcovic, announced on behalf of the European institution on Wednesday 20 July. “The fine could be up to 0.2% of national GDP. It could be reduced and also cancelled if justified”, he added.
The Commission's forthcoming proposal, the first of its kind ever for a Eurozone country, will be based on the '6 pack' legislative package which revised the Stability and Growth Pact, and on Regulation 1173/2011 (EUROPE 11597), which brings in three types of financial penalty.
The rules state that exceptional economic circumstances may be invoked to reduce the level of a fine and the Commissioners for Economic and Financial Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, and for the Euro, Valdis Dombrovskis, have spoken on a number of occasions in favour of an 'intelligent' application of the European budgetary rules. The two Iberian countries have also pleaded their cases for the other Eurozone countries to show lenience. “We are currently analysing these requests in a thorough manner and come back the issue next week”, Sefcovic said.
The Commission has until Monday 1 August at the latest to make its proposal and the Ecofin Council will then have 10 days to oppose it, by qualified majority of the Eurozone countries with the exception of Spain and Portugal.
Freezing of the structural funds: EP calls for structured dialogue. Under the so-called 'macro-economic conditionality' rules brought into European legislation (EUROPE 11421), Spain and Portugal also face the possibility of having their structural and investment funds frozen.
Referring to amounts equivalent to “0.5% of national GDP” or “up to 20% commitment appropriations for 2017”, Sefcovic said that the Commission's proposed sanction would have to be postponed until after the “summer break”.
In response to a letter dated Thursday 14 July from the Commissioner for Growth and Investment, Jyrki Katainen, to the President of the European Commission and published by Ernest Urtasun (Greens/EFA, Spain) on his Twitter feed, Martin Schulz has launched a consultation among the presidents of the political groups at the EP, with a view to inviting the Commission to take part in structured dialogue on the question of freezing the structural and investment funds. If the group presidents accept this invitation, Schulz will make official calls next week for dialogue to be initiated as soon as possible after the summer break. This would be the first time that a similar structure dialogue procedure has been used on the basis of Regulation 1303/2013.
Once the Commission has proposed a freezing of the structural and investment funds of any member state, the Council will have one month to proposal, by inverse qualified majority of the member states not including the country concerned, plus the United Kingdom. Under Protocol 15 annexed to the Treaty, the United Kingdom is exempted from the application of these rules. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)