MEPs will debate European economic governance in the plenary session of the European Parliament on Wednesday 10 March and the following day they will try to adopt a position on the issue, the first since the European elections in May 2019.
It is a time for calm between the main political groups and the search for a common language to overcome the political left/right divide that has cropped up in every attempt since the European elections (see EUROPE 12439/15).
The recent vote in the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs on the ‘Győri’ draft report certainly raised fears that a stable parliamentary majority would be difficult to achieve, with the S&D Group advocating improvements to the text before supporting it (see EUROPE 12671/5).
However, in view of the amendments tabled in anticipation of the vote in plenary session, the recommended changes to the text, which Markus Ferber (EPP, Germany) is now in charge of due to the departure of Ms Győri from the EPP Group, do not appear to be fundamental.
An amendment tabled jointly by Mr Ferber and Jónas Fernández (S&D, Spain) thus completes the part of the draft report which states that the general escape clause of the Stability and Growth Pact, activated in March 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, should remain activate as long as the underlying criteria justifying its activation are met. It notes that, according to the European Commission’s analysis, this escape clause should apply in 2022 and be deactivated in 2023 (see EUROPE 12670/1).
The analysis leading to the conclusion that the freezing of European fiscal rules should be continued (or stopped) should be carried out on the basis of the economic forecasts for spring 2021 and within the framework of the budgetary process for the ‘European Semester’, the two MEPs add. And they highlight that the Commission will continue to take into account country-specific situations after the deactivation of the general escape clause.
In addition to the change of rapporteur, the EPP Group’s willingness to compromise is also in doubt in Germany where, in the run-up to the elections, there is a lively debate on the golden rule limiting public debt, enshrined in the constitution.
For the Renew Europe group, an amendment by Latvian Ivars Ijabs specifies that “the key criterion” for reviewing the decision to freeze the Pact will be the observed level of economic activity compared to pre-crisis levels (end of 2019).
In order not to derail negotiations on a text that sends a satisfactory message, the Greens/EFA group tabled five targeted amendments. One of them welcomed the Commission’s Communication which clarifies how the Commission will analyse the application of the general escape clause.
True to its ‘anti economic austerity’ line, The Left group has tabled amendments calling for the cancellation of the public debt contracted to fight the pandemic and held by the ECB or the maintenance of the general escape clause until the Stability Pact has been thoroughly reformed, particularly with regard to the inclusion of public debt.
More info at: https://bit.ly/3cf7t9E (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)