Strasbourg, 18/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - Approving its rapporteur on the European Commission's recommendation concerning the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines (BEPG) of the EU and of its Member States for 2001, CDU MEP Karl von Wogau felt that, with the introduction of single currency, the countries of the euro zone "have entered a further stage of integration which can be called the 'euro zone' or 'European home market'". The Parliament welcomes the fact that the BEPG cover the promotion of sustainable development but considers that the environmental dimension must be developed. It adopts an amendment by Luxembourg Socialist Robert Goebbels and invites the Member States to develop their economic policies on the basis of concrete measures and objectives agreed during the Lisbon Summit and specified at the Stockholm Summit. Once more, the Parliament invites the Member States to pursue their structural reforms and undertake reforms on the capital markets, but specifies (amendment by Greens/ELA Group) that it will also be necessary to guarantee general interest services and a high degree of social security coverage and environmental protection. Also, insisting on the need to pursue the liberalisation of the European electricity and gas networks, the Parliament (other amendment by Mr Goebbels) stresses that this process must be "balanced" and not have adverse effects on supply security and access to universal services. Finally, the Parliament calls on the Commission to no longer make a single "recommendation" but rather a "proposal" on BEPG and, in order to overcome the democratic deficit in European economic policy, Council and Commission should agree to conclude an interinstitutional agreement with Parliament on this.
Presenting his report, Karl von Wogau stressed the central role played by the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines (BEPG) and called for more active participation on the part of the European Parliament in this process. With respect to the assessment of economic policy practised by each Member State,; Mr von Wogau hoped that the Commission and Council, by addressing their recommendations to the different capitals, would take into account the possible impact of their national policies on other countries of the euro zone. The rapporteur, moreover, welcomed the "calm and collected" policy conducted by the European Central Bank, while doubting that its recent decision to lower the key interest rates would "correspond" to this line of conduct. With the introduction of the euro in 2002, the EU will cross a further historic stage, he said, noting that in the theory of integration of economies three stages are usually distinguished - free trade area, customs union and internal market - and that the EU is currently in the third stage. However, the changeover to common currency will represent a fourth stage of integration which should be known by a specific term. He suggests that such a unique most advanced form of economic integration should be called a "home market".
Finding a new name is not enough, exclaimed German Socialist Democrat Barbara Weiler, who spoke on behalf of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, affirming that growth alone does not guarantee the quality of employment. The criticism by French Communist Sylviane Ainardi, speaking on behalf of the European United Left/NGL Group, was still more vehement, not only towards the European Commission recommendation on BEPG but also the the von Wogau Report, that she considers inspired by "the usual dogma" - a reduction of the debt and of public and social spending. She said she was astonished by the rapporteur's "self-satisfaction" about the undeniable deterioration of the economic situation. At the other end of the political spectrum, to the right, Charles de Gaulle (Technical Group of Independent members) asked why a country like France should follow, as Mr von Wogau suggests, the model of "social market economy dear to the CDU". Johannes Blokland (Group of a Europe of Democracies and Diversities) criticised the fall in interest rates decided by the European Central Bank last week. The cut came, he said, just one day before the news that the rate of inflation in the Netherlands was at a its highest level for years.
Speaking for the EPP Group, Finnish Ilkka Suominen supported the von Wogau report, while placing emphasis on certain characteristics of the current economic panorama in Europe, like the consequences of the wave of dismissals. "I do not agree that workers should not be informed in good time of decisions taken within their company", he said, citing the Marks & Spencer affair (he also cited the blocking of the directive on public offerings by Germany). Speaking on behalf of the Liberal group, Carlos-Alfred Gasoliba I Böhm largely shared the analysis by Mr von Wogau and mainly insisted on the need for structural reforms and the continued liberalisation movement of several key sectors.
The recent experiences in Europe and elsewhere push us, here, toward vigilance, felt the French Socialist, Pervenche Beres, who underlined the need to ensure access to public services, alongside liberalisation. The GOPE remain our main tool for analysis, stated Pervenche Beres, when regretting that once adopted, they are not more present in national debates.
Christa Randzio-Plath, President of the European Parliament Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, sent a call for no regression to be authorised in the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines 2001 (GOPE). In a climate of economic slowdown, the Ministers for the Economy and Finance should direct the guidelines more towards growth based upon investment and the use of human resources to increase economic activity, stated Mrs Randzio-Plath. She feels that there is no danger of a long-term slowdown, but calls for everything to be done to avoid following the case of the United States. She regretted that there does not exist "true transparency" in the European economic and monetary policies, notably with regards to the aims and instruments. She also hoped that the European Parliament occupies a central role in this debate and in terms of macroeconomic policy.
The European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Pedro Solbes, notes a wide range of points of view between the Commission and the rapporteur. These GOPE are the last before the introduction of the Euro, but they also concern the countries that are not part of the Euro zone, he warned. As for the taking into account of the social aspects in the GOPE, he felt that it is sufficient, while underlining that the Broad economic Policy Guidelines must not replace the guidelines for employment. We must, he repeated, aim in the short-term for the maintaining of EU growth (there, he rejected the accusations according to which the Commission forecasts are too optimistic), in the medium-term the potential increase in growth (public investments have a role to play here, but they must be compatible with the budgetary imperatives), while in the longer-term it is a case of taking on the challenge of the ageing population. With regards to the critical recommendation sent by the Commission to Ireland, Mr Solbes denied that it was a sanction and asserted: all the Member States, not only the large, but also the small, must respect the Stability Pact, as they have the same rights and the same obligations.