Brussels, 13/05/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday in Strasbourg, the European Parliament will discuss the own initiative report by Ioanis Marinos (EPP-DE, Greek) on the implementation of the stability and convergence programmes, which criticises the compromise that enabled, last February, Germany and Portugal to avoid receiving an early warning due to the excess in the public finances. The rapporteur notes that during the assessment of German and Portuguese stability, there was no strict enforcement of the Pact provisions, and feels that such an attitude could lead to an unequal application of the Pact and damage its credibility. Moreover, according to Mr Marinos, there exists a danger of seeing the Pact considerably weakened by the election campaigns and national promises.
The report underlines that the Pact is not an objective in itself, but that it confirms the preventative nature of the Treaty provisions concerning the control and co-ordination of the economic policies of the Member States. The rapporteur places emphasis on the need to reduce the current spending in certain Member States and to verify in which measures the tax reductions enable to reduce the fiscal pressure on work, encourage the creation of jobs, maintain a moderate wage policy and guarantee harmonious relations between social partners. Mr Marinos states his concern with the fact that the pace of public the reduction, in certain States, proves slower that what was seen in the previous programmes.
On the same day, the Parliament will also debate the report by Buno Trentin (Democratici di sinistra, Italian) on the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines.