[autom.vertaling] Leden van het Europese Parlement reageren over euro streekuitbreiding (en)

The European Parliament says accession to the euro zone requires full adherence to the Maastricht criteria on economic convergence. MEPs adopted a report by 510 votes in favour, to 40 against with 66 abstentions on issues applying to all and any future euro zone enlargements, but which also comments on three particular cases: Slovenia, Lithuania and Estonia.

Drawn up by Werner  LANGEN (EPP-ED, DE), the report warns that premature accession to the euro zone might lead to unexpected developments in the economic convergence process. MEPs strongly oppose special provisions concerning the fulfilment of the Maastricht criteria, and underline the importance of assessing the long-term stability of the euro zone. Euro enlargement should be used as an opportunity for the enforcement of economic governance within the zone.

In the light of earlier problems, MEPs stress that the judgments on whether a particular country meets the inflation and interest rate criteria should be based on data provided by the European Central Bank and the European Commission. It calls on the Member States to give the Commission the possibility to check the fulfilment of the Maastricht criteria on the basis of definite, current, reliable and high-quality data.

MEPs ask Member States joining the euro to pay particular attention to consumer protection during the changeover phase, with mandatory dual pricing for a sufficiently long period of time and publicity campaigns encouraging citizens to shop around to avoid unjustified price increases.

Parliament welcomes Slovenia as a new member of the euro zone and considers that this enlargement will have a positive effect on the European economy as a whole.   

MEPs regret the negative recommendation issued to Lithuania and ask for a clear and comprehensive examination of the basis of the calculation undertaken in order to apply the inflation criteria. They call on the Commission to update its 2006 convergence report on Lithuania and to set up an expert working group in cooperation with the Lithuanian authorities to develop the strategy for fast accession to the euro zone. MEPs ask that the Commission always present its findings to Parliament when it carries out an evaluation of this sort, even if the results are negative.

Parliament encourages Estonia, which failed only the inflation criteria, to continue its efforts to fulfil the criteria for accession and to qualify for euro zone membership soon. 

Parliament says that the inflation criterion, which is based on the inflation rates of the three best performing Member States, needs to be clarified, since it was defined before the creation of the euro zone, with its single currency and unified monetary policy. The report says it is important to take into account the so-called Balassa-Samuelson effect (the view that fast-growing economies catching up with larger economies will inevitably have higher inflation rates during this transition) when considering the inflation criterion for emerging Member States. MEPs are concerned that two definitions of price stability are being used: the one used by the ECB in its monetary policy and the one used in convergence reports. They say this is misleading and may have negative effects.

Parliament is due to vote on the legislation necessary for Slovenia to adopt the euro from 1 January 2007 during June's plenary session in Strasbourg.