Hongaars voorzitterschap hoopt op akkoord over economisch beleid na eerste lezing (en)

The Hungarian Presidency i welcomes that the European Parliament (EP) has left open the door before a first-reading agreement shortly, on the package of six legislative proposals, noted András Kármán, Minister of State for Tax and Financial Regulation of the Ministry of National Economy, at the EP plenary meeting on 22 June 2011, the eve of voting on the Parliament’s six reports.

“I regret that the proposal put forward to the plenary, is different from the compromise we have arrived at after a series of negotiation rounds, and does not take into account the final compromise that was offered by the Council i,” Kármán declared in his contribution to the debate over the package of six legislative proposals aimed at strengthening of economic governance. At the same time, he was grateful for the Parliament’s wise approach, to leave open the possibility to have a first reading agreement shortly.

On behalf of the Council, the Hungarian Presidency has conducted intensive inter-institutional three-party negotiations, so called “trialogues”, with the EP and the European Commission, since the end of April. After the last round on 15-16 June, the Economic and Financial Affairs Council discussed the Presidency’s new compromise proposals and modified its general approach, making further concessions to the Parliament. It was communicated to the EP in a letter sent on 21 June. Nevertheless, the EP Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee i decided, the Parliament would vote on the package that was agreed during the latest trialogue, rather than the Council’s newest proposal, on Thursday 23 June. The EP claimed it had received the Council’s last amendments too late.

In the plenary debate on 22 June, Kármán pointed out, “the Presidency believes that the compromise that was reached during the trialogues reflects a good, balanced and comprehensive approach. We think that all parties have a strong interest in reaching a swift agreement,” he added.

The Minister of State spoke highly of the contribution of the Parliament’s committee and the the Commission’s efforts to facilitate the discussions not only during the trialogues, but also within the Council. Mr Kármán highlighted that, “the quality of the legal texts has improved a lot and the package has become stronger and more coherent,” in the course of the trialogues, resulting in increased transparency and accountability, and a more stringent and automatic application of the procedures.

Mr Kármán referred to the following elements that will improve transparency and accountability:

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  the description of the European Semester, a coordination mechanism of economic policy, in the legal texts including the ample involvement of the EP in the process;
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  further provisions specifying the process of economic dialogue among European institutions, including individual Member States;
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  the involvement of the Parliament on the same footing as the Council in the setting up and functioning of the scoreboard of indicators for alert mechanism in the process of prevention and correction of macro-economic imbalances;
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  the governance cycle and the surveillance procedures will fully respect the very important role of relevant national stakeholders, including social partners.

As regards to the stricter and more automatic application of procedures, the Minister of State called for the MEPs’ attention to the following.

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  an additional sanction (an interest-bearing deposit) for Member States in the Excessive Imbalance Procedure would be introduced;
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  an additional fine for Member States falsifying their fiscal statistics is foreseen at the initiative of the Parliament;
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  the application of reverse qualified majority voting is expanded to recommendations on prevention and correction of macroeconomic imbalances;
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  in the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact i, a review for the expansion of reversed qualified majority voting is foreseen;
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  the already existing comply-or-explain procedure would be enhanced. In deciding on the steps in the SGP the Council is expected to, as a rule, follow the recommendations of the Commission or explain its position publicly.

In addition to all these, the Council’s last compromise proposal greatly enhances the independence of national institutions, especially the independence of statistical offices, which is to be enhanced to a great extent. The Commission would conduct a regular review of the effective functioning of the regulations; and furthermore, report on the issue of Eurosecurities, Kármán reminded MEPs. The Council also anticipated the EP’s demands by establishing that in the macro-economic imbalances procedures, the Commission should pay close attention, among other factors, when assessing the signals coming from the scoreboard, to aid developments in the real economy, including economic growth, employment and unemployment performance.

The Minister of State was confident that the objectives of both the Parliament and the Council are the same, namely to strengthen the economic governance of the EU and the euro zone i, prevent future crises and build a stronger framework for the economic governance in the euro area and the EU as a whole. “It is high time that Europe joins forces, and the Union is ready to live up to the expectations. All the markets and investors are vigilant and would like to see whether we can deliver or not,” Mr Kármán said.

In response to the contributions made during the Parliament debate late in the evening, the Hungarian Minister of State acknowledged that the Council and the EP had carried out 99 per cent of the work relating to the package of six legislative proposals. Returning to the most controversial issue, he reiterated that the finance ministers had discussed the matter of reverse qualified majority voting three times in four weeks, and had made major compromises. According to the Presidency, it is now the EP’s turn to review its position and take a step towards the Council.

“We have to get the deal done,” said Mr Kármán encouraging MEPs. He emphasised that the adoption of the six-pack would demonstrate how EU institutions can efficiently and constructively cooperate in important questions; and results can be achieved not only on inter-governmental grounds, but also using the community method.

Speaking at the plenary session, Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn i greatly appreciated the Hungarian Presidency’s efforts and competence. He spoke highly of the Parliament’s amendment motions, which were submitted in connection with the six-pack, saying that with the last compromise proposal approved on 20 June in the Council, the EP’s key goals have been reached. He called MEPs’ attention to the fact that if the first-reading agreement is not reached, part of the compromises achieved by the Presidency in the Council will be unlikely to appear on the negotiating table again.

If the six-law package is not adopted before the summer break, it would be a bad deal for Europe, Mr Rehn said.