Activities of Philippe DE BACKER related to 2013/2134(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
European Semester for economic policy coordination (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the European Semester for economic policy coordination: implementation of 2013 priorities PDF (334 KB) DOC (182 KB)
Amendments (20)
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the economic, social, financial and sovereign debt crises have not yet abated and the objective of a more balancedrobust and integrated Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) remains an unattained ambition;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas a rebalancing of the EU economy can be observed, but public finances and growth prospects remain a matter of concern;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the Commission's country- specific recommendations (CSRs) contain some useful insights, but on the whole fail to convince in termrecommendations but their success depends ofn the balance of the policy prescriptions across policy areadue implementation by Member States;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas urgent action is required in many areas, inter alia in restoring lending to the real economy and SMEs, which involves developing alternative resources of financing and becoming less dependent on bank financing, in making the business environment more competitive, in increasing competition in the product and services markets, in fighting tax fraud and aggressive tax planning, and in seeking effective European solutions to unemployment and thus also significantly enhancing the social dimension ofestablishing a fully integrated and flexible labour market in the EMU;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the Commission's recognition that ‘to be successful, policies need not only to be well designed but to have political and social support’, and that Europe needs, beyond fiscal consolidation, real growth , deep structural reforms, and specific and urgent action to tackle the unacceptably high levels of unemployment and the lack of competitiveness;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Welcomes the Commission's recognitionstance that ‘deficit’ countries need to boost their competitiveness and that ‘surplus’ countries needcould take measures to boost their demand, and that this calls for a deep revision of the prevailing policy stance;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Believes that the EU economy as a whole needs to boost its competitiveness in the global economy, particularly by increasing competition in the product and services markets to enhance productivity and lower prices, and by keeping labour costs in line with productivity; stresses that the EU cannot compete on costs only but needs to invest more in research and development, education and skills, and resource efficiency;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the fact that the Commission's recommendations are directed not only at Member States but also to the euro area as a whole; considers it regrettable, however, that the recommendations made to Member States do not take sufficientlyneed to take more into account the strong interdependence between EU economies, particularly within the euro area, or all the information contained in the Alert Mechanism Report;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls for a prudent assessment of the ‘slow recovery’ growth forecasts as previous Commission forecasts have successively been revised downwards and recommends a closer look into the sustainability of the improvements identified in trade and current account balances and public deficits, and the progress on structural reforms;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Commission to submit as a matter of urgency the legislative proposals on new financial incentives suppex-ante coortding Member States in the implementation of structural reforms, includingation of national reforms and on a Competitiveness and Convergence Instrument (CCI) based on the Community method as a first step towards a European fiscal capacity;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Welcomes the use by the Commission of the margin of manoeuvre offered by the revised SGP to extend the deadlines for the correction of excessive deficits in seven procedures; calls on the Commission and the Council to ensure that the content and the calendar of the fiscal adjustment path are adapted to the specificity of each country and, particularly in ‘deficit’ countries, include the aforementioned margin of manoeuvre and the full use of structural funds, sound and sustainable structural reforms and the identification of investments (namely in the CSR) essential to boost competitiveness; calls onwelcomes the Commission to clarify as a matter of urgency the ways in whichication on ways to accommodate, under certain conditions, non-recurrent, public investment programmes with a proven impact on the sustainability of public finances while fully respecting the EU fiscal surveillance framework;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Welcomes the Commission's statement that ‘surplus’ countries have a role to play in overcoming the current crisis, not only byTakes note that recent wage developments in 'surplus' countries are contributing to sustaining demand and also have positive spill-over effects elsewhere in the EU; welcomes the Commission's statement that ‘surplus’ countries with sufficient fiscal space could do more to reducinge taxes and social security contributions but also by developing wages in order to boost sustainable domestic demand and promoting new investment opportunities; stresses the importance of the positive spill-over effects which these actions will have across the EUand that these Member States could boost domestic demand by opening up their services sector;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Urges the Commission to develop a genuine European industrial policy based on enhanced competitiveness and innovation, and a coherent European external trade policy, based on reciprocity and shared minimum standards, in particular in social and environmental matters; believes that it is only by intelligently managing its interface with ‘globalisation’ that Europe can guarantee growth, jobs and, for several Member States, the recommended progressive reallocation of resources away from non- tradable sectors into tradable sectors;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Calls on the Commission to submit legislative proposals to complete the EMU through a social pillar, as the national automatic stabilisers are blocked in the Member States where they are most needed; stresses thaand Member States to develop a fully integrated European labour market; suggests that the in-depth reviews foreseen in the Macroeconomic Imbalances Procedure could regularly review employment and social policies with a view to identify such policies that mitigate social problems and improve employment; believes that this enhanced monitoring system would help better coordinate policies with a view to identify and tackle major challenges in a timely fashion and better integrate employment and social scoreboard is needed as a building block of this pillarncerns in the overall policy landscape;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Agrees that the ECB's action has ‘decisively contributed to the stability of the euro area’, limiting speculation on sovereign debt; considers, however, that insufficient growth and high (and still growing) levels of private and public debt in many Member States mean that ‘a carefully managed process of deleveraging’ is required; calls on the Commission, therefore, to quickly deliver its 2-pack commitments to Parliament in order to deepen the analysis on the partial substitution of national debt issuance through joint issuance based on conditionality in the form of a redemption fund and eurobills;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Stresses that the financing of the real economy, and of SMEs in particular, has not been restored on the EU's periphery; points out that major differences in access to creditfinance further stimulate the growing internal divergence trends in the EU and euro area in particular and destroy the internal market through unfair competition conditions; points out also that negative economic prospects only partially justify such restrictive credit constraints; calls for closer monitoring of the banking sector practices in financing the real economy, in particular economically viable SMEs; calls for the Commission to prioritise work on alternative sources of financing for SMEs, in particular through capital markets, the structural funds, the European Investment Bank, the European Investment Fund and public development banks;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. UrgWelcomes the Commission to submit a legislative proposal to create a Single Resolution Mechanism (including a Single European Authority and an industry financed Single European Fund), which is essential for completing the Banking Union; urges the Council to rapidly conclude negotiations with Parliament on the Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive and on the Banking Recovery and Resolution Directive (to be negotiated in parallel);
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Calls for direct banking recapitalisation by the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to be available as soon as all the pillars of the Banking Union – namely the Single Supervisory Mechanism and the Deposit Guarantee and Recovery and Resolution frameworks – arethe Single Supervisory Mechanism is in place; given the urgency of having a Single Resolution Fund to accompany the SSM, supports the immediate frontloading of the ESM to feed the SRF, with a reimbursement period by industry; believes that the ESM facility must reinforce the EU budget and be managed under the Community method;
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
Amendment 235 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)
Paragraph 26 a (new)
26a. Stresses that there should be a clear division between competences between the EU and national level and that the European Parliament is the seat of accountability at the Union level; requests that whenever new competences are transferred to or created at Union level or when new Union institutions are established, a corresponding democratic control by, and accountability to, the European Parliament shall be ensured;