Activities of Marco VALLI related to 2016/2101(INI)
Plenary speeches (3)
European Semester for economic policy coordination: implementation of 2016 priorities (A8-0309/2016 - Alfred Sant) IT
European Semester for economic policy coordination: implementation of 2016 priorities (debate) IT
European Semester for economic policy coordination: implementation of 2016 priorities (debate) IT
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the European Semester for economic policy coordination: implementation of 2016 priorities PDF (471 KB) DOC (95 KB)
Amendments (23)
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas Europe still faces a huge investment deficit, even thoughwhile the current account surplus in the eurozone continues to rise, theoretically creating more favourable conditions for public and private invereflecting the compression of internal demand and persistment due to the exceptionally low interest rates on government borrowingmacroeconomic imbalances among countries;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Ca (new)
Recital Ca (new)
Ca. whereas the single currency, by preventing normal adjustments in competitiveness between countries and depriving them of the basic economic policy tools that would enable them to absorb asymmetric shocks, has hindered economic recovery and exacerbated the divergences and macroeconomic imbalances between core and periphery countries;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas falling oil prices at the start of 2016 appear to be the key reasonan additional factor in the dragging down of the inflation rate to below zero levels;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas political developments such as the question of the UK’s membership ofUK’s decision to leave the Union, relations with Russia and the refugee crisis, which have compounded uncertainties and further served to inhibit investment, reflect the deep political crisis under way in the EU institutions;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Fa (new)
Recital Fa (new)
Fa. whereas austerity policies have had a major depressing and destabilising effect on the economy, causing a collapse in domestic demand, an increase in unemployment levels and absolute poverty and an explosion of social and economic inequalities;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Fb (new)
Recital Fb (new)
Fb. whereas the current account surplus in Germany has further expanded in 2015 and is expected to remain at a level higher than 8% of GDP for 2016- 2017 too, having a severe negative impact on the entire European economy and hampering its recovery;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that the challenges in the EU are linked to the deteriorating international environment and theincreasing divergences in the economic and social performance achieved in different parts of the Union, the continuing excessive macroeconomic imbalances caused by the single currency, the accumulation of major systemic risks in the financial system and the unsustainability of an export-led growth model in a deteriorated global economic environment;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. WelcomDeplores the Commission’s focusinsistence in its 2016 country-specific recommendations (CSRs) on the usual three main priorities to further strengthen economic growth:: continuing with the austerity policies, supporting private investment, and pursuing structural reforms and preserving responsible public finance, even though these have been counter-productive in terms of economic growth and have helped to exacerbate the crisis;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. WelcomesNotes that the Commission’s continuing approach to limit the number of recommendations and its effort to mainstream the semester by covering mainly key priority areas of macroeconomic and social relevance, when setting the policy objectives for the next 18 months; reiterates that this facilitates the implementation of recommendations according to a comprehensive and is not a response that can meet the need to promote economic recovery and convergence between EU countries, unless there is an in-depth review of the neoliberal approach taken by the Commission and of the technocratic coordination mechanism of the European Semester as regards economic and social policies that are of strictly national competence; stresses that coordination at EU level must be confined to measures that cannot be dealt with effectively and sufficiently at the national level, because of the presence of clear negative and positive externalities, in particular the fight against tax avoidance and evasion, organised crime aningful range of social benchmarksd corruption, the fight against financial speculation and environmental pollution and the correction of macroeconomic imbalances that are caused and amplified by the single currency;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that Europe’s long economic crisis has shown that there is a strong need to focus on public and private investment, in order to enhance the EU’s competitivenesse failure of the current model of economic governance and the strong need to radically change approach in order to grant Member States democratic sovereignty in fundamental economic policy decisions, enabling them to focus on public and private investment and to regain competitiveness through normal exchange rate readjustments, rather than through the internal devaluation of wages and income that is required by a fixed exchange-rate system;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Underlines that the still-too-high unemployment rates show that the capacity to create jobs in most Member States is still limited; emphasises that furthere systematic failure of the neoliberal economic strategy hitherto pursued and that the capacity to create jobs in most Member States is hampered by the collapse in domestic demand and by budgetary constraints; emphasises that huge public investments and targeted action isare needed, in consultation with social partners and in accordance with national practices, to make labour markets more inclusive overall and to promote full quality employment;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9a (new)
Paragraph 9a (new)
9a. Deplores the asymmetrical and arbitrary approach taken by the Commission in its recommendations for deficit countries, onto which the entire burden of the adjustment is being offloaded, while some countries continue freely to accumulate excessive current account surpluses, preventing rebalancing among countries and helping to worsen the crisis and the macroeconomic imbalances within the eurozone; stresses that high and persistent current account surpluses in a monetary union primarily reflect the competitive advantages of an undervalued currency and deflationary policies designed to damage EU partners; calls on the Commission, therefore, to take decisive action to correct excessive surpluses through policies to support demand and significant public investments, and to impose appropriate sanctions;
Amendment 189 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Notes that furtherHighlights with concern the fact that the problem of non-performing loans (NPL) is directly linked to the effects of a deep and prolonged economic and financial crisis; stresses that wide-ranging measures are needed to reduce non- performing loans (NPL) in the euro area and to increase the ability of banks to lend to the real economy, notably to SMEs, through significant public investments and measures to strengthen long-term funding channels in support of the real economy;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Underlines the fact that investment has so far lagged and failed to lead tothe restrictions on investment and on public spending have greatly damaged the prospects for sustainable and inclusive growth in the EU and that under the current circumstances, monetary policy alone is unlikely to bring about recovery, even though the rules made necessary by banking union have imposed more stringent financial criteria on banks; considers that a coordinated fiscal expansion is also needed in the EU, therefore, in line with the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact and its flexibility clauses, in order to place emphasis on but, on the contrary, will have an adverse effect on financial stability, especially given the lack of stringent and rigorous rules to govern the financial system; considers, therefore, that the EU needs to move beyond the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact and its flexibility clauses, which have hampered the management of effective policies to combat the economic and social crisis, in order to place emphasis on policies to support domestic demand and to boost public and private investment;
Amendment 228 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Emphasises the need to imprremove the EU’s overall capacity toexternal constraints on the management of fiscal policies, which are currently preventing Member States from createing and sustaining jobs and thus tofrom tackleing intolerably high levels of unemployment, while considering that migration could playpoverty and inequality through specific fiscal stimulus and important role in compensating for the negative effects of the ageing population; emphasises, however, that this alone cannot be the main response to address structural demographic, labour market or fiscal challenges but that it should be complemented with efficient public expenditure, especially in high-quality social and environmentally sustainable investmentncome support measures and targeted public investments that are of high quality from a social and environmental point of view; takes the view that migration alone cannot be the main response to address structural demographic, labour market or fiscal challenges;
Amendment 242 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12a (new)
Paragraph 12a (new)
12a. Points out that the economic and monetary integration process has been at a standstill for many years due to political disagreements that are difficult to overcome and that the economic and social crisis has worsened, especially in the peripheral countries; in this regard, stresses the urgent need to provide for an opt-out procedure for any Member States which might democratically express the need to withdraw from the euro area; highlights the need, moreover, for a controlled monetary union dissolution plan to be organised, so as not to be taken unawares by an uncontrolled dissolution, while at the same time promoting friendly cooperation between European states in a manner that respects their respective national constitutions;
Amendment 245 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
Amendment 261 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Invites the Commission to give priority to measures that reduce the obstacles to greater investment flows, which arise at both an EU level from a lack of clarity regarding strategies that are to be followedlong-term productive investments with high social and environmental added value, especially in the fields of energy, transportsustainable mobility, communications and the digital economy, as well as from the effect on bank lending in the wake; highlights, in this regard, the distorting and penalising effects ofn the adoption of the banking union, and a national level from cumbersome legal systems, corruption, lack of transparency, outdated bureaucracy, inadequate digitalisation of public services, lack of mutual recognition of academic and technical qualifications in the professions and certain services sectors, and educational systems that remain out of synch with modern requirementscommercial banking model based on the provision of credit to the real economy, which are caused mainly by the EU banking union's asymmetric regulatory and supervisory framework and the failure to separate lending activities from trading activities in banks, in addition to the lack of more stringent rules to combat financial speculation;
Amendment 272 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14a (new)
Paragraph 14a (new)
14a. Points out that corruption, organised crime, money laundering, tax avoidance and evasion, excessive red tape and the opacity of the financial system are having the effect of discouraging investment and entrepreneurial activities and are distorting the normal functioning of the internal market; stresses the importance of taking effective action at EU level to combat these issues;
Amendment 275 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14b (new)
Paragraph 14b (new)
14b. Highlights, in addition, the negative impact on financial stability, the real economy and productive investment of the Capital Markets Union project which is focusing on the further liberalisation of capital flows, the expansion of the shadow banking system and the revival of securitisation, namely on the same mechanisms that caused the 2008 financial crisis;
Amendment 296 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Underlines the importance of better addressing the high tax wedge on labour given that high taxation diminishes incentives for the inactive, the unemployed, second earners and low-wage earners to return to employment, by promoting a growth-friendly tax shift towards consumption and environmental taxethe profits of multinationals, environmental taxes and financial transactions;
Amendment 308 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Points out that efforts should be made to remove remaining barriers to investment in the Member States and allow for a more suitablethe constraints and restrictions on government investment being imposed on the Member States and allow for greater freedom in the management of economic and fiscal policy mixies, including a genuine focus on research and development spendingthe requirements and specific features of different economic contexts; believes that public and private spending and support for research and higher education institutions investment to support employment, quality public services, research and development and education are crucial factors and that the weakness or absence of this infrastructuresuch fiscal leeway places certainEU countries, in particular those of the eurozone, at a massive disadvantage;