43 Amendments of Marco ZANNI related to 2015/2210(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the annual growth survey presented by the Commission on 28 November 2014 outlined three main pillars for 2015 – a coordinated boost to private investment, a reis continuing along a path which has hitherto proven to be a total failure, by identifying as priorities fiscal consolidation, the newed commitment tofor structural reforms and the pursuance of fiscal responsibility – and emphasises for the first time the contribution the EU budget should make to achieving these aimsattraction of private investment as a matter of priority;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas over the last six months a whole series of budgetary measuresthere have been numerous changes to the budget – the adoption of the regulation on the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the launch of operational programmes linked to the cohesion funds, the carry-over of commitment appropriations from the 2007- 2013 period which were unused in 2014 to 2015, 2016 and 2017 and the decision to increase pre- financing for the European Youth Initiative – have been taken in the service of the objectives set out in the annual growth surveywhich may have negative repercussions over the next few months;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas these measures demonstrat EU budget should have thrue added value which the EU budget provides, but also highlight the restrictions on EU political action imposed by a budget which does not consist of genuine own resources, which amounts to less than 1 % of EU GDP and which is constrained by a seven-year multiannual framework, by focusing on priorities and measures that are genuinely effective at EU level, while fully adhering to the subsidiarity principle;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. WelcomTakes the presentation ofview that the five presidents' report, 'Completing Europe's Economic and Monetary Union', but criticises the fact that the timetable for its implementation is out of step with the severity of the Greekgoes in the opposite direction to what is needed, that it should provide for greater freedom of action for Member States and combat the asymmetries caused by the single currency and by absurd fiscal rules which are preventing economic recovery and an end to the crisis;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. WBelcomieves the steps which have been taken to simplify and strengthen the European Semester: a greater focus on priorities, fewer documents and more time to discuss them, greater outreach at political level and engagement with national authorities.at the changes made to the operation of the European Semester are an improvement, but are still far from making this instrument useful and sustainable, given that it is based on European economic governance that absolutely needs to be reconsidered;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes, in any case, the ideas proposed to help strengthen parliamentary oversight, sin particular the proposal to adapt Parliament's structures to the specific nature of the single currencyce Parliament is the only Union body that is legitimately elected and that democratically represents EU citizens;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the Commission's spring economic forecast indicates that annual inflation in both the EU and the euro area is expected to rise fromwill remain as low as 0.1 % in 2015 toand 1.5 % in 2016, meaning that the ECB's target is unlikely to be met in the coming years;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. WelcomTakes the call to give intergovernmental solutions such asview that the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance full democratic legitimacy by incorporating them into EU primary law(Fiscal Compact) is illegitimate as it is in clear breach of primary Union law; stresses that its adoption should have followed standard Treaty amendment procedures (Article 48 TEU) and rejects any measure designed to artificially supersede this only available option;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas enormous differences continue to prevail among Member States in real GDP growth rates, with figures ranging respectively between -0.5 % in Cyprus and +3.6% in Ireland, meaning that economic recovery remains uneven and fragile;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas the September 2015 ECB staff macroeconomic projections for the Euro area have revised down real GDP growth and inflation estimates respectively to 1.4 % in 2015 and 1.7% in 2016, and to 0.1% in 2015 and 1.1 % in 2016, suggesting that in spite of the ECB's unconventional policies and a favourable external situation of falling oil prices and euro depreciation, economic growth remains anaemic and fragile,
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas, according to the Commission's spring forecast, unemployment in the EU remains at unacceptably high levels, but is on a declining path set to fall to 9.2 % is expected to decrease at very slow pace, from 9.6 % in 2015 to 9.2% in 2016 in the EU, and 10.5 % in the euro area in 2016;from 11 % in 2015 to 10.5 % in 2016 for the Euro area, reflecting the persistence of high structural unemployment and an insufficient economic recovery; whereas huge differences continue to prevail between the core and periphery countries, with unemployment rates ranging from 4.6 % in Germany to 26.6 % in Greece,
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the ideas put forward forObjects to the establishment of a eurozone budgetary stability mechanism, which would be the first step towards establishing a European treasury; points out that the publication of a white paper in spring 2017 will coincide with the mid- term review of the MFF; reiterates, in that connection, its call that any additional funding or instrument should fall within the scope of Parliamentʼs budgetary oversight and should be financed over and above the MFF ceiling for 2014-2020; reiterates the need for a new own-resources system, which would pave the way, given that the unsustainability of the single currency for some of its member countries has been clearly demonstrated; reiterates, however, the need for a genuine overhaul of the EU financing arrangements without, though without, under any circumstances, requiring EU citizens to pay more tax;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. WelcomesRegrets that the adoption of the regulation on the European Fund for Strategic Investments, and emphasises the role Parliament has played in minimising redeployment from might have an adverse impact on Horizon 2020 and on the Connecting Europe Facility, programmes that were defined as priorities by the Commission, the Member States and Parliament;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the fiscal outlook in the EU and the euro area continues to improve with a broadly neutral fiscal stance on aggregateremain constrained, thus prolonging the recessionary cycle by preventing Member States from conducting the necessary counter-cyclical policies to support economic recovery;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Regards it as essential that the plan should succeed and will therefore monitor its implementation very closely, in particular any move to shift investment expenditure and public debt off State balance sheetTakes the view that since the Commission’s investment plan is based mainly on attracting private investment, it cannot resolve the current economic and social crisis, which, on the contrary, would require public investment and direct action by the Member States, which, at present, do not have the necessary freedom of action since they are victims of the EU’s coercive rules.
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas investment in the Euro area remains subdued and well below the pre- crisis levels, in spite of the ECB's unconventional monetary policy and the launching of the European investment plan, suggesting that investment is still insufficient to support economic recovery and the monetary stimulus largely ineffective;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas the cuts to public spending imposed by fiscal consolidation have resulted in a decline in social protection, while the European population at risk of poverty and social exclusion has increased to over 25%;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. WelcomDeplores the fact that substantial economic recovery is slowly gaining groundhas failed to materialise, with real GDP in the euro area expected to rise by 2.1increase by only 1.4% in 2015 and 1.7% in 2016; notes with concern, however, that its that the economic foundations of growth are fragile, mainly owing to the EU's underlying structural weaknesses and resulting low international competitiveneseconomic asymmetries of the single currency, excessively constrained fiscal policies, and a flawed financial framework, which have generated unsustainable macroeconomic and financial imbalances;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. WelcomesRegrets that the Commission's focus in the 2015 Country-Specific Recommendations (CSRs) con the foursiders as its main priorities: for economic growth: boosting investmentiscal consolidation, implementation ofing structural reforms into further liberalise product, service and labour markets, fiscal responsibility and improving and attracting private investment, thus blindly ignoring that these are the same policies that have failed to bring the EU out of crisis and in fact had the self-defeating effect of exacerbating the damage to the economy and social cohesion; and stresses the urgent need to combat unemployment, policy; stresses the importance of these growth drivers, also in the context of achieving the goals set out in the Europe 2020 strategy; verty, increasing inequalities and social exclusion; and calls on the Commission to radically revise its strategy towards implementing economically and socially sustainable policies to support a solid recovery and generate inclusive growth, also in the context of achieving the goals set out in the Europe 2020 strategy; recalls the positive role of public investment in boosting growth and productivity, in particular in a context of weak demand and ineffective monetary policy;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. WelcomAcknowledges the Commission's new approach to streamlining the European Semester process, i.e. through placing a stronger focus on a limited number of most important priorities and challenges and publishing its country-specific and euro area analysis three months earlier than in previous years;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes with concernConsiders that the varying degrees of commitment demonstrated by Member States to implementing last year's CSRs; stresses the importance of the implementation of the CSRs in order to ensure consistent and fair implementation of the economic governance framework across Member States; deplores in this context the non-binding nature of the recommendations reflect the unsustainability and flawed design of the current economic governance framework and the European Semester;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses that many Member States, in particular in the eurozone, are faced with similar macroeconomic challenges, including most importantly high debts and low investmentpersistently high unemployment, increasing poverty and socio-economic inequalities;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Deplores the persistently high unemployment rates across most Member States, in particular the youth and long- term structural unemployment rates; stresses the need to reform national labour markets in order to increase job creation ratesrecalls the findings of the IMF April 2015 World Economic Outlook, according to which structural flexible labour market reforms do not have a statistically significant impact on total factor productivity, unlike investments in R&D and innovation, which were found to generate the highest productivity and have a largely positive impact on GDP growth;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. WelcomesTakes note the entry into force of the regulation on the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI), aimed at boosting private investment in the EU, and calls on all relevant stakeholders to ensure its swift and effective implementation; highlights the well-known risks of combining structured finance and high leverage, as well as the unnecessary financial burden on the taxpayers of private-public partnerships aimed at attracting private investors into funding infrastructures and public goods;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Notes that further fiscal consolidation is still needed in many Member States in order to comply with the conditions of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP); notes the Commission's interpretative communication on flexibility in the SGP, aimed at clarifying the scope of the investment clause and allowing for a certain degree of temporary flexibility in the preventive arm of the SGPwould further depress internal demand, thus hindering economic recovery, and unreasonably constrain Member States from adopting necessary and urgent measures to tackle unemployment, inequality, increasing poverty and social exclusion; notes the Commission's interpretative communication on flexibility in the SGP, aimed at clarifying the scope of the investment clause and allowing for a small margin of temporary flexibility solely in the preventive arm of the SGP; believes that this approach is insufficient and should be urgently reassessed with the aim to establish a more broadly defined golden rule to apply in both the preventive and corrective arm of the SGP, exempting from deficit and debt calculations all public expenditures related productive investments in R&D and innovation, as well as any guaranteed minimum income adopted by Member States to stimulate employment and inclusive growth;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Is concerned at the persisting macroeconomic imbalances in some Member States, in particular the high public debt levels and large current account gapwithin the Euro area, in particular the unsustainably high current account surpluses in Germany and Netherlands, as well as the excessive risks in the banking systemsand financial systems in EU as a whole;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Notes with concern the Commission's asymmetric approach in past CSRs, reflecting a bias towards correcting internal EU imbalances by forcing adjustment on fiscal and current account deficits countries, while ignoring the negative spill-overs of excessive current account surpluses, generated by harmfully tight fiscal policies, internal devaluation aimed at boosting exports, and the flawed construction of the single currency;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses the importance of access to finance for enterprises, in particularlong-term and sustainable finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which constitute the backbone of the EU economy; points out the failure of currently low interest rates to boost investmentand unconventional monetary policy to boost investment and internal demand;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Underlines the need to improve the EU's business environment as well as tond raise productivity levels; stresses the importance of sound business regulation for the success of the EFSI as well as to ensure fair competition among enterprises and Member States; calls, therefore, for the removal of administrative barriers, cutting red tape and reform of Member States' tax systems; underlines the lack of effective measures against tax havens, tax avoidance, tax evasion, and tax fraud; stresses the importance of effectively applying State Aid rules to selective fiscal measures giving unfair advantages to transnational big corporations in certain Member States;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Stresses the importance of adopting a far-reaching reform of the financial sector, including a radical bank structural reform based on a clear mandatory separation of trading activities from the core credit function and an effective regulation of the shadow banking sector;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Agrees withcknowledges the Commission that many Member States need to be more ambitious in i's communication on the roadmap for complementing structural reforms in order to make product and services markets more competitive; welcomesthe Digital Single Market, in thise context, of the Commission's communication on the roadmap for completing the Digital Single Marketneed to encourage innovation and support an inclusive economic recovery;
Amendment 189 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Stresses the need for Member States to adapt their public finances by conducting a counter-cyclical policy when necessary and making full use of the existing flexibility clauses foreseen in the legislation; considers that Member Stexpansionary policy; emphasizes the urgent need of removing unnecessary and unsustainable budgetary constraints as well as absurd fiscal rules, including the 1/20 rule on debt reduction, through a radical revision of the Treaties with high debt levels in particular must continue with growth-friendly fiscal consolidation and urgently implement the recommended structural reforms, while those, the Six-pack and Two-pack as well as a repeal of Fiscal Compact; deplores that the ongoing reform of the economic governance framework has failed to take into account the need for economic and socially balanced rules; considers that Member States with more fiscal space should use it to accelerate investment and boost internal demand;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Stresses the crucial role of public investments in responding to the crisis and create the conditions for a lasting and inclusive economic recovery; recalls the IMF Working Paper of May 2015 on the macroeconomic effects of public investment, according to which increased public investment raises output and reduces unemployment, both in the short term and in the long term; highlights the fact that, according to the IMF findings, the positive effects on output are stronger when the economy is in recession and monetary policy accommodative, as in the Euro area at present; and points out that public investment financed by debt issuance is found to have larger output effects than investments that are budget- neutral;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Calls on the Commission to refocus its strategy for growth on the priorities of reducing unemployment, poverty, socio- economic inequalities, and social exclusion, as well as on the urgent need to correct macroeconomic and financial imbalances within the EU by addressing the asymmetries arising from the single currency and the damaging effects of harmful fiscal and commercial policies;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14b. Calls on the Commission to replace absurd fiscal rules and numerical targets for budgetary criteria by qualitative indicators of fiscal accountability and tax justice, taking into account the need to fight corporate tax evasion and tax avoidance and the importance to shift the tax burden from labour taxes to other sources of taxation associated with negative externalities, such as a carbon tax and a financial transaction tax;
Amendment 216 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 c (new)
Paragraph 14 c (new)
14c. Stresses the need to refocus the scoreboard on key macroeconomic and social targets, also by including a meaningful set of qualitative indicators; calls on the Commission to make full use of employment and social indicators;
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 d (new)
Paragraph 14 d (new)
14d. Calls on the Commission to address unambiguous and tailored CSRs primarily to Member States running excessive current account surpluses, by indicating the necessary corrective actions, which especially include policy measures to increase public investment and public expenditure, boost internal demand, and raise wages; stresses the importance of monitoring and impartially assessing the implementation of the CSRs issued under the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure, and to use the instrument of the sanctions in case of non-compliance, as prescribed in the MIP regulation, with the aim of ensuring a fair and smooth adjustment of existing macroeconomic asymmetries and alleviating the burden of the single currency on the most vulnerable economies;
Amendment 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Stresses the role of flexible labour markets in combatting unemployment, in particular the negative impact on job creation rates of rigid rules on dismissal, excessive minimum wage levels and lengthy labour disputes; calls for a shift away from labour taxes to odetrimental role of labour market liberalisation on quality jobs, social protection and wage levels; deplores that labour market reforms recommended in previous CSRs have resulted in a boom in temporary and part- time jobs in several Member States, and have generated a dramatic wage suppression effect, hindered workers' access to credit, thus exacerbating social discontent and increasing ther sources of taxationense of insecurity for many European citizens;
Amendment 245 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Deplores the fact that the CSRs suffer from lack of ownership at national level and from a transparent and democratically accountabilityle mechanism; calls, in this context, for an increased role for national parliaments and the full engagement of social stakeholders in the preparation of the National Reform Programmes (NRPs); stresses that increased ownership is a crucial factor for the successful implementation of the CSRs and, in the longer term, for the success of the Europe 2020 strategy, transparency and democratic accountability are crucial factors;
Amendment 266 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Underlines the destructive impact of high debt levelunregulated financial markets on economic growth in the EU; calls on the Commission to explorabandon the innovitiative ways of speeding up and lessening the negative impact of deleveraging in the banking, private and publicof the CMU and to pursue in the first place a far reaching reform of the financial sector, including radical bank structural reform based on a clear mandatory separation of trading activities from the core credit function and effective regulation of the shadow banking sectors;
Amendment 273 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Recalls that the high levels of public and external debt in some EU Member States were largely originated by reckless lending and predatory interest rates, and further exacerbated by fiscal austerity policies; stresses the need to recognize public debt accumulated in this unbalanced way as illegitimate, odious and unsustainable; calls therefore for establishing a multilateral international framework for debt haircuts providing substantial debt relief through cancellation and reduction of illegitimate and unsustainable sovereign debt, in order to bring it to sustainable levels; stresses the importance of finding a fair, sustainable and lasting solution to the problem of external public debt, as an alternative solution to devastating austerity policies, technocratic governance of sovereign debt and creditors' domination on debt negotiations;
Amendment 279 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19