Activities of Bernd LUCKE related to 2017/2226(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
European Semester for economic policy coordination: Annual Growth Survey 2018 - European Semester for economic policy coordination: employment and social aspects in the Annual Growth Survey 2018 (debate) DE
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the European Semester for economic policy coordination: Annual Growth Survey 2018 PDF (591 KB) DOC (84 KB)
Amendments (33)
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
B a. whereas levels of public debt persist at high levels and remain a drag on growth;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
B b. whereas growth has to an important degree relied upon unconventional and, in the long term, unsustainable monetary policy; whereas this monetary policy has failed to create a momentum for productivity-enhancing reforms;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. whereas EFSI has not had much of an effect beyond financing projects that would have been financed by other commercial and promotional banks anyway;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas employment is expected to continue to expand, while some labour market indicators and the relatively high level of ‘involuntary’ part-time work, suggest persistent labour market difficulties aggravating inequalitiin some member states;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas both employment and unemployment rates are still higher than in 2008; whereas hidden unemployment (unemployed, willing to work, but not actively searching for employment) stood at 20 % in 2016;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas tax avoidance, tax evasion and aggressive tax planning have caused billions in losses of potential revenues for the public finances of several Member States, to the benefit of large corporations;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
F a. whereas the stability of financial institutions in the Eurozone is still a matter of grave concern; whereas there is slight progress on reducing non- performing loans; whereas this progress is clearly insufficient;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
F a. whereas structural reforms in the Member States are needed in order to create the conditions for sustained and sustainable growth;
Amendment 69 #
F b. whereas close to zero interest rates severely distort the intertemporal allocation of capital; whereas a flat yield curve severely damages the traditional borrowing and lending business model of banks and drives them into riskier business activities;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F c (new)
Recital F c (new)
F c. whereas public debt levels have increased further in most member states and may be hard to sustain when interest rates return to normal levels;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Highlights, however, the persistent structural problem of insufficient growth of potential output and productivity, flanked by too low a level of investments and wages, leading to persistent social inequalities;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the improvements in public finances, in particular the gradually declining debt/GDP ratios for the EU and euro area and falling headline budget deficits; recalls that, while many Member States have limited fiscal leeway for implementing sustainable, growth-friendly structural reforms, some Member States still have large surpluses which should be used to sustain investments and growth across the EU growth-friendly structural reforms do not require fiscal space but rather legislative and administrative efforts aimed at strengthening market forces and private sector initiatives;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. recalls the need to reduce the levels of public debt and rebuild fiscal buffers, to help the European economies to be more resilient to shocks, especially in highly indebted countries; warns about higher financing costs in the future once monetary policy accommodation is reduced, especially in the euro area;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. asks the Commission to not only focus on public debt levels, but also take into account the implications for sustainable economic growth of an excessive rise in household and corporate debt;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Recalls the importance ofat public investment for boosting and leveraging investment in the EU; considers that the policy mix proposed in the AGS 2018 should be further developed to remedy the current decrease in public investment in the EU; highlights that this decrease also affects local and regional authorities, threatenmay crowd out private investment; recalls that private investment depends on private sector competitiveness; recalls that monetary policy cannot boost private sector competitiveness and that public investment can do so only ing their ability to deliver quality public services case of infrastructure investment;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Asks for aRejects any revision of the accounting standards ( European System of National and Regional Accounts, ESA 2010) to ensure a depreciation of investments over a longer period, which would allow budgetary margins to recover and permit the realisation of infrastructure projectsmotivated by the desire to paint a rosier picture of the Eurozone economy;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Underlines thatNotes the social priorities in the European Ssemester ; demands the Country-Specific Recommendations should achieve the objectives set out in the Pillar of Social Rightsnecessary respect for the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality; stresses that Member States must continue to have sufficient flexibility in implementing an appropriate social policy;
Amendment 192 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Underlines that economic policy and social rights fall in the exclusive competence of the Member States;
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Welcomes the fact that the AGS 2018 acknowledges the need for efficient and fair tax systems to ensure sustainable finance and reverse the current fall in capital income taxation; supports the Commission’s initiatives to achieve increased transparency, a reformed VAT system and a common consolidated corporate tax base;
Amendment 230 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Regrets that the overall neutral fiscal stance proposed in the recommendations for thQuestions the usefulness of an aggregate eEuro aArea, even though the fiscal stance is expected to be slightly expansionary in a number of Member States in 2018, does not appear to fully support the strengthening of economic growth and job creation fiscal stance ; insists on the full and unambiguous implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact;
Amendment 242 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Insists on a common effort to bring euro area expenditure on R&D closer to the EU2020 targets; cCalls for proper policies and investment to ensure equal access to higher education and training;
Amendment 255 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Recalls that the role of the Member States is to guarantee access to quality education and training; emphasizes that access alone will not help unless matched by diligence and efforts on the side of those trained and educated;
Amendment 267 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to adopt adequate measures to help refugees settle and integrate and to anticipate at an early stage the requirements for facilitating their smooth transition to the labour market, as well as ensuring that public services are provided with sufficient resources; stress; emphasizes that social partners should play a key role in facilitating the integration of migrants and preventing them from suffering from labour abuse;
Amendment 273 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
Amendment 288 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Underlines that a fiscal capacity – on top of existing capacities, and not through redeployments that woulddoes not fall undermine the vital role currently played by structural funds and cohesion policy – represents a necessary tool for increasing incentives for convergence and to counter asymmetric or symmetric economic shocksEU’s competences as defined in Article 3 TFEU;
Amendment 289 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Underlines that a fiscal capacity – on top of existing capacities, and not through redeployments that would undermine the vital role currently played by structural funds and cohesion policy – represents a necessary tool for increasing incentives for convergence and to counter asymmetric or symmetric economic shockas a shock-absorber is not required since governments with access to financial markets can play this role themselves;
Amendment 305 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
Amendment 323 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
Amendment 339 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
Amendment 358 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Underlines that any further step towards a deepening of the EMU must go hand in hand with stronger democratic controls; insists that, to this end, the role of the European Parliament and national parliaments must be strengthened; asks to include trade unions in the negotiation process at both national and European level; urges the launch of the long- awaited negotiation of an interinstitutional agreement (IIA) on the Semesteris unable to solve its underlying problem of a lack of exchange rate flexibility;