Activities of Fabio DE MASI related to 2015/2115(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
European Central Bank annual report for 2014 (debate) DE
Amendments (11)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas, according to the Commission’s latest predicted spring forecast, economic recovery in the euro area is expected to expand, with real GDP predicted to rise by 1.5 % in 2015 and 1.9 % in 2016; notes with concern, that growth rates in some Member States are masked by the impact of foreign multinationals; notes with concern that a substantial proportion of growth in specific member states, is due to low-tax financial services sectors, which do not positively impact upon domestic or real economies in the manner other sectors can; notes with concern that the foundations of any growth are fragile, mainly owing EU's policies suppressing domestic demand and increasing economic problems in China and other countries;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas, according to the same forecast, predicted unemployment in the euro area is expected to record a slow decrease, from 11.6 % at the end of 2014 to 10.5 % at the end of 2016; whereas there are major disparities between the unemployment rates in different Member States, with figures ranging from 6.4 % in Germany to 26.6 % in Greece; deplores the persistently high unemployment rates across most Member States, in particular the youth and long-term unemployment rates; notes with concern that a falling unemployment rate also disguises the social epidemic of emigration; stresses the need to reform national labour markets, reduce precariousness and raise internal demand in order to increase job creation rates; Notes with concern the use of draconian and compulsory work activation schemes for young people;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas, again according to the same forecast, the fiscal outlook in the euro area should exhibit a slight improvement, with decreases expected in the public deficit (from 2.4 % in 2014 to 1.7 % in 2016) and the public debt (from 94 % at the end of 2014 to 92.5 % at the end of 2016); notes that deflationary fiscal policies combined with banking policies which socialised private debt and austerity policies have led to extremely high levels of public debt in many Member States;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the current recovery is mainly supported by private consumption, while private investment in the euro area continues to stagnate at levels significantly below those registered before the start of the crisiCalls on the Commission and the Member States to prioritise public investment; urges the Commission and Member States to do more from the economic crisis as an opportunity to promote a more equitable, socially and environmentally sustainable economic model, by, among other means, accelerating public investment and promoting social enterprise and alternative business models, such as mutuals and cooperatives;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas in 2014 the ECB lowered its key refinancing rates to the effective lower bound and reduced its deposit facility rate to -0.20 %; whereas lower real rates have not translated into either increased credit for households and businesses, especially SMEs, or GDP growth and job creation; stresses the need to prioritise action to tackle unemployment, poverty and social exclusion, and to give priority to sustainable employment/quality jobs, investment, and quality public services which ensure social inclusion, especially in the areas of agriculture, education, health, childcare, care of dependent persons, public transport and social services;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recalls that the modest recovery expected for the coming years in the euro area will not be sufficient to reduce the high unemployment rates recorded in many euro area Member States or to reduce the burden of debt; stresses that many Member States, in particular in the eurozone, are faced with similar macroeconomic challenges, including most importantly high external and public debts, high unemployment and low investment; deplores the insistence of the Eurogroup on austerity policies harming both investment and employment;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Asks the ECB to carefully monitor the risks associated with its purchase programmes, in order to avoid an unfair burden on EU taxpayers; notes that the expansion of European Investment Bank activities should be backed by ECB bond buying; notes that such a joint effort would not only recycle large amounts of unused liquidity from financial markets, but also be much more targeted than the current quantitative easing programme which injects ever more liquidity into financial markets without unlocking substantive real-economy activity, therefore feeding new asset price bubbles.
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Notes that austerity policies in a number of Member States have contributed to stagnation and recession, with damaging effects on euro area members’ public accounts, levels of unemployment and social cohesion; Notes that the architecture of the economic governance is undemocratic and rather than developing further steps towards pooling sovereignty, there is a need to reject austerity policies, prioritise public investment, democratise the governance structure and to redefine the European Monetary Union;
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Underlines the need for democratic accountability in view of the new responsibilities conferred on the ECB regarding supervisory tasks, as well as its involvement in the Troika and Quadriga programmes, while also stressing the ECB’s independence in the field of monetary policy and the need to avoid any conflict of interest in the execution of its functions; notes with concern the rescue packages to the bailed-out countries, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) as well as its predecessor the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and the new Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) within the European Central Bank (ECB) have fragile legal foundations based on the EU treaties. Moreover, aside from the substantive validity of these initiatives, many of the procedures adopted in their establishment deviate from the processes as provided for in the treaties, thus undermining their democratic legitimacy.
Amendment 232 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Recalls the report of Parliament of 28 February 2014 on the inquiry into the role and operations of the Troika, which calls on the next Parliament to build on the work of this report, develop its key findings and investigate further; calls for a complete over-hall in the ECB mandate and statutes, putting an end to its false autonomy, assuring its political and democratic control by the States (on an equal footing) and returning to Member- States the power of decision on crucial economic options, including the control of its monetary policy;
Amendment 236 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 – introductory part
Paragraph 25 – introductory part
25. Calls for a thorough assessment ofDeplores the ECB’s modus operandi and actions towards Greece, especially as regards the decisions taken by it, namely: