23 Amendments of Matt CARTHY related to 2016/2063(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2 a (new)
Citation 2 a (new)
- having regard to Article 127(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas, according to the same forecast, the euro area will continue to exhibit an external surplus, of around 3 % of GDP; whereas the emergence of a persistent external surplus of the euro area is a worrying development and a potential threat to global economic stability, which needs to be countered by policies to strengthen domestic demand;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas, according to the ECB projection of March 2016, the average inflation rate in the euro area, after being nil in 2015, will remain close to this level in 2016 (0.2 %) and reach 1.2 % in 2017; whereas the inflation rate in the euro area has been below the ECB's target rate since early 2013;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the inflation target is getting harder to reach owing to consolidation of demographic trends and the full impact of trade globalisation on a high-unemployment European societyhigh- unemployment, insufficient wage growth, and low investment in the euro area;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I a (new)
Recital I a (new)
Ia. whereas there is increased risk that the ECB's APP fuel asset price bubbles that may pose a threat to financial stability;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I b (new)
Recital I b (new)
Ib. whereas overreliance on monetary policy for economic stimulus via asset purchases contributes to inequality as asset ownership is reserved to wealthier households;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that the euro area continues to suffer from a high level of unemployment and excessive low inflation and that, in addition, the euro area is facing a very low level of productivity growth, which is the result of the lack of investment since the beginning of the crisis; notes that the high level of public debt and the huge number of non- performing loans in the banking sector in some Member States are still fragmenting the euro area financial market, thuwhile the debt and deficit rules reducinge room for manoeuvre to support the most fragile economies;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Acknowledges that, confronted with this very complex environment and the risks of a prolonged period of low inflation, the ECB was within the terms of its mandate in adopting extraordinary measures to lift inflation back up to the medium-term objective of 2 %; notes that, since the launching of the APP in March 2015, and owing to targeted long-term refinancing operation (TLTRO) programmes targeted at the real economy, financial conditions have improved, which has promoted a recovery in lending to firms and households in the euro area; notes that improvements have not affected Member States equally and that credit demand especially in southern Member States remains weak, due to the depressed economic situation;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Believes that the APP would have an even higher impact on the European economy if it had a higher share of EIB bond buying, particularly related to the TEN-T and TEN-E (projects with proven added European value in social and economic terms), and SME securitised loanspublic infrastructure, or if the ECB were able to buy Member States’' public debt directly linked to investment and research expenditure on the secondary markets; believes that in order to choose the eligibility of public debt assets for the APP, the Eurosystem should assign a complementary credit rating in addition to those assigned by private agencies;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Underlines the risks arising from the ECB's corporate bond purchases, particularly in terms of vested interests and moral hazard;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Agrees with ECB President Mario Draghi that the single monetary policy cannot stimulate aggregate demand unless it is complemented by soundexpansionary fiscal policies and ambitious structural reform; believes that ambitious public investment programmes at EU and Member State level are needed to enhance productivity, employment and wage growth and crowd in private investment; recalls that the main benefit of monetary policy is to safeguard price and financial stability in order to guarantee a stable environment for investment; considers that monetary policy is not the appropriate tool to solve the structural problems of the European economy;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Notes, however, that even though the impact of unconventional measures has been significantd some impact on the financial markets, inflation is not expected to converge to the 2 % medium-term objective at the 2017 horizon; notes that the current recovery in bank and market lending has not wholly produced the expectis geographically unevenly distributed among Member States and did not have a marked effect on the existing investment gap in the euro area so far;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Understands the reason why negative rates have been implemented, but remains concerned about the potential consequences of negative interest rate policy for individual savers and the financial equilibrium of pension schemes; believes that owing to demographic trends and cultural preferences for savingin light of the worrying trend towards privatization of pension schemes, these negative effects on income may lead to an increase in the household saving rate, which could be detrimental to domestic demand in the euro area;
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Underlines that negative rates are no substitute for policies boosting aggregate demand, particularly through stabilizing income distribution via wage growth in line with trend productivity and the ECB's inflation target;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Agrees with ECB President Mario Draghi that negative rates are a symptom of an underlying problem caused by a global excess of savings and a lack of appetite for investment; underlines in this context that the euro area's and particularly Germany's current account surplus of €257 billion in 2015 strongly contribute to this problem globally;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the ECB to carefully assess the risks of a future resurgence of asset and housing bubbles owing to its ultra-low (negative) interest rate policy, particularly in big cities, and to design specific macroprudential recommendations in this regard;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Recognises the existence of distributional consequences of the ECB policies, which can be perceived as increasinge inequalities, but believes that the ECB policies are the right ones to lower the costs of credit for citizens and SMEs and enhance employment in the euro areay;
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Notes that the ECB’'s APP has lowered bond yields in most Member States to unprecedented levels, but with little effect on the real economy; warns against the risk of too-high valuations on the bond markets, which would be difficult to handle if interest rates start to rise again, particularly for the countries involved in the excessive deficit procedure or with high levels of debt;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Deplores the fact that some Member States are not using the ultra-low (negative) interest rate policy as a pretext to defer the necessary consolidation of their primary public deficits, particularly at central government levelto increase public investment;
Amendment 222 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Recalls that theinstrumental independence of the ECB for the conduct of monetary policy, as enshrined in the Treaties, is crucial to the objective of safeguarding price stability; asks all governments to avoid statements questioning the role played by the institution within its mandateinsists that the ECB nevertheless has to be held democratically accountable for its decisions and that ECB decisions must be subject to democratic control by the European Parliament;
Amendment 235 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Deplores the role played by the ECB during the negotiations with the Greek government for the Third Economic Adjustment Programme for Greece;
Amendment 237 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16b. Is of the opinion that the ECB's governance council decisions on 4 February 2015 to lift the waiver affecting marketable debt instruments issued or fully guaranteed by the Hellenic Republic, and on 28 June 2015 to freeze the level of emergency liquidity assistance to Greek banks directly led to the introduction of capital controls in Greece; considers these decisions to be in violation of the ECB's mandate to promote the smooth operation of payment systems;