Activities of Johan VAN OVERTVELDT related to 2019/2129(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
European Central Bank - annual report 2018 (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the European Central Bank Annual Report for 2018
Amendments (34)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2
Citation 2
– having regard to the Statute of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and of the ECB, in particular Articles 15 and 21 thereof,
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 3
Citation 3
– having regard to Articles 123, 127(1) and 284(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas according to the Eurosystem staff macroeconomic projections of September 2019, annual inflation for the euro area in the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) looks set to reach 1.2 %, 1.0 % and 1.5 % in 2019, 2020 and 2021, thus still falling short of the medium-term objective of 2 %; whereas inflation projections show substantial variance across the euro area;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas at the end of 2018 the size of the Eurosystem balance sheet had reached an all-time high of EUR 4.7 trillion, thus exceeding 40% of the euro area GDP, an increase of 0.2 trillion compared with the end of 2017;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas a stronger role of the euro, and its increased use as a reserve currency, wcould in the long term increase the EU’s ability to frame its policy stance independently vis-à-vis the US and the Federal Reserve and would ultimately provide protection from the risk of an uncooperative US approach;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas despite this positive trend, green bonds still account for only 1 % of the overall supply of euro-denominated bonds;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
Ha. whereas Article 123 TFEU and Article 21 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank prohibit the monetary financing of governments;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)
Recital H b (new)
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the role of the ECB in safeguarding euro stability and stresses that the ECB’s independence is a requisite for fulfilling its mandate; notes that such independence requires that the ECB shall not seek or take instructions from Union institutions or bodies, from any government of a Member State or from any other body; considers that the independence of the ECB cannot in any way be reconciled with political campaigning;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Is concerned that after a short economic recovery, euro area growth momentum has slowed markedly to 1.2 % of GDP in the euro area and to 1.4 % of GDP for the EU-27; underlines, therefore, the need for monetary policy to remain accommodative for the foreseeable futurebelieves that the structural contribution that monetary policy makes to sustainable growth is limited; underlines, therefore, the need for policy makers to undertake productivity- enhancing structural reforms and pursue sound fiscal policies;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses that fiscal policy is a necessary component for enhancing the impact of monetary policy and reducing possible side effects; it is not the role of fiscal policy is to enhance the impact of monetary policy or to reduce its possible side effects; considers instead that fiscal policy and monetary policy need to compensate for each other: an expansive monetary policy should go hand in hand with a restrictive fiscal policy and the other way around, only in crisis situations they should strengthen each other; emphasises that the euro area is currently not in a situation which requires such policy convergence;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. UnderlinesTakes note of the findings of the ESCB expert group on low wage growth1 , which analysed the disconnect between wage growth and labour market recovery, namely that low wage growth over recent years can be explained mainly by technology and wage bargaining shocks, the latter being impacted by changes in wage bargaining structure – reducing the bargaining power of employees – and labour market regulations – mainly in countries most affected by the global economic and financial crisis and the combination of labour underutilisation, low inflation readings and subduednamely that a combination of slack in the labour market, low inflation readings and subdued productivity growth has been holding back wage growth in the euro area; emphasises that innovation and flexibility are prerequisites for competitive labour markets; considers moreover that the ECB's very accommodative monetary policy itself is an important determinant of the subdued productivity growth, as highly indebted corporations survive thanks to low interest rates, thus compressing productivity growth; _________________ 1ECB Occasional Paper Series No 232 / September 2019: Understanding low wage growth in the euro area and European countries. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpops/ ecb.op232~4b89088255.en.pdf
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 – introductory part
Paragraph 5 – introductory part
5. Underlines that strengthening the role of the euro, increasing the resilience of the euro area economy, reducing structural unemployment and boosting euro area growth potential and productivity requires the right structural conditions, among which:
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 – indent 1
Paragraph 5 – indent 1
- The deepening of the European Monetary Union, including a fiscal capacity for the euro area able to providing a counter-cyclical stabilisation function which requires first and foremost sound fiscal policies and the implementation of structural reforms at national level aimed at better functioning product and factor markets, however which does not require a fiscal capacity for the euro area able to providing a counter-cyclical stabilisation function since Member States with access to financial markets can play such a shock-absorbing role themselves;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 – indent 2
Paragraph 5 – indent 2
- The completionreinforcement of the banking union, including a fully mutualised European deposit insurance scheme that would reduce risks, promote fair competition, facilitate the expansion of pan-European banking and reinforce the stability of the euro area as a wholeccelerated efforts by various Member States to reduce their high levels of non-performing loans (NPLs) and, following a proper clean-up of bank balance sheets, a European deposit insurance scheme that remains a fundamental objective for the euro area's financial stability;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 – indent 4
Paragraph 5 – indent 4
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. UnderlinNotes that the asset purchase programme (APP) has provided a substantialin the short term a contribution to a cyclical economic recovery and the formation of households’ inflation expectations, has led to a substantialn improvement in financing conditions via several transmission channels at the cost of potential and actual misallocation of real resources, and has compressed yields across a wide range of asset classes; stresses, in particular,notes further that the APP has directly improved credit conditions for the private non- financial sector with the asset-backed securities purchase programme (ABSPP) and the third covered bond purchase programme (CBPP3);
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Remains extremely concerned about the real shortcomings and negative side effects in the long term of a prolonged extraordinarily expansionary monetary policy which risks jeopardising a more robust and structural recovery of the euro area, among which: - The increased distortion of financial markets through impaired risk evaluation, higher leverage and the development of various asset bubbles; - The negative effects on individual savers and pensioners; -The pressure on the profitability and long-term sustainability of financial institutions that provide long-term return guarantees, such as life insurance or pension funds; - The growth of shadow banking; - Lower productivity growth; - Distributional consequences such as exacerbated wealth inequality due to increased financial asset prices in stock, bond and real exchange markets, as financial assets are primarily held by the very wealthy; - The likelihood that some Member States are using ultra-low (negative) interest rates to defer necessary structural reforms and the consolidation of their primary public deficits, particularly at central government level; - The downward pressure on the exchange rate of the euro creating a risk of competitive devaluations which has a major impact on trade conflicts;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Considers that the ECB bond- buying programmes violate at least the intent, if not the letter, of Article 123 TEFU; urges the ECB to refrain from assuming a political role and monetary financing government deficits;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Paragraph 6 c (new)
6c. Warns against the risk of excessive valuations on bond markets, which risk to be difficult to handle if interest rates start to rise again, particularly for countries involved in an excessive deficit procedure or with high levels of debt;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. NoteRegrets that on 12 September 2019 the ECB announced a broad stimulus package including an open-ended quantitative easing programme that will run at a monthly pace of EUR 20 billion per month, a cut of 10 basis points in the deposit rate, a two-tier system for reserve remuneration, and easier terms for targeted longer-term refinancing operations (TLTRO-III); points out that the ECB has few instruments left to fend off adverse macroeconomic shocks; urges the ECB to normalise monetary policy as soon as possible;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. SupporRegrets the intention of theECB Governing Council of the ECB's intention to continue reinvesting the principal payments from maturing securities for as long as necessary to maintain favourable liquidity conditions and an ample degree of monetary accommodation;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Emphasises that the ECB should not target nominal GDP since monetary policy measures cannot systematically improve the drivers of real growth;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Recalls that, as an EU institution, the ECB is bound by the Paris Agreement on climate change and that this should be reflected in its policies, with full respect for its mandate and its independencehas a narrowly defined mandate enshrined in Article 127 TFEU that should be reflected in its policies;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Takes good note of Christine Lagarde’Notes the incoming ECB President's declaration of 4 September, in which she welcomed the ECB’s collaboration in the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) and of her commitment to contribute to facing the challenges which climate change poses by implementing the NGFS’s recommendations and acting on them substantively wherever possible without undermining, thus risking to jeopardise the ECB’'s primary price stability mandate and secondary other objectives;
Amendment 230 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
Amendment 250 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Calls for the capital markets union (CMU) project to be accelerated in order to deepen financial integration, with a view to improving resilience to shocks and making the transmission of monetary policy across the monetary union more effective; believes that the fastest way to achieve a well-functioning CMU is to reduce the burden of regulations hindering well- functioning capital markets to have a broader impact all over the Union;
Amendment 258 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls on the ECBall supervisory authorities to increase its monitoring of the development of crypto- currencies, crypto-assets and the increased risks in cyber- security;
Amendment 273 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Agrees with Christine Lagardethe incoming ECB President that a review of the ECB’s monetary policy framework is timely and warranted in order to ensure that the ECB has the right tools to deliver on its price stability mandate in the future; calls on the ECB to organise a public consultation as part of this process in order to ensure that the review is open to input and feedback from a broad range of diverse civil society stakeholders;
Amendment 289 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. WelcomeExpects the increase in accountability under the Presidency of Mario Draghi, and looks forward to eveoming ECB President to deliver on greater accountability, dialogue and openness in line with the incoming Presidentcommitments she made during her hearing before the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee on 4 September 2019;
Amendment 294 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Recalls that the nominations of Executive Board members should be prepared carefully, with full transparency and together with Parliament in line with the Treaties; calls on the Council to draw up a gender-balanced shortlist for all current and upcoming vacancies and to share it with Parliament, thus allowing it to play a more meaningful advisory role in the appointment process; regrets that to date no satisfactory progress has been made;