Activities of Jean-Paul BESSET related to 2013/0190(NLE)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the proposal for a Council decision on the adoption by Latvia of the euro on 1 January 2014 PDF (188 KB) DOC (96 KB)
Amendments (13)
Amendment 2 #
Draft legislative resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that the assessment of the Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) has taken place against the background of the global financial crisis which has affected the prospects for nominal convergence of many other Member States and has in particular triggered a significant cyclical downward shift of inflation rates;
Amendment 3 #
Draft legislative resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Notes in particular that the global financial crisis has had an extremely severe and lasting impact in Latvia in terms of poverty, unemployment and demographic developments; urges the Latvian and European partners to implement stringent macroprudential standards aiming at avoiding unsustainable capital flows and credit growth trends experienced ahead of the crisis;
Amendment 4 #
Draft legislative resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes that Latvia fulfils the criteria asin a resulcontext of determined, and credible and sustainable efforts by the Latvian Government and the Latvian people; points out that the overall sustainability of the macroeconomic and financial situation will depend on the implementation of balanced and far reaching reforms aiming at combining discipline with solidarity and long term sustainable investments not only in Latvia but also in the EMU as a whole;
Amendment 5 #
Draft legislative resolution
Paragraph 4a (new)
Paragraph 4a (new)
4a. Underlines in that respect the importance of making rapid progress in the implementation of the banking Union and of the other steps foreseen in the Commission blueprint for a genuine EMU;
Amendment 7 #
Draft legislative resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes that in its 2013 Convergence Report the ECB expressed some concerns with regard to the long-term sustainability of Latvia's economic convergence; considers that those concerns need to be taken seriously but that theyespecially if the current trends regarding inflation and financial flows are reversed; deems however that these concerns do not change the overall positive assessment on the adoption of the euro by Latvia on the basis of the current convergence criteria;
Amendment 8 #
Draft legislative resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Points out that the current convergence criteria are insufficient conditions to ensure the overall macroeconomic sustainability so as to allow a Member State to join the monetary union; asks the Commission to include in its assessment an explicit reference to new surveillance instruments and indicators created in the framework of the 'six-pack' and the 'two-pack';
Amendment 9 #
Draft legislative resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Is of the opinion that any future Treaty reform should review these convergence criteria; calls on the Commission to present proposals to that effect in the framework of its forthcoming Treaty revision proposals foreseen in its blueprint for a genuine EMU;
Amendment 10 #
Draft legislative resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Latvian Government to maintain and if appropriate recalibrate its prudent fiscal policy stance, together with its overall stability-oriented policies, anticipating potential future macroeconomic imbalances and risks to price stabilitycorrecting the imbalances indentified by the Commission in the framework of the alert mechanism report as well as risks to price stability, including a reduction of the level of energy dependency so as to avoid imported inflationary risks; calls on the Latvian government to enhance its efforts to reduce social imbalances and reach the EU 2020 national targets;
Amendment 13 #
Draft legislative resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. CIs strongly concerned by the current low support for the adoption of the euro within the Latvian population; calls on the Latvian Government and authorities to communicate more actively with the Latvian people in order to ensure more public support for euro adoption; calls on the Latvian authorities to continue their information and communication campaign with the aim of reaching all Latvian citizens;
Amendment 14 #
Draft legislative resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Latvian Government to address structural deficiencies in the labour market by appropriate structural and educational reforms; calls on the Latvian government in particular to address the level of poverty and the enlarging gap of income inequality, as well as to reinforce social automatic stabilisers;
Amendment 17 #
Draft legislative resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Acknowledges the stability of the Latvian banking sector during the present crisislast three years; points out however that the banking business model was seriously challenged during the first stage of the global financial crisis; underlines that a meltdown of the Latvian financial system was only avoided at that time by an EU- IMF bail-out; notes that Latvia has a long tradition in servicing non-resident banking clients; welcomes the exceptionally stringentrecent reforms aiming at reinforcing the regulation of Latvian banks active in the non-resident deposits (NRD) business; calls on the Latvian authorities to ensure that a strict supervision of those banks as well as adequate risk management measures are maintained;
Amendment 18 #
Draft legislative resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Calls on the Latvian government to review its 2011 tax reform (on trusts and holdings) so as to reintroduce a withholding tax on distribution of dividends to foreign investors; also calls on the government to adapt its tax system in the spirit of the European Council conclusions of 22 May 2013 with the explicit aim of reducing the levels of tax avoidance, harmful tax competition and aggressive tax planning; asks the Latvian government to strengthen its anti-money laundering regulation to the highest international standards and in full compliance with FATF recommendations;
Amendment 22 #
Draft legislative resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Deplores the extremely narrow timeline set to the European Parliament for providing its opinion in accordance with Article 140 TFEU; asks the Commission and Member States planning to adopt the euro to foresee an appropriate timeline so as to allow the European Parliament to deliver an opinion on the basis of a more comprehensive and inclusive debate which would in particular include a proper involvement of social partners and of the civil society;