Activites

• 1997/06/30 Final act published in Official Journal
• 1997/06/10 Debate in Parliament
  • T4-0284/1997 summary

    In adopting the report by Mr Roberto MEZZAROMA (UPE, It), Parliament, congratulated Mr LAMFULUSSY, as he neared the end of his term of office, on setting up the European Monetary Institute (EMI) and quickly making it operational. However, it regretted the fact that the EMI blamed the weak relationship between GDP growth, employment and unemployment principally on 'rigidities in labour markets' while ignoring other significant factors such as low investment, lack of purchasing power and demand. As regards the macro-economic framework, Parliament considered that the decision as to which Member States should enter the monetary union should take full account of the historical role and the tendential and lasting nature of convergence developments. It acknowledged that the improvement of the budgetary positions of the Member States depended on a real reduction in public spending rather than on an increase in the tax burden, but believed that this objective could be attained by the selective use of public investment in productive investments (transport, energy and telecommunications infrastructures). It regretted that the EMI had not mentioned the general problem of the coordination of - direct and indirect - taxation in Europe. Parliament reiterated the importance it attached to genuine democratic monitoring of EMU policy which required, in particular, the establishment of regular and frequent relations between Parliament and the EMI and, in future, the ECB. It called for the future central bank to provide quarterly information, in writing or through the appearance of a member of the Executive Board before Parliament, on the implementation of monetary policy and to report to it regularly on the background to interest rate decisions. Finally, Parliament considered that it did not make sense to draw up a convergence report in 1997 on the basis of the economic data for 1996 as provided for in the Treaty, because misunderstandings and uncertainty might arise in public opinion. �

• 1997/05/22 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A4-0194/1997
• 1997/04/23 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 1997/04/10 Non-legislative basic document published
  • N4-0175/1997 summary

    OBJECTIVE: presentation of the 1996 annual report of the European Monetary Institute (EMI). SUBSTANCE: the report describes the economic, monetary and financial situation of the Community up to the end of 1996 and the activities of the EMI; it also presents the Institute's annual accounts. To a significant extent, the material presented in this year's report draws on earlier, more extensive EMI publications, particularly the reports entitled 'Progress towards convergence 1996' and 'The single monetary policy in Stage III - specification of the operational framework' (see COS0519). - After analysing the economic and financial background in 1996, the EMI points out that, even though the economic outlook for 1997 is more favourable, the need for structural adjustment persists. In general, more and durable progress is needed to ensure sustainable fiscal positions. In particular, the EMI stresses the link between sustainable fiscal adjustment and an improvement of growth perspectives over a medium term. Further progress will also contribute to sustaining exchange rate stability and the convergence of bond yields. As regards budgetary policies, the EMI stresses that it must be kept in mind that the necessary strict compliance with the fiscal criteria also implies ensuring the sustainability of government financial positions as a precondition for the adoption of the single currency. It also points out that exchange rate stability remains an element in judging the degree of sustainable convergence both before and after 1999. - As regards the preparatory work for Stage III, the EMI believes that it made further progress in 1996 in preparing the ground for the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) to be able to perform its tasks from the start of Stage III of the single monetary policy. This involved work in the areas of monetary policy, foreign exchange policy, statistics, payment systems, issuing bank notes, accounting rules and standards, information systems and legal issues. The EMI also continued to monitor progress in the preparatory work for the introduction of the Euro, following the adoption of the changeover scenario by the European Council in Madrid in December 1995. �

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: N4-0175/1997
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A4-0194/1997
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0284/1997

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)