Activites

• #2023
• 1997/07/07 Council Meeting
• 1997/06/16 Final act published in Official Journal
• #2014
• 1997/06/09 Council Meeting
  • 2014
• 1997/05/29 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T4-0269/1997 summary

    In the report by Mrs Christa RANDZIO-PLATH (PSE,D) on the broad economic policy guidelines, the European Parliament called for these guidelines to include the coordination of economic policies on the basis of a policy mix combining economic, structural, fiscal, monetary and income policies and targeting medium-term budgetary consolidation. Regretting that the Commission's communication was limited to repeating the principles upon which the convergence criteria are based (price stability and reduction of deficits), Parliament called on the Council to incorporate an active employment policy into its broad guidelines and proposed that the fight against unemployment be incorporated into every policy. In this connection it suggested that a Council formed from the ECOFIN Council and the Council of Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs should submit recommendations to the European Council stressing the importance of knitting together the broad lines of the economic and employment policies of the Member States and the Community and directing them towards achieving a high level of employment. On the other hand, it rejected the proposal from its Committee on Economic Affairs calling for an introduction of a recommendation on 'broad guidelines for employment' to fix the foundation of an EU employment policy. Parliament also called for the introduction of measures to improve skills, training and further training and to create new jobs in the environmental and cultural fields, as well in the caring services. It pointed out that small businesses (SMUs and NGOs) can create a great many jobs and point the way to a new 'social economy' (child care, domiciliary care, safety of public transport, nature conservancy, etc.). Parliament called on the Commission and the Council to take the measures required to restore confidence so as to reduce the amount of precautionary savings and, in this way, to boost internal demand. The Member States were urged to create the conditions which would result in an increase in both private and public investment. Parliament reiterated its call for the establishment without delay of the trans-European communications, transport, energy and environmental networks. It also called for support for SMEs and measures to encourage research and development, in particular by means of appropriate tax concessions. Action was also needed to enhance the complementarity of Member States' economic policies in order to achieve synergies in the following areas: - improvements in the economic, social and administrative environment for firms, particularly small- and medium-sized businesses, - stimulation of innovation and research, - adaptation of eduction, training and further training systems to technological and social changes, - abstention from social, environmental, monetary and tax 'dumping', which is harmful to the Community. Lastly, stressing the need for improved coordination between policies relevant to employment and the economy, Parliament called for an Interinstitutional agreement between the Council, the Commission and the European Parliament with a view to guaranteeing respect for Parliament's prerogatives with regard to information, pursuant to Article 103 of the TEU. �

• 1997/05/28 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament summary

    The rapporteur considered that the broad guidelines for economic policy had not been sufficiently used to actually achieve a greater degree of coherence in European economic policy. According to Mrs Randzio-Plath, more effective and more binding economic guidelines needed to be promoted and employment needed to be established as an essential element in all other aspects of economic policy. To conclude, the rapporteur stressed the importance of channelling public funds more directly into productive investment and also the need to increase purchasing power in order to raise the level of demand, partly by reducing the tax burden on the labour factor. Rejecting the rapporteur’s slightly too pessimistic conclusions, Commissioner de Silguy said that employment could not be decreed away but depended on strong, sustainable and balanced growth. As for demand, he warned that this should not be artificially stimulated as new imbalances would be created. Referring to certain statistics which revealed a gradual increase in both demand, from 1.9% in 1997 to 6.3% in 1998, and productive investment, from 4.8% in 1997 to 6.3% in 1998, Mr de Silguy recommended for this year improved coordination of the economic policies of Member States, including those relating to employment matters. In his opinion, research and development should also be promoted and the labour market should be reformed through a reasonable overhaul of the salary structure, without this necessarily leading to lower salaries. Having noted that investment profitability was at its highest level since the 1960s and that employees had significantly contributed to this healthier macro-economic framework, Mr de Silguy asked employers to relaunch job-creative investment and the authorities to maintain public investment and expenditure, especially on the trans-European networks. Finally, the Commissioner, who was favourable to the substance of the report’s main amendments, reaffirmed the Commission’s willingness to set up an interinstitutional agreement for implementing Article 103 of the Treaty so that Parliament could be involved more in the multilateral surveillance process.

• 1997/05/22 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A4-0184/1997
• 1997/05/14 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 1997/04/23 Non-legislative basic document published
  • COM(1997)0168 summary

    OBJECTIVE: presentation of the broad guidelines of the economic policies of the Member States and the Community for 1997, stressing the need for a return to and consolidation of employment-friendly growth. SUBSTANCE: The Commission points out that, since 1996, a moderate recovery in economic activity has taken hold in the Community: growth has increased from 1.6% in 1966 to 2.4% in 1997 and is estimated at 2.8% for 1998. On the basis of this premise, two fundamental concerns should be given priority by the Member States: although employment is expected to increase moderately in the short run, there is a need to concentrate efforts on reducing unemployment significantly, despite appreciable strides towards the goals of price stability and sustainable public finances, further progress is required if a maximum number of Member States are to participate in the Euro as from 1999. The Commission's broad guidelines for economic policies for 1997 are therefore based on a dual strategy: 1) a growth and stability-oriented macro-economic policy mix: - the EU should aim at bringing down its average inflation rate to 2% and to target such a level over the medium term, - the Member States should endeavour to achieve the objective of a budgetary position close to balance or in surplus in normal circumstances (3% should not be a long-term goal but a 'limit'): in this regard, the Commission emphasizes in its guidelines that priority be given to: reducing public expenditure rather than increasing fiscal revenue, which is harmful to growth; applying structural measures to limit deficits on a sustainable basis, rather than applying one-off measures, investment: public expenditure should focus on investment, particularly in infrastructure, human capital and labour market reforms, cooperation in tax measures: Member States should closely cooperate in this field to avoid any distortion in the operation of the internal market. They should, in particular, examine the possibility of establishing a code of conduct. - through reinforced social dialogue, wage policies should continue to take account of the dual objectives of price stability and investment profitability; 2) structural reforms to promote growth and employment: in the Commission's view, Member States should intensify their efforts to modernize their markets for goods, services and labour by introducing ambitious structural reforms. The EU should, in particular, strengthen the positive impact of the single market by taking new initiatives in respect of services (construction, banking and insurance), public procurement, State aids and deregulation. The existing legal framework should be properly applied and extended to other areas such as taxation, company law and the liberalization of the energy market and telecommunications. New measures are also needed to improve the functioning of the labour market, in particular: - more differentiation in wage agreements according to qualifications and regions, - reductions in non-wage labour costs or lower income taxes at the lower end of the wage scale, - more flexible working time arrangements (e.g. voluntary part-time work), - reforming taxation and social protection systems. �

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: COM(1997)0168
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A4-0184/1997
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0269/1997
• Debate in Council: 2014

History

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