BETA


2003/2074(INI) Broad guidelines of the economic policies BGEP of the member States and the Community for 2003-2005

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead ECON GARCÍA-MARGALLO Y MARFIL José Manuel (icon: PPE-DE PPE-DE)
Committee Opinion EMPL
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 142-p1, RoP 54

Events

2005/01/27
   EC - Follow-up document
Details

The Commission has presented its second implementation Report on the 2003-2005 BEPGs.

The report states that the overall conclusion from this second Implementation Report on the 2003-2005 BEPGs is that progress continues to be mixed. Some Member States are making better progress than others. For instance, a relatively good follow-up of the country-specific recommendations has been given by Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Finland and the United Kingdom, while progress can be considered limited in several Member States.

Concerning the recommendations to the new Member States, addressed just half a year ago, the assessment of their implementation indicates that, albeit with different speeds, it goes in the right direction, notably in Cyprus and Slovakia. Alternatively, when focusing on the development by sector,

relatively good progress has been made in making the overall business environment more favourable, in enhancing the effectiveness of competition policies and in improving environmental sustainability. The pace of labour market reforms, which was stepped up somewhat in 2003, appears to have been maintained. Progress, however, has been limited as regards the ongoing transition to a knowledge-based economy where a substantial gap remains between the EU and the US. The pace of Internal Market integration also appears to have slowed down with limited progress noted on the transposition of Internal Market directives and a continued high level of infringement cases. Furthermore, the limited progress in several Member States to reach a sound budgetary position and/or correct an excessive deficit continues to be a source of concern. Although some progress was made in improving fiscal sustainability with inter alia pension reforms in some Member States,

debt ratios remain high and long-term sustainability is not yet secured in 14 of the Member States in 2004. Taken together, the overall pace of reform remains unchanged in 2004. It is clear that with the current reform pace, full implementation of the 2003-2005 BEPGs will not be secured, making it difficult to fulfil the Lisbon ambitions.

2004/03/17
   Final act published in Official Journal
2004/01/21
   EC - Follow-up document
Details

PURPOSE: Implementation of the 2003-2005 Broad Economic Policy Guidelines.

CONTENT: This Communication presents a first assessment of the follow-up given to the general guidelines in the 2003-05 Broad Economic Policy Guidelines (BEPGs). The European Commission focuses on the three main areas defined in the Lisbon strategy:

- growth- and stability-oriented macroeconomic policies;

- economic reforms to raise Europe's growth potential; and

- strengthening sustainability.

Although some progress has been made in a few policy areas, it does not appear as if the overall pace of

reforms has been stepped up as requested by the Council. There is a clear risk that with the current reform pace, full implementation of the BEPGs can not be secured by 2006, thereby putting the fulfillment of the Lisbon targets by 2010 at risk.

The main points cited in this communication are as follows:

- Economic stagnation reigned in the first half of 2003 and, despite a clear improvement in economic activity in the third quarter, growth over the year as a whole is expected to have been a modest 0.8% in the EU (and only 0.4% in the euro area).

- Macroeconomic policies supported growth in 2003. Both the ECB and the national central banks in Denmark, Sweden, and the United Kingdom lowered further their key interest rates, thereby supporting domestic demand. Despite the appreciation of the euro, overall monetary conditions remained accommodative. The free play of automatic stabilisers helped to stabilise the economy. The EU's cyclically-adjusted primary balance remained broadly unchanged, indicating an overall neutral fiscal stance in 2003.

- The economic slowdown continued to weigh on public finances and progress seems mixed as regards reaching or maintaining a sound budgetary position. The average nominal budget deficit worsened further in 2003 to 2.7% of GDP. However, differences are sizeable across Member States. Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Austria, Finland and Sweden had a cyclically-adjusted budgetary position close to balance or in surplus in 2002. With the exception of Austria, the other five Member States maintained such a budgetary position in 2003. Nominal deficits deteriorated sharply in several other Member States, with two countries (Germany and France) expected to have deficits exceeding the 3% of GDP limit by a wide margin in 2003. While the economic slowdown is the main factor behind the recent deterioration in the public finances, part of the slippage in 2003 also stems from discretionary measures in some Member States (notably Greece, Austria, and the United Kingdom).

- The labour market performed quite well in the beginning of this economic downturn, reaping the benefits of earlier reforms but also reflecting labour hoarding. The effect of the slowdown started to be felt more strongly in 2003 with employment growth stagnating and a continued rise in unemployment. The increase in the pace of labour market reforms in 2003 appears encouraging, but it needs to accelerate further. In particular, efforts have been made by most Member States to make work pay, even if reforms remain focused on the tax side. Some Member States have taken action to address incentive effects in the benefit systems (Denmark, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom), which contribute most to the risk of unemployment- and inactivity traps. Several Member States have taken further measures to make the work organization more adaptable (notably Denmark, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden) and most Member States aim to foster occupational mobility through lifelong learning initiatives. Active labour market policies have also become better in responding to the individual needs of the unemployed. However and despite some improvements noted or planned in Denmark, Ireland, and the Netherlands, progress appears limited as regards improving the efficiency of ALMPs: e.g. evaluations are not systematically carried out or reported. Progress also appears limited in promoting wage differentiation or addressing the regulatory burden in the labour market. Despite the progress noted with some types of labour market reforms, the Lisbon- and Stockholm employment rate targets risk being missed.

- Labour productivity growth continued to disappoint and the gap with the USA widened. Lower labour productivity per hour worked now represents 40% of the difference in GDP per capita between the EU and the USA. The gradual deterioration in labour productivity growth since the mid-1990s can be explained in equal parts by the slowdown in investment and in total factor productivity (which generally include effects from more efficient resource utilisation, technological progress and the natural catching-up process of lesser developed EU countries). ICT and their adoption are a key driver of productivity growth and the differentials between the EU and US productivity trends are strongly influenced by differences in the extent to which ICTs have penetrated the respective economies. This illustrates the need to stimulate market integration, business dynamism, and investment, particularly in knowledge.

- As regards capital markets, the Risk Capital Action Plan is almost completely implemented. The Financial Services Action Plan is well on the way to full implementation and transposition of the adopted legislative measures into national law has begun. However, a final effort is required to meet the 2005 deadline. Integration of clearing and settlement arrangements has become a clear priority for action at both the EU and the Member State level in 2003. Following corporate scandals in recent years, several Member States have strengthened corporate governance arrangements at the national level, while the Commission has adopted an Action Plan on company law and corporate governance in May 2003. Financial supervision arrangements are being streamlined, both at Member State- and EU level.

- Long-term sustainability of public finances, particularly in view of the ageing population, is not yet secured in about half of the Member States, notably Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, and Portugal. While significant progress has been made through pension reform measures in some Member States in 2003, in particular in France and Austria, less progress was made in bringing the public debt down. Public debt remained above 60% of GDP in 2003 in six Member States, including in Belgium, Greece, and Italy where it continued to exceed 100% of GDP.

- Some progress has been made towards improving environmental sustainability in 2003. At the EU level, the Council extended the coverage of Community legislation in energy taxation (on e.g. minimum taxation levels). Several Member States (e.g. Belgium, the Netherlands, and Sweden) took further measures to promote the use of renewable energy. Other Member States (notably Germany and Austria) took measures in the area of transport pricing. In the United Kingdom, congestion charges were introduced in London, causing a marked change in behaviour. In contrast, and despite the good progress made at the end of the 1990s, no progress was noted as regards reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

2003/06/26
   EU - Implementing legislative act
2003/06/25
   CSL - Council Meeting
2003/06/03
   CSL - Resolution/conclusions adopted by Council
2003/06/03
   CSL - Council Meeting
2003/05/15
   EP - Text adopted by Parliament, single reading
2003/05/15
   EP - Debate in Parliament
2003/05/15
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Documents
2003/05/15
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2003/05/13
   CSL - Debate in Council
Documents
2003/05/13
   CSL - Council Meeting
2003/05/12
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2003/04/23
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
Documents
2003/04/23
   EP - Vote in committee
2003/04/22
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Documents
2003/04/08
   EC - Non-legislative basic document
2003/04/07
   EC - Non-legislative basic document published
2002/11/27
   EP - GARCÍA-MARGALLO Y MARFIL José Manuel (PPE-DE) appointed as rapporteur in ECON

Documents

History

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

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  • date: 2003-06-26T00:00:00 docs: url: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2003:195:SOM:EN:HTML title: OJ L 195 01.08.2003, p. 0001-0054 title: 32003H0555 summary: type: Implementing legislative act body: EU
  • date: 2004-01-21T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2004/0020/COM_COM(2004)0020_EN.pdf title: COM(2004)0020 url: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2004&nu_doc=20 title: EUR-Lex summary: PURPOSE: Implementation of the 2003-2005 Broad Economic Policy Guidelines. CONTENT: This Communication presents a first assessment of the follow-up given to the general guidelines in the 2003-05 Broad Economic Policy Guidelines (BEPGs). The European Commission focuses on the three main areas defined in the Lisbon strategy: - growth- and stability-oriented macroeconomic policies; - economic reforms to raise Europe's growth potential; and - strengthening sustainability. Although some progress has been made in a few policy areas, it does not appear as if the overall pace of reforms has been stepped up as requested by the Council. There is a clear risk that with the current reform pace, full implementation of the BEPGs can not be secured by 2006, thereby putting the fulfillment of the Lisbon targets by 2010 at risk. The main points cited in this communication are as follows: - Economic stagnation reigned in the first half of 2003 and, despite a clear improvement in economic activity in the third quarter, growth over the year as a whole is expected to have been a modest 0.8% in the EU (and only 0.4% in the euro area). - Macroeconomic policies supported growth in 2003. Both the ECB and the national central banks in Denmark, Sweden, and the United Kingdom lowered further their key interest rates, thereby supporting domestic demand. Despite the appreciation of the euro, overall monetary conditions remained accommodative. The free play of automatic stabilisers helped to stabilise the economy. The EU's cyclically-adjusted primary balance remained broadly unchanged, indicating an overall neutral fiscal stance in 2003. - The economic slowdown continued to weigh on public finances and progress seems mixed as regards reaching or maintaining a sound budgetary position. The average nominal budget deficit worsened further in 2003 to 2.7% of GDP. However, differences are sizeable across Member States. Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Austria, Finland and Sweden had a cyclically-adjusted budgetary position close to balance or in surplus in 2002. With the exception of Austria, the other five Member States maintained such a budgetary position in 2003. Nominal deficits deteriorated sharply in several other Member States, with two countries (Germany and France) expected to have deficits exceeding the 3% of GDP limit by a wide margin in 2003. While the economic slowdown is the main factor behind the recent deterioration in the public finances, part of the slippage in 2003 also stems from discretionary measures in some Member States (notably Greece, Austria, and the United Kingdom). - The labour market performed quite well in the beginning of this economic downturn, reaping the benefits of earlier reforms but also reflecting labour hoarding. The effect of the slowdown started to be felt more strongly in 2003 with employment growth stagnating and a continued rise in unemployment. The increase in the pace of labour market reforms in 2003 appears encouraging, but it needs to accelerate further. In particular, efforts have been made by most Member States to make work pay, even if reforms remain focused on the tax side. Some Member States have taken action to address incentive effects in the benefit systems (Denmark, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom), which contribute most to the risk of unemployment- and inactivity traps. Several Member States have taken further measures to make the work organization more adaptable (notably Denmark, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden) and most Member States aim to foster occupational mobility through lifelong learning initiatives. Active labour market policies have also become better in responding to the individual needs of the unemployed. However and despite some improvements noted or planned in Denmark, Ireland, and the Netherlands, progress appears limited as regards improving the efficiency of ALMPs: e.g. evaluations are not systematically carried out or reported. Progress also appears limited in promoting wage differentiation or addressing the regulatory burden in the labour market. Despite the progress noted with some types of labour market reforms, the Lisbon- and Stockholm employment rate targets risk being missed. - Labour productivity growth continued to disappoint and the gap with the USA widened. Lower labour productivity per hour worked now represents 40% of the difference in GDP per capita between the EU and the USA. The gradual deterioration in labour productivity growth since the mid-1990s can be explained in equal parts by the slowdown in investment and in total factor productivity (which generally include effects from more efficient resource utilisation, technological progress and the natural catching-up process of lesser developed EU countries). ICT and their adoption are a key driver of productivity growth and the differentials between the EU and US productivity trends are strongly influenced by differences in the extent to which ICTs have penetrated the respective economies. This illustrates the need to stimulate market integration, business dynamism, and investment, particularly in knowledge. - As regards capital markets, the Risk Capital Action Plan is almost completely implemented. The Financial Services Action Plan is well on the way to full implementation and transposition of the adopted legislative measures into national law has begun. However, a final effort is required to meet the 2005 deadline. Integration of clearing and settlement arrangements has become a clear priority for action at both the EU and the Member State level in 2003. Following corporate scandals in recent years, several Member States have strengthened corporate governance arrangements at the national level, while the Commission has adopted an Action Plan on company law and corporate governance in May 2003. Financial supervision arrangements are being streamlined, both at Member State- and EU level. - Long-term sustainability of public finances, particularly in view of the ageing population, is not yet secured in about half of the Member States, notably Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, and Portugal. While significant progress has been made through pension reform measures in some Member States in 2003, in particular in France and Austria, less progress was made in bringing the public debt down. Public debt remained above 60% of GDP in 2003 in six Member States, including in Belgium, Greece, and Italy where it continued to exceed 100% of GDP. - Some progress has been made towards improving environmental sustainability in 2003. At the EU level, the Council extended the coverage of Community legislation in energy taxation (on e.g. minimum taxation levels). Several Member States (e.g. Belgium, the Netherlands, and Sweden) took further measures to promote the use of renewable energy. Other Member States (notably Germany and Austria) took measures in the area of transport pricing. In the United Kingdom, congestion charges were introduced in London, causing a marked change in behaviour. In contrast, and despite the good progress made at the end of the 1990s, no progress was noted as regards reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. type: Follow-up document body: EC
  • date: 2005-01-27T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/registre/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2005/0008/COM_COM(2005)0008_EN.pdf title: COM(2005)0008 url: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2005&nu_doc=8 title: EUR-Lex summary: The Commission has presented its second implementation Report on the 2003-2005 BEPGs. The report states that the overall conclusion from this second Implementation Report on the 2003-2005 BEPGs is that progress continues to be mixed. Some Member States are making better progress than others. For instance, a relatively good follow-up of the country-specific recommendations has been given by Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Finland and the United Kingdom, while progress can be considered limited in several Member States. Concerning the recommendations to the new Member States, addressed just half a year ago, the assessment of their implementation indicates that, albeit with different speeds, it goes in the right direction, notably in Cyprus and Slovakia. Alternatively, when focusing on the development by sector, relatively good progress has been made in making the overall business environment more favourable, in enhancing the effectiveness of competition policies and in improving environmental sustainability. The pace of labour market reforms, which was stepped up somewhat in 2003, appears to have been maintained. Progress, however, has been limited as regards the ongoing transition to a knowledge-based economy where a substantial gap remains between the EU and the US. The pace of Internal Market integration also appears to have slowed down with limited progress noted on the transposition of Internal Market directives and a continued high level of infringement cases. Furthermore, the limited progress in several Member States to reach a sound budgetary position and/or correct an excessive deficit continues to be a source of concern. Although some progress was made in improving fiscal sustainability with inter alia pension reforms in some Member States, debt ratios remain high and long-term sustainability is not yet secured in 14 of the Member States in 2004. Taken together, the overall pace of reform remains unchanged in 2004. It is clear that with the current reform pace, full implementation of the 2003-2005 BEPGs will not be secured, making it difficult to fulfil the Lisbon ambitions. type: Follow-up document body: EC
events
  • date: 2003-04-08T00:00:00 type: Non-legislative basic document published body: EC docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2003/0170/COM_COM(2003)0170(COR1)_EN.pdf title: COM(2003)0170 url: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2003&nu_doc=170 title: EUR-Lex summary:
  • date: 2003-04-23T00:00:00 type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading body: EP summary:
  • date: 2003-04-23T00:00:00 type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A5-2003-142&language=EN title: A5-0142/2003
  • date: 2003-05-12T00:00:00 type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP
  • date: 2003-05-13T00:00:00 type: Debate in Council body: CSL docs: url: http://register.consilium.europa.eu/content/out?lang=EN&typ=SET&i=SMPL&ROWSPP=25&RESULTSET=1&NRROWS=500&DOC_LANCD=EN&ORDERBY=DOC_DATE+DESC&CONTENTS=2506*&MEET_DATE=13/05/2003 title: 2506
  • date: 2003-05-15T00:00:00 type: Debate in Parliament body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20030515&type=CRE title: Debate in Parliament
  • date: 2003-05-15T00:00:00 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P5-TA-2003-222 title: T5-0222/2003 summary:
  • date: 2003-05-15T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
  • date: 2003-06-03T00:00:00 type: Resolution/conclusions adopted by Council body: CSL summary:
  • date: 2004-03-17T00:00:00 type: Final act published in Official Journal
links
other
  • body: CSL type: Council Meeting council: Former Council configuration
  • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/economy_finance/index_en.htm title: Economic and Financial Affairs
procedure/dossier_of_the_committee
Old
ECON/5/19460
New
  • ECON/5/19460
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 132-p1
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 052
procedure/legal_basis/1
Rules of Procedure EP 52
procedure/legal_basis/1
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 132-p1
procedure/subject
Old
  • 5.10.01 Convergence of economic policies, public deficit, interest rates
New
5.10.01
Convergence of economic policies, public deficit, interest rates
activities/0/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/registre/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2003/0170/COM_COM(2003)0170_EN.pdf
New
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2003/0170/COM_COM(2003)0170(COR1)_EN.pdf
activities
  • date: 2003-04-08T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/registre/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2003/0170/COM_COM(2003)0170_EN.pdf celexid: CELEX:52003DC0170:EN type: Non-legislative basic document published title: COM(2003)0170 type: Non-legislative basic document published body: EC commission: DG: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/economy_finance/index_en.htm title: Economic and Financial Affairs
  • body: EP committees: body: EP responsible: True committee: ECON date: 2002-11-27T00:00:00 committee_full: Economic and Monetary Affairs rapporteur: group: PPE-DE name: GARCÍA-MARGALLO Y MARFIL José Manuel body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Employment and Social Affairs committee: EMPL docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A5-2003-142&language=EN type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title: A5-0142/2003 date: 2003-04-23T00:00:00 type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • date: 2003-05-12T00:00:00 body: EP type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading committees: body: EP responsible: True committee: ECON date: 2002-11-27T00:00:00 committee_full: Economic and Monetary Affairs rapporteur: group: PPE-DE name: GARCÍA-MARGALLO Y MARFIL José Manuel body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Employment and Social Affairs committee: EMPL
  • body: CSL meeting_id: 2506 docs: url: http://register.consilium.europa.eu/content/out?lang=EN&typ=SET&i=SMPL&ROWSPP=25&RESULTSET=1&NRROWS=500&DOC_LANCD=EN&ORDERBY=DOC_DATE+DESC&CONTENTS=2506*&MEET_DATE=13/05/2003 type: Debate in Council title: 2506 council: Economic and Financial Affairs ECOFIN date: 2003-05-13T00:00:00 type: Council Meeting
  • date: 2003-05-15T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20030515&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P5-TA-2003-222 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T5-0222/2003 body: EP type: Debate in Parliament
  • body: CSL meeting_id: 2513 council: Economic and Financial Affairs ECOFIN date: 2003-06-03T00:00:00 type: Council Meeting
  • date: 2003-06-25T00:00:00 body: CSL type: Council Meeting council: Agriculture and Fisheries meeting_id: 2516
  • date: 2004-03-17T00:00:00 type: Final act published in Official Journal
committees
  • body: EP responsible: True committee: ECON date: 2002-11-27T00:00:00 committee_full: Economic and Monetary Affairs rapporteur: group: PPE-DE name: GARCÍA-MARGALLO Y MARFIL José Manuel
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Employment and Social Affairs committee: EMPL
links
other
  • body: CSL type: Council Meeting council: Former Council configuration
  • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/economy_finance/index_en.htm title: Economic and Financial Affairs
procedure
dossier_of_the_committee
ECON/5/19460
reference
2003/2074(INI)
title
Broad guidelines of the economic policies BGEP of the member States and the Community for 2003-2005
legal_basis
stage_reached
Procedure completed
subtype
Strategic initiative
type
INI - Own-initiative procedure
subject
5.10.01 Convergence of economic policies, public deficit, interest rates