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EU economic governance From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Within the framework of EU economic governance, Sixpack describes a set of European legislative measures to reform the Stability and Growth Pact and introduces greater macroeconomic surveillance, in response to the European debt crisis of 2009. These measures were bundled into a "six pack" of regulations, introduced in September 2010 in two versions respectively by the European Commission and a European Council task force. In March 2011, the ECOFIN council reached a preliminary agreement for the content of the Sixpack with the commission, and negotiations for endorsement by the European Parliament then started.[1] Ultimately it entered into force 13 December 2011, after one year of preceding negotiations.[2][3] The six regulations aim at strengthening the procedures to reduce public deficits and address macroeconomic imbalances.
All 27 EU member states are committed by the paragraphs in the EU Treaty, referred to as the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), to implement a fiscal policy aiming for the country to stay within the limits on government deficit (3% of GDP) and debt (60% of GDP); and in case of having a debt level above 60% it should each year have a declining trend. Each year all EU member states are obliged to submit a SGP compliance report for the scrutiny and evaluation of the European Commission and the Council of Ministers, that will present the country's expected fiscal development for the current and subsequent three years. These reports are called "stability programmes" for eurozone Member States and "convergence programmes" for non-eurozone Member States, but despite having different titles they are identical in their content. After the reform of the SGP in 2005, these programmes have also included the Medium-Term budgetary Objectives (MTOs), being individually calculated for each Member State as the medium-term sustainable average-limit for the country's structural deficit, the Member State is also obliged to outline the measures it intends to implement to attain its MTO. If the EU Member States do not comply with both the deficit limit and the debt limit, a so-called "Excessive Deficit Procedure" (EDP) is initiated along with a deadline to comply, which outlines an "adjustment path towards reaching the MTO".[4]
Four of the six instruments in the Sixpack are used to conduct further reforms of the "Stability and Growth Pact" (SGP), focusing on improving compliance. These reforms do not change any of the conditions already imposed by the SGP, but aim to enforce greater budgetary discipline among the Member States of the euro area by stipulating that sanctions come into force earlier and more consistently. For example, when a country against which an excessive deficit procedure was opened fails to take necessary measures to eliminate its deficit, an interest-bearing deposit equalling 0.2% of GDP is due. With continued non-compliance the deposit is converted into a fine. In addition, automatic sanctions are triggered based on a different voting mechanism in the Council of the European Union. At the same time the national accounts statistics and forecast practices of Member States are adjusted to comply with EU standards. If it is determined that a country has reported false data, an additional fine may be imposed.[5]
The remaining two pieces of legislation in the Sixpack relate to the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure, an early warning system and correction mechanism for excessive macroeconomic imbalances.
| European Union regulation | |
 | |
| Title | Sixpack (fiscal law package of 5 regulations and 1 directive) |
|---|---|
| Applicability | Member states of the European Union |
| Made by | European Parliament and Council |
| Made under | Article 136, 121 (6) and 126(14) of the TFEU |
| Journal reference | L 306, 23 November 2011 |
| History | |
| Date made | 8 and 16 November 2011 |
| Entry into force | 13 December 2011 |
| Current legislation | |
Specifically, the EU sixpack relates to the following regulations and guidelines:
Development of the Eurozone fiscal union can be described as the fourth stage of the EMU, proposed to be implemented for the Eurozone in the near future.[citation needed] The argument presented was, that Member States sharing the same currency will also need more integration of fiscal policies (closer collaboration on fiscal matters) and tighter budgetary surveillance, to prevent and combat the occurrence of financial instability caused by macroeconomic imbalances inside the monetary union.
| European Union regulation | |
| |
| Title | Regulation on common provisions for monitoring and assessing draft budgetary plans and ensuring the correction of excessive deficit of the Member States in the euro area. |
|---|---|
| Applicability | Member states of the Eurozone |
| Made by | European Parliament and Council |
| Made under | Article 136 and 121 (6) of the TFEU |
| Journal reference | L 140, 27.05.2013, p.11 |
| History | |
| Date made | 21 May 2013 |
| Entry into force | 30 May 2013 |
| Implementation date | Most provisions: 30 May 2013 Some provisions: 31 Oct 2013 |
| Preparative texts | |
| Commission proposal | COM/2011/0821 final (2011/0386 COD)[13] |
| Current legislation | |
| European Union regulation | |
| |
| Title | Regulation on the strengthening of economic and budgetary surveillance of Member States in the euro area experiencing or threatened with serious difficulties with respect to their financial stability. |
|---|---|
| Applicability | Member states of the Eurozone |
| Made by | European Parliament and Council |
| Made under | Article 136 and 121 (6) of the TFEU |
| Journal reference | L 140, 27.05.2013, p.1 |
| History | |
| Date made | 21 May 2013 |
| Entry into force | 30 May 2013 |
| Implementation date | 30 May 2013 |
| Preparative texts | |
| Commission proposal | COM/2011/0819 final (2011/0385 COD)[14] |
| Current legislation | |
A step towards increased fiscal discipline of member States of the European Union was taken on 23 November 2011, when the European Commission proposed the two Regulations (also known as the "Two-pack"), which introduced additional coordination and surveillance of budgetary processes for all eurozone members.[13][14] The additional regulations complement the SGP's requirement for surveillance, by enhancing the frequency of scrutiny of Member States' policymaking, but do not place additional requirements on the policy itself. The frequency of monitoring will depend on the economic health of the member state. As of the entry into force of the regulations, all eurozone member states are obliged to respect "Regulation 1", while "Regulation 2" – demanding even more in depth and frequent monitoring – will only be triggered if the state receive macroeconomic financial assistance or has an ongoing Excessive Imbalance Procedure (EIP):[15]
The two above regulations apply towards all eurozone member states, and together form a stronger budgetary governance with a more tight system of monitoring and surveillance by the European Commission. According to article 136 in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the enactment and entry into force of the regulations required the council's adoption in agreement with the European Parliament, subject to a qualified majority of the 17 eurozone member states. The ECOFIN council reached a final agreement with the Parliament's Permanent Representatives Committee on 20 February 2013.[18] The parliament then adopted the two-pack on 12 March,[19][20] with the first regulation passed by 526 voting for towards 86 against and 66 abstentions,[21] and with the second regulation passed by 528 voting for towards 81 against and 71 abstentions.[22] Subsequently, the two-pack was finally adopted by the Council of the European Union on 13 May, with publication of the legal acts in the Official Journal of the European Union on 27 May, and the official legal entry into force on 30 May 2013. Most provisions will apply from the date of entry into force. In regards of the increased reporting frequency for member states with an open EDP, and the requirement to set up independent national bodies monitoring compliance with the fiscal rules, these article provisions will however only apply starting from 31 October 2013.[16][17]
The provisions of the Two-pack (which only apply for Eurozone member states), complements and extends the Stability and Growth Pact already reformed by the Six-pack, and it also integrates some elements of the already ratified intergovernmental European Fiscal Compact, directly into EU law. Examples of identical elements with the Fiscal Compact: 1) Member States are required to transpose the SGP fiscal rules into national legislation, 2) Member States in EDP are required to prepare "economic partnership programmes", 3) Member States are required to submit their debt issuance plans for an ex-ante coordination with other Member States. The new legal structure introduced by the Two-pack, was in March 2013 expected to be used for the first time, when the 2014 fiscal budget draft laws shall be submitted to the European Commission for prior review and comments by 15 October 2013.[23]
On 23 November 2011, the European Commission also presented a Green paper for the possible introduction of Eurobonds (referred to as "Stability Bonds"), that outlined different options and levels for common issuance and common guarantees.[24] The plan ultimately never moved forward in face of German and Dutch opposition; the crisis was ultimately resolved by the ECB's declaration in 2012 that it would do "whatever it takes" to stabilise the currency, rendering the Eurobond proposal moot.
 | This section needs to be updated. (January 2023) |
The European Commission also recently[when?] proposed the establishment of a Convergence and Competitiveness Instrument (CCI) within the EU budget. The proposal is to create a special EU budget account with earmarked money, for supporting the timely implementation of needed structural reforms (traditionally considered to be politically unpopular to implement), where the implementation funding would be paid by the CCI fund conditional on strict adherence to a prior signed "contractual arrangement" for the agreed structural reform, with the two contracting parties being the Member State and the commission. If the Member State implements the identified and needed structural reforms to ensure convergence/competitiveness, then the CCI budget will so to speak pay the Member State an economic reward of behaving in a sound and responsible way.[25] The proposal is expected to be further debated, soon after the Council have concluded an agreement for the next 7-year EU budget (also referred to as the "Multi-annual Financial Framework 2014–2020").
An additional/related suggestion also currently being debated, is to create the CCI outside the EU budget and only let it apply for eurozone member states, with a budget instead to be covered by income from the collection of the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT). In October 2012, the FTT was formally agreed to be implemented and enter into force 1 January 2014 in 11 out of 17 eurozone member states.[26] Currently[when?] no formal decision was however reached, if the collected income should be kept as direct national income, or perhaps instead be transferred to a supranational eurozone budget.
| This article needs to be updated. (August 2021) |
The proposal to create a Banking Union covers both the establishment of European Banking Supervision, and after its adoption also a Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) to deal with banks in difficulties. This new independent organisation, is supposed to be in charge of the restructuring and resolution of banks within the EU Member States participating in the Banking Union (meaning that it is not limited to the eurozone). The European Commission presented the proposal 12 September 2012 and at the EU summit in October, it was agreed to formally request that a final proposal for the SSM framework be agreed between the Council and Parliament before the end of the year, with the aim for the SSM to be founded in 2013 and fully established to cover all banks starting from 1 January 2014.[26]
On 29 November 2012, the Economic and Monetary affairs Committee of the European Parliament voted on and approved the initial framework proposal and a mutually approved final proposal agreement between the Council and Parliament is now the next step. Remaining issues for the ECOFIN council to consider at their next meeting on 4 December 2012, is to decide on: "the role of the national supervisors, the governance of the ECB and the voting rights within EBA".[26] At the council meeting there was not sufficient time to agree on any final decision, so the council will be called for a second meeting within 8 days, with the aim of concluding the work ahead of the EU summit on 13–14 December. Any change of the EU legislation about EBA require (according to article 114 of the TFEU): A qualified majority at the council in conjunction with the Parliament's approval. While any change of the EU legislation about ECB's function/role require (according to article 127(6) of the TFEU): "Unanimity for adoption by the Council, after consulting the European Parliament and the ECB".[27]
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