Finansudvalget 2011-12
FIU Alm.del Bilag 79
Offentligt
Til FinansudvalgetDen økonomiske konsulent
Til:Dato:
Udvalgets medlemmer og stedfortrædere20. december 2011
Note om den internationale aftale om en styrket økonomisk union (”fi-nanspagten”)
SammenfatningDet Europæiske Råds formand forelagde fredag den 16. december2011 et udkast til en international aftale om en styrket økonomisk union(”finanspagten”).I noten gennemgås de vigtigste bestemmelser ganske kort.
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1. IndledningDet Europæiske Råds formand Van Rompuy, fremlagde fredag den 16. novem-ber 2011 et udkast til en international aftale (i EU regi) om en styrket økonomiskunion, også kaldet”finanspagten”(vedlægges på engelsk).Forslaget er ganske kort (og kontant) med hensyn til hvilke procedurer og øko-nomiske nøgletal, der indgår i ”finanspagten”.Nedenfor følger en kort beskrivelse af det vigtigste indhold.
2. Præamblen i ”finanspagten”I indledningen (eller præamblen som det hedder), gøres opmærksom på, at deter uhyre vigtigt for medlemmerne i EU, at undgå uforholdsmæssigt store under-skud på de offentlige budgetter. Hvis underskuddene bliver for store kan det truestabiliteten af euroen.Det er derfor vigtigt, at underskuddene bliver under 3 pct. af BNP, og at den of-fentlige gæld er under, eller gradvist nedbringes til 60 pct. af BNP.
3. Mere budgetdiciplinPagten gælder kuneuro-lande,men andre medlemslande udenfor eurogruppenkan tilslutte sig. Det gælder også Danmark, jf. nedenfor.De økonomiske hovedprincipper fremgår af artikel 3-8 i Pagten, og siger følgen-de:-Indtægter og udgifter på de samlede offentlige budgetter skal balancereeller være i overskud. Der må dog tages hensyn til virkningerne af kon-junkturbevægelser og ekstraordinære omstændigheder og herunder kraf-tige økonomiske kriser. I sådanne tilfælde må der godt være underskud,blot denbudgetmæssige holdbarhed ikke trues på mellemlangt sigt.De ovenfor nævnte betingelser er opfyldt, hvis detstrukturelleunder-skud som hovedregel ikke overstiger0,5 pct. af BNP,og der således eren tilstrækkelig storsikkerhedsmargin op til de 3 pct. af BNP i under-skud,som er grænsen ifølge traktaten. Det skal dog tilføjes, at hvert eu-roland skal have beregnet enlandespecifik referenceværdifor det
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strukturelle underskud, der som hovedregel ikke må overstige de 0,5 pct.af BNP.-Der skal også tages hensyn til, om der sker enhurtig tilpasninghen-imod holdbarhed i de offentlige finanser, dog under hensyntagen til de fi-nansielle virkninger af aldersudviklingen i befolkningen.Hvis den offentlige gæld erunder60 pct. af BNP, kan det offentlige un-derskud dog godt overstige det beregnede landespecifikke mål for detstrukturelle underskud (nævnt ovenfor).
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Nationale bindende regler til nedbringelse af underskud-Reglerne nævnt ovenfor vedrørende det årlige underskud, skal gennem-føres i nationale bindende budgetbestemmelser (love eller forfatnings-ændringer), og der skal lovgives om nationale bestemmelser, der indfø-resautomatisk,hvis der er væsentlige afvigelser fra referenceværdierneeller tilpasningen henimod disse værdier.Lovgivningen i de enkelte stater skal ske efter fælles fastlagte principper,og staterne skal udarbejde et program, der klart siger, hvordan der opnåsbalance, hvis underskuddet er for stort.
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Offentlig gæld over 60 pct. af BNP-Hvis gælden overstiger 60 pct. af BNP, skal den nedbringes med engennemsnitlig hastighed af en tyvendedel hvert år, som et måltal.
Kommissionen og Rådets rolle-Hvis underskuddet er større end de 3 pct. af BNP, og medlemsstaten erunderlagt en proceduretil nedbringelse af underskuddet, skal med-lemsstaten udarbejde et bindende program med en detaljeret beskrivelseaf hvordan der opnås en varig forbedring. Programmet skal fremsendestil Kommissionen og Rådet.Eurolande, der overskrider 3 pct.-grænsen for underskud skal endvidereefter forslag af Kommissionen, nedbringe dette underskud, medmindreder i Rådet er kvalificeret flertalimodKommissionens forslag.
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EU-Domstolens rolle-Enhver medlemsstat, der er en del af aftalen, kan indbringeimplemente-ringenaf reglerne vedrørende de årlige underskud i andre medlemmersnationale lovgivning for EU-Domstolen, såfremt medlemsstaten ikke me-ner, at dette er sket korrekt. EU-Domstolens kendelser på dette områdeer bindende.
4. Økonomisk konvergens-Herudover er der også et afsnit om økonomisk konvergens og vækstsamt økonomisk samarbejde.
Finans- og budgetudvalgenes rolle-Ifølge finanspagten vil denationale parlamentersfinans- og budgetud-valg blive inviteret til regelmæssige møder, hvor den økonomiske politikog budgetpolitikken, skal diskuteres. Repræsentanter fra Europa-Parlamentet vil også deltage.
5. Ikrafttræden og Danmarks eventuelle deltagelse-Finanspagten træder i kraft for de ratificerende lande, når ni medlemmerafeuro-gruppenhar ratificeret. Herefter gælder aftalen for de lande, derefterfølgende ratificerer aftalen.Danmark – og andre ikke-euro lande – har ifølge de afsluttende bestem-melser muligheder for at tilslutte sigheleellerdeleaf afsnittet om bud-getdisciplin og økonomisk konvergens i finanspagten, selvom vi ikke ermed i euroen og har et forbehold desangående.
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EU-konsulenten udarbejder en EU-note, der nærmere beskriver ”finanspag-ten”.
Med venlig hilsenNiels Hoffmeyer/Sara Larsen
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Bilag 1.DRAFTINTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT ON A REINFORCED ECONOMIC UNIONTHE CONTRACTING PARTIES………..CONSCIOUS of the obligation of the Contracting Parties, as Member Statesof the European Union, to regard their economic policies as a matter of com-mon concern,DESIRING to promote conditions for stronger economic growth in the Euro-pean Union and, to that end, to develop ever-closer coordination of economicpolicies within the euro area,BEARING IN MIND that the coordination of the economic policies of the Con-tracting Parties, as Member States of the European Union, is based on theobjective of sound and sustainable government finances as a means ofstrengthening the conditions for price stability and for strong sustainablegrowth underpinned by financial stability, thereby supporting the achievementof the Union's objectives for sustainable growth and employment,BEARING IN MIND that the need for governments to prevent a governmentdeficit becoming excessive is of an essential importance to safeguard thestability of the euro area as a whole, and accordingly requires the introductionof specific rules to address this need, including the need to take necessarycorrective action,CONSCIOUS of the need to ensure that their deficits remain below 3 % oftheir gross domestic product at market prices and that government debt isbelow, or sufficiently declining towards, 60 % of their gross domestic productat market prices,RECALLING that the Contracting Parties, as Member States of the EuropeanUnion, should refrain from adopting any measure which could jeopardise theattainment of the Union's objectives in the framework of the economic union,notably the practice of accumulating debt outside the general governmentaccounts,BEARING IN MIND that the Heads of State or Government of the euro areaMember States agreed on 9 December 2011 on a reinforced architecture forEconomic and Monetary Union, building upon the European Treaties and
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facilitating the implementation of measures taken on the basis of Articles 121,126 and 136 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,BEARING IN MIND that the objective of the Heads of State or Government ofthe euro area Member States and of other Member States of the EuropeanUnion remains to incorporate the provisions of this Agreement as soon aspossible into the Treaties on which the European Union is founded,TAKING NOTE, in this context, of the intention of the European Commissionto present further legislative proposals within the framework of the UnionTreaties regarding a mechanism of ex ante reporting of debt issuance plans ofthe Member States of the European Union, a procedure of economic partner-ship programmes detailing structural reforms for euro area Member States inexcessive deficit procedure as well as a new coordination procedure at thelevel of the euro area for major economic policy reform plans,TAKING NOTE that, when reviewing and monitoring the budgetary commit-ments under this Agreement, the European Commission will act within theframework of its powers as provided by the Treaty on the functioning of theEuropean Union, in particular Articles 121, 126 and 136 thereof,NOTING in particular that, for the application of the budgetary "BalancedBudget Rule" described in Article 3 of this Agreement, this monitoring will bemade through the setting up of country specific reference values and of ca-lendars of convergence, as appropriate, for each Contracting Party,NOTING that compliance with the obligation to transpose the "BalancedBudget Rule" into national legal systems at constitutional or equivalent levelshould be subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the EuropeanUnion, in accordance with Article 273 of the Treaty on the Functioning of theEuropean Union,RECALLING the need to facilitate the adoption of measures under the exces-sive deficit procedure of the European Union for euro area Contracting Partieswhose planned or actual government deficit to gross domestic product ex-ceeds 3%, whilst strongly reinforcing the objective of that procedure, namelyto encourage and, if necessary, compel the Member State concerned to re-duce a deficit which might be identified,RECALLING the need for those Contracting Parties whose government debtexceeds the 60 % reference value to reduce it at an average rate of one twen-tieth per year as a benchmark,
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RECALLING the agreement of the Heads of State or Government of the euroarea Member States on 26 October 2011 to improve the governance of theeuro area, including the holding of at least two Euro Summit meetings peryear, as well as the endorsement of the Euro Plus Pact by the Heads of Stateor Government of the euro area Member States and of other Member Statesof the European Union on 25 March 2011,STRESSING the importance of the Treaty establishing the European StabilityMechanism as an element of a global strategy to strengthen the Economicand Monetary Union,HAVE AGREED UPON the following provisions,
TITLE IPURPOSE AND SCOPEArticle 11. By this Agreement, the Contracting Parties, which are MemberStates of the European Union, agree to strengthen their budgetarydiscipline and to reinforce their economic policy coordination and go-vernance.2. The provisions of this Agreement shall apply to the Contracting Par-ties whose currency is the euro. They may also apply to the otherContracting Parties, under the conditions set out in Article 14.
TITLE IICONSISTENCY AND RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LAW OF THE UNIONArticle 21. This Agreement shall be applied by the Contracting Parties in con-formity with the Treaties on which the European Union is founded, in
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particular Article 4(3) of the Treaty on European Union, and with Eu-ropean Union law.2. The provisions of this Agreement shall apply insofar as they are com-patible with the Treaties on which the Union is founded and with Eu-ropean Union law. They shall not encroach upon the competences ofthe Union to act in the area of the economic union. In accordance withthe case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, EuropeanUnion law has precedence over the provisions of this Agreement.
TITLE IIIBUDGETARY DISCIPLINEArticle 31. The Contracting Parties shall apply the following rules, in addition toand without prejudice to the obligations derived from Union Law:a)Revenues and expenditures of the general government budgetsshall be balanced or in surplus. The Contracting Parties may tem-porarily incur deficits only to take into account the budgetary im-pact of the economic cycle and, beyond such impact, in case ofexceptional economic circumstances, or in periods of a severeeconomic downturn, provided that this does not endanger budge-tary sustainability in medium term.
b)
The rule under point a) above shall be deemed to be respected ifthe annual structural deficit of the general government does notexceed a country-specific reference value, which ensures anadequate safety margin with respect to the 3 % reference valuementioned under Article 1 of the Protocol (No 12) on the exces-sive deficit procedure annexed to the Treaty on European Unionand to the TFEU (hereinafter 'Protocol No 12') as well as rapidprogress towards sustainability, also taking into account the bud-getary impact of ageing. The Contracting Parties shall ensureconvergence towards their respective country-specific referencevalue. As a rule, the country specific reference value shall not ex-ceed 0.5 % of nominal GDP.
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c)
Where the debt level is significantly below the 60 % referencevalue mentioned under Article 1 of Protocol No 12, the country-specific reference value for the annual structural net deficit maytake a higher value than specified under point b).
2. The rules mentioned under paragraph 1 shall be introduced in nation-al binding provisions of a constitutional or equivalent nature. The Con-tracting Parties shall in particular put in place a correction mechanismto be triggered automatically in the event of significant deviations fromthe reference value or the adjustment path towards it. This mechan-ism shall be defined at national level, on the basis of commonlyagreed principles. It shall include the obligation of the ContractingParties to present a programme to correct the deviations over a de-fined period of time. It shall fully respect responsibilities of nationalParliaments.3. For the purposes of this Article, definitions set out in Article 2 of Pro-tocol No 12 shall apply. In addition, the following definitions shall ap-ply:-"annual structural deficit of the general government" means theannual cyclically-adjusted deficit net of one-off and temporarymeasures;
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"exceptional economic circumstances" means an unusual eventoutside the control of the Contracting Party concerned, which hasa major impact on the financial position of the government.
Article 4When the ratio of their government debt to gross domestic product exceedsthe 60 % reference value mentioned under Article 1 of Protocol No 12, theContracting Parties undertake to reduce it at an average rate of one twentiethper year as a benchmark.
Article 5The Contracting Parties that are subject to an excessive deficit procedureunder the Union Treaties shall put in place a budgetary and economic part-
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nership programme with binding value including a detailed description of thestructural reforms necessary to ensure an effectively durable correction oftheir excessive deficits. Such programmes shall be submitted to the EuropeanCommission and the Council.
Article 6The Contracting Parties shall improve the reporting of their national debt is-suance. For that purpose, they shall report ex-ante on their national debt is-suance plans to the European Commission and the Council.
Article 7While fully respecting the procedural requirements of the Union Treaties, theContracting Parties whose currency is the euro undertake to support propos-als or recommendations put forward by the European Commission where aMember State whose currency is the euro is recognised by the EuropeanCommission to be in breach of the 3 % ceiling in the framework of an exces-sive deficit procedure, unless a qualified majority of them is of another view. Aqualified majority shall be defined by analogy with Article 238(3)(a) TFEU andwith Article 3 of Protocol N� 36 to the EU Treaties on transitional provisionsand without taking into account the position of the Contracting Party con-cerned.
Article 8Any Contracting Party which considers that another Contracting Party hasfailed to comply with Article 3(2) may bring the matter before the Court ofJustice of the European Union. The judgment of the Court of Justice of theEuropean Union shall be binding on the parties in the procedure, which shalltake the necessary measures to comply with the judgment within a period tobe decided by said Court. The implementation of the rules put in place by theContracting Parties to comply with Article 3(2) will be subject to the review ofthe national Courts of the Contracting Parties.
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TITLE IVECONOMIC CONVERGENCEArticle 9Without prejudice to the economic policy coordination as defined in the Treatyon the Functioning of the European Union, the Contracting Parties undertaketo work jointly towards an economic policy fostering growth through enhancedconvergence and competitiveness and improving the functioning of the Eco-nomic and Monetary Union. To this aim, they will take all necessary actions,including through the Euro Plus Pact.
Article 10While fully respecting the procedural requirements of the Union Treaties, theContracting Parties undertake to make recourse, whenever appropriate andnecessary, to the enhanced cooperation on matters that are essential for thesmooth functioning of the euro area, without undermining the internal market.
Article 11With a view to benchmarking best practices, the Contracting Parties ensurethat all major economic policy reforms that they plan to undertake will be dis-cussed and coordinated among themselves. This coordination shall involvethe institutions of the European Union as required by the law of the Union.
Article 12Representatives of the Committees in charge of economy and finance withinthe Parliaments of the Contracting Parties will be invited to meet regularly todiscuss in particular the conduct of economic and budgetary policies, in closeassociation with representatives of the relevant Committee of the EuropeanParliament.
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TITLE VEURO SUMMIT MEETINGSArticle 131. The Heads of State or Government of the Contracting Parties whosecurrency is the euro, (hereinafter "the euro area Heads of State orGovernment") and the president of the European Commission shallmeet informally in Euro Summit meetings. The President of the Euro-pean Central Bank shall be invited to take part in such meetings. ThePresident of the Euro Summit shall be appointed by the euro areaHeads of State or Government by simple majority at the same timethe European Council elects its President and for the same term of of-fice.2. Euro Summit meetings shall take place, when necessary, and at leasttwice a year, to discuss questions related to the specific responsibili-ties those Member States share with regard to the single currency,other issues concerning the governance of the euro area and therules that apply to it, and in particular strategic orientations for theconduct of economic policies and for improved competitiveness andincreased convergence in the euro area.3. Euro Summit meetings shall be prepared by the President of the EuroSummit, in close cooperation with the President of the EuropeanCommission, and by the Euro Group. The follow-up to the meetingsshall be ensured in the same manner.4. The President of the Euro Summit shall keep the other MemberStates of the European Union closely informed of the preparation andoutcome of the Euro Summit meetings. The President will also informthe European Parliament of the outcome of the Euro Summit meet-ings.
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TITLE VIGENERAL AND FINAL PROVISIONSArticle 141. This Agreement shall be ratified by the Contracting Parties in accor-dance with their respective constitutional requirements. The instru-ments of ratification shall be deposited with the General Secretariat ofthe Council of the European Union.2. This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the month fol-lowing the deposit of the ninth instrument of ratification by a Contract-ing Party whose currency is the euro.3. This Agreement shall apply as from the day of entry into forceamongst the Contracting Parties whose currency is the euro andwhich have ratified it. It shall apply to the other Contracting Partieswhose currency is the euro as from the first day of the month follow-ing the deposit of their respective instrument of ratification.4. By derogation to Paragraph 3, Title V of this Agreement shall apply toall Contracting Parties whose currency is the euro as from the date ofthe entry into force of the Agreement.5. This Agreement shall apply to the Contracting Parties with a deroga-tion as defined in Article 139(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of theEuropean Union, or with an exemption as defined in Protocol No 16on certain provisions related to Denmark annexed to the Union Trea-ties, which have ratified it, as from the day when the decision abrogat-ing that derogation or exemption takes effect, unless the ContractingParty concerned declares its intention to be bound at an earlier dateby all or part of the provisions in Titles III and IV of this Agreement.__________
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