UPN, Alm.del - 2011-12 - Bilag 106: Revideret udkast til traktat af den 31. januar 2012

CONSCIOUS of the obligation of the Contracting Parties, as Member States of the EuropeanUnion, to regard their economic policies as a matter of common concern,DESIRING to promote conditions for stronger economic growth in the European Union and, to thatend, to develop ever-closer coordination of economic policies within the euro area,BEARING IN MIND that the need for governments to maintain sound and sustainable publicfinances and to prevent a government deficit becoming excessive is of an essential importance tosafeguard the stability of the euro area as a whole, and accordingly requires the introduction ofspecific rules to address this need, including a balanced budget rule and an automatic mechanism totake corrective action,CONSCIOUS of the need to ensure that their deficits do not exceed 3 % of their gross domesticproduct at market prices and that government debt does not exceed, or is sufficiently decliningtowards, 60 % of their gross domestic product at market prices,RECALLING that the Contracting Parties, as Member States of the European Union, should refrainfrom adopting any measure which could jeopardise the attainment of the Union's objectives in theframework of the economic union, notably the practice of accumulating debt outside the generalgovernment accounts,BEARING IN MIND that the Heads of State or Government of the euro area Member States agreedon 9 December 2011 on a reinforced architecture for Economic and Monetary Union, building uponthe European Union Treaties and facilitating the implementation of measures taken on the basis ofArticles 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 of the euro areaMember States and of other Member States of the European Union is to incorporate the provisionsof this Treaty as soon as possible into the Treaties on which the European Union is founded,

WELCOMING the legislative proposals made by the European Commission for the euro areawithin the framework of the European Union Treaties on 23 November 2011, on the strengtheningof economic and budgetary surveillance of Member States experiencing or threatened with seriousdifficulties with respect to their financial stability, and on common provisions for monitoring andassessing draft budgetary plans and ensuring the correction of excessive deficit of the MemberStates, and TAKING NOTE of the Commission's intention to present further legislative proposalsfor the euro area concerning, in particular, ex ante reporting of debt issuance plans, economicpartnership programmes detailing structural reforms for Member States in excessive deficitprocedure as well as coordination of major economic policy reform plans of Member States,EXPRESSING their readiness to support proposals which the Commission might present to furtherstrengthen the Stability and Growth Pact by introducing, for Member States whose currency is theeuro, a new range for medium term objectives in line with the limits established in this Treaty,TAKING NOTE that, when reviewing and monitoring the budgetary commitments under thisTreaty, the European Commission will act within the framework of its powers as provided by theTreaty on the functioning of the European Union, in particular Articles 121, 126 and 136 thereof,NOTING in particular that, for the application of the budgetary "Balanced Budget Rule" describedin Article 3 of this Treaty, this monitoring will be made through the setting up of country specificmedium term objectives and of calendars of convergence, as appropriate, for each ContractingParty,NOTING that the medium term objectives should be updated regularly on the basis of a commonlyagreed method, the main parameters of which are also to be reviewed regularly, reflectingappropriately the risks of explicit and implicit liabilities for public finance, as embodied in the aimsof the Stability and Growth Pact,NOTING that sufficient progress towards the medium term objectives should be evaluated on thebasis of an overall assessment with the structural balance as a reference, including an analysis ofexpenditure net of discretionary revenue measures, in line with the provisions specified underEuropean Union law, in particular Council Regulation (EC) No. 1466/97 of 7 July 1997 on thestrengthening of the surveillance of budgetary positions and the surveillance and coordination ofbudgetary policies, as amended by Regulation (EU) No. 1175/2011 of the European Parliament andof the Council of 16 November 2011 (hereinafter "the revised Stability and Growth Pact"),NOTING that the correction mechanism to be introduced by the Contracting Parties should aim atcorrecting deviations from the medium-term objective or the adjustment path including theircumulated impact on government debt dynamics,NOTING that compliance with the obligation to transpose the "Balanced Budget Rule" into nationallegal systems through binding and permanent provisions, preferably constitutional, should besubject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union, in accordance with Article273 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

RECALLING that Article 260 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union empowersthe Court of Justice of the European Union to impose the payment of a lump sum or penalty on aMember State of the European Union having failed to comply with one of its judgments and that theEuropean Commission has established criteria for the determination of the lump sum or penalty tobe paid in the framework of that Article,RECALLING the need to facilitate the adoption of measures under the excessive deficit procedureof the European Union for euro area Contracting Parties whose planned or actual governmentdeficit to gross domestic product exceeds 3%, whilst strongly reinforcing the objective of thatprocedure, namely to encourage and, if necessary, compel the Member State concerned to reduce adeficit which might be identified,RECALLING the obligation for those Contracting Parties whose government debt exceeds the60 % reference value to reduce it at an average rate of one twentieth per year as a benchmark,BEARING IN MIND the need to respect, in the implementation of this Treaty, the specific role ofthe social partners, as it is recognized in the laws or national systems of each of the ContractingParties,STRESSING that none of the provisions of this Treaty is to be interpreted as altering in any waythe economic policy conditions under which financial assistance has been granted to a ContractingParty in a stabilisation programme involving the European Union, its Member States and theInternational Monetary Fund,NOTING that the smooth functioning of the Economic and Monetary Union makes it necessary thatthe Contracting Parties work jointly towards an economic policy where, whilst building upon themechanisms of economic policy coordination as defined in the European Union Treaties, they takethe necessary actions and measures in all the domains which are essential to the good functioning ofthe euro area,NOTING, in particular, the wish of the Contracting Parties to make more active use of enhancedcooperation, as provided for in Article 20 of the Treaty on European Union and in Articles 326 to334 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, without undermining the internalmarket, as well as to make full recourse to measures specific to the Member States whose currencyis the euro pursuant to Article 136 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and to aprocedure for the ex ante discussion and coordination among the Contracting Parties whosecurrency is the euro of all major economic policy reforms planned by them, with a view tobenchmarking best practices,RECALLING the agreement of the Heads of State or Government of the euro area Member Stateson 26 October 2011 to improve the governance of the euro area, including the holding of at leasttwo Euro Summit meetings per year, to be convened, unless justified by exceptional circumstances,immediately after meetings of the European Council or meetings with the participation of allContracting Parties having ratified this Treaty,

RECALLING also the endorsement by the Heads of State or Government of the euro area MemberStates and of other Member States of the European Union on 25 March 2011 of the Euro Plus Pactwhich identifies the issues that are essential to fostering competitiveness in the euro area,STRESSING the importance of the Treaty establishing the European Stability Mechanism as anelement of a global strategy to strengthen the Economic and Monetary Union and POINTING OUTthat the granting of assistance in the framework of new programmes under the European StabilityMechanism will be conditional, as of 1 March 2013, on the ratification of this Treaty by theContracting Party concerned and, as soon as the transposition period mentioned in Article 3(2) hasexpired, on compliance with the requirements of this Article,NOTING that … are Contracting Parties whose currency is the euro and that, as such, they will bebound by the provisions of this Treaty from the first day of the month following the deposit of theirinstrument of ratification if the Treaty is in force at that date; NOTING ALSO that … areContracting Parties which, as Member States of the European Union, have, at the date of signatureof this Treaty, a derogation or an exemption from participation in the single currency and may bebound, as long as this derogation or exemption is not abrogated, only by those provisions ofTitles III and IV by which they declare, on depositing their instrument of ratification or at a laterdate, that they intend to be bound,

TITLE IPURPOSE AND SCOPEArticle 11.By this Treaty, the Contracting Parties agree, as Member States of the European Union, tostrengthen the economic pillar of the Economic and Monetary Union by adopting a set of rulesintended to foster budgetary discipline through a fiscal compact, to strengthen the coordination ofeconomic policies and to improve the governance of the euro area, thereby supporting theachievement of the European Union's objectives for sustainable growth, employment,competitiveness and social cohesion.2.The provisions of this Treaty shall apply in full to the Contracting Parties whose currency isthe euro. They shall also apply to the other Contracting Parties to the extent and under theconditions set out in Article 14.

TITLE IIIFISCAL COMPACTArticle 31.The Contracting Parties shall apply the following rules, in addition and without prejudice tothe obligations derived from European Union law:a)b)The budgetary position of the general government shall be balanced or in surplus.The rule under point a) shall be deemed to be respected if the annual structural balance ofthe general government is at its country-specific medium-term objective as defined in therevised Stability and Growth Pact with a lower limit of a structural deficit of 0.5 % of thegross domestic product at market prices. The Contracting Parties shall ensure rapidconvergence towards their respective medium-term objective. The time frame for suchconvergence will be proposed by the Commission taking into consideration country-specificsustainability risks. Progress towards and respect of the medium-term objective shall beevaluated on the basis of an overall assessment with the structural balance as a reference,including an analysis of expenditure net of discretionary revenue measures, in line with theprovisions of the revised Stability and Growth Pact.The Contracting Parties may temporarily deviate from their medium-term objective or theadjustment path towards it only in exceptional circumstances as defined in paragraph 3.

Where the ratio of government debt to gross domestic product at market prices issignificantly below 60 % and where risks in terms of long-term sustainability of publicfinances are low, the lower limit of the medium-term objective specified under point b) canreach a structural deficit of at most 1.0 % of the gross domestic product at market prices.In the event of significant observed deviations from the medium-term objective or theadjustment path towards it, a correction mechanism shall be triggered automatically. Themechanism shall include the obligation of the Contracting Party concerned to implementmeasures to correct the deviations over a defined period of time.

2.The rules mentioned under paragraph 1 shall take effect in the national law of theContracting Parties at the latest one year after the entry into force of this Treaty through provisionsof binding force and permanent character, preferably constitutional, or otherwise guaranteed to befully respected and adhered to throughout the national budgetary processes. The Contracting Partiesshall put in place at national level the correction mechanism mentioned in paragraph 1.e) on thebasis of common principles to be proposed by the European Commission, concerning in particularthe nature, the size and the time-frame of the corrective action to be undertaken, also in the case ofexceptional circumstances, and the role and independence of the institutions responsible at nationallevel for monitoring the observance of the rules. This mechanism shall fully respect the prerogativesof national Parliaments.3.For the purposes of this Article, definitions set out in Article 2 of Protocol (No 12) on theexcessive deficit procedure annexed to the European Union Treaties shall apply. In addition,"annual structural balance of the general government" refers to the annual cyclically-adjustedbalance net of one-off and temporary measures. "Exceptional circumstances" refer to the case of anunusual event outside the control of the Contracting Party concerned which has a major impact onthe financial position of the general government or to periods of severe economic downturn asdefined in the revised Stability and Growth Pact, provided that the temporary deviation of theContracting Party concerned does not endanger fiscal sustainability in the medium term.

Article 4When the ratio of their general government debt to gross domestic product exceeds the 60 %reference value mentioned under Article 1 of Protocol (No 12), the Contracting Parties shall reduceit at an average rate of one twentieth per year as a benchmark, as provided for in Article 2 ofCouncil Regulation (EC) No. 1467/97 of 7 July 1997 on speeding up and clarifying theimplementation of the excessive deficit procedure, as amended by Council Regulation (EU)No. 1177/2011 of 8 November 2011. The existence of an excessive deficit due to the breach of thedebt criterion will be decided according to the procedure set forth in Article 126 of the Treaty on theFunctioning of the European Union.

Article 51.The Contracting Parties that are subject to an excessive deficit procedure under theEuropean Union Treaties shall put in place a budgetary and economic partnership programmeincluding a detailed description of the structural reforms which must be put in place andimplemented to ensure an effective and durable correction of their excessive deficits. The contentand format of these programmes shall be defined in European Union law. Their submission to theEuropean Commission and the Council for endorsement and their monitoring will take place withinthe context of the existing surveillance procedures of the Stability and Growth Pact.2.The implementation of the programme, and the yearly budgetary plans consistent with it,will be monitored by the Commission and by the Council.

Article 7While fully respecting the procedural requirements of the European Union Treaties, the ContractingParties whose currency is the euro commit to support the proposals or recommendations submittedby the European Commission where it considers that a Member State of the European Union whosecurrency is the euro is in breach of the deficit criterion in the framework of an excessive deficitprocedure. This obligation shall not apply where it is established among the Contracting Partieswhose currency is the euro that a qualified majority of them, calculated by analogy with the relevantprovisions of the European Union Treaties without taking into account the position of theContracting Party concerned, is opposed to the decision proposed or recommended.

Article 81.The European Commission is invited to present in due time to the Contracting Parties areport on the provisions adopted by each of them in compliance with Article 3(2). If the EuropeanCommission, after having given the Contracting Party concerned the opportunity to submit itsobservations, concludes in its report that a Contracting Party has failed to comply with Article 3(2),the matter will be brought to the Court of Justice of the European Union by one or more of theContracting Parties. Where a Contracting Party considers, independently of the Commission'sreport, that another Contracting Party has failed to comply with Article 3 (2), it may also bring thematter to the Court of Justice. In both cases, the judgment of the Court of Justice shall be binding onthe parties in the procedure, which shall take the necessary measures to comply with the judgmentwithin a period to be decided by the Court.7

2.If, on the basis of its own assessment or of an assessment by the European Commission, aContracting Party considers that another Contracting Party has not taken the necessary measures tocomply with the judgment of the Court of Justice referred to in paragraph 1, it may bring the casebefore the Court of Justice and request the imposition of financial sanctions following criteriaestablished by the Commission in the framework of Article 260 of the Treaty on the Functioning ofthe European Union. If the Court finds that the Contracting Party concerned has not complied withits judgment, it may impose on it a lump sum or a penalty payment appropriate in the circumstancesand that shall not exceed 0,1 % of its gross domestic product. The amounts imposed on aContracting Party whose currency is the euro shall be payable to the European Stability Mechanism.In other cases, payments shall be made to the general budget of the European Union.3.This Article constitutes a special agreement between the Contracting Parties within themeaning of Article 273 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union

TITLE IVECONOMIC POLICY COORDINATION AND CONVERGENCEArticle 9Building upon the economic policy coordination as defined in the Treaty on the Functioning of theEuropean Union, the Contracting Parties undertake to work jointly towards an economic policyfostering the smooth functioning of the Economic and Monetary Union and economic growththrough enhanced convergence and competitiveness. To that end, the Contracting Parties shall takethe necessary actions and measures in all the domains which are essential to the good functioning ofthe euro area in pursuit of the objectives of fostering competitiveness, promoting employment,contributing further to the sustainability of public finances and reinforcing financial stability.

Article 11With a view to benchmarking best practices and working towards a more closely coordinatedeconomic policy, the Contracting Parties ensure that all major economic policy reforms that theyplan to undertake will be discussed ex-ante and, where appropriate, coordinated among themselves.This coordination shall involve the institutions of the European Union as required by EuropeanUnion law.TITLE VGOVERNANCE OF THE EURO AREAArticle 121.The Heads of State or Government of the Contracting Parties whose currency is the euroshall meet informally in Euro Summit meetings, together with the President of the EuropeanCommission. The President of the European Central Bank shall be invited to take part in themeetings. The President of the Euro Summit shall be appointed by the Heads of State orGovernment of the Contracting Parties whose currency is the euro by simple majority at the sametime the European Council elects its President and for the same term of office.2.Euro Summit meetings shall take place, when necessary, and at least twice a year, to discussquestions related to the specific responsibilities which the Contracting Parties whose currency is theeuro share with regard to the single currency, other issues concerning the governance of the euroarea and the rules that apply to it, and strategic orientations for the conduct of economic policies toincrease convergence in the euro area.3.The Heads of State or Government of the Contracting Parties, other than those whosecurrency is the euro, who have ratified this Treaty shall participate in discussions of Euro Summitmeetings concerning competitiveness for the Contracting Parties, the modification of the globalarchitecture of the euro area and the fundamental rules that will apply to it in the future, as well as,when appropriate and at least once a year, in discussions on specific issues of implementation ofthis Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union.4.The President of the Euro Summit shall ensure the preparation and continuity of EuroSummit meetings, in close cooperation with the President of the European Commission. The bodycharged with the preparation and follow up of the Euro Summit meetings shall be the Euro Groupand its president may be invited to attend the Euro Summit meetings for that purpose.5.The President of the European Parliament may be invited to be heard. The President of theEuro Summit shall present a report to the European Parliament after each of the meetings of theEuro Summit.

TITLE VIGENERAL AND FINAL PROVISIONSArticle 141.This Treaty shall be ratified by the Contracting Parties in accordance with their respectiveconstitutional requirements. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the GeneralSecretariat of the Council of the European Union.2.This Treaty shall enter into force on 1 January 2013, provided that twelve ContractingParties whose currency is the euro have deposited their instrument of ratification, or on the first dayof the month following the deposit of the twelfth instrument of ratification by a Contracting Partywhose currency is the euro, whichever is the earlier.3.This Treaty shall apply as from the day of entry into force amongst the Contracting Partieswhose currency is the euro and which have ratified it. It shall apply to the other Contracting Partieswhose currency is the euro as from the first day of the month following the deposit of theirrespective instrument of ratification.4.By derogation to paragraph 3, Article 12 shall apply to all Contracting Parties whosecurrency is the euro as from the date of the entry into force of this Treaty.

TREATY ON STABILITY, COORDINATION AND GOVERNANCE

IN THE ECONOMIC AND MONETARY UNION