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Europaudvalget 2006-07
2778 - økofin Bilag 2
Offentligt

2. februar 2007

6. kontor, SMJ

Referat af rådsmødet (ECOFIN) den 30. januar 2007

Dagsordenspunkt:

Formandskabets arbejdsprogram for ECOFIN for 1.

halvår 2007

Det nye formandskab (Tyskland) fremlagde sit arbejdsprogram vedrørende ECO-

FIN’s arbejde for 1. halvår 2007.

Rådet og Kommissionen hilste arbejdsprogrammet velkommen og udtrykte gene-

rel opbakning til de emner formandskabet prioriterer.

Dagsordenspunkt:

Proceduren for uforholdsmæssigt store underskud –

rådsbeslutning om ophævelse af proceduren for

Frankrig

Rådet vedtog en rådsbeslutning (jf.

vedlagte bilag)

under Traktatens artikel 104.12,

der ophæver proceduren vedrørende uforholdsmæssigt store underskud i forhold

til Frankrig.

Dagsordenspunkt:

Forberedelse af DER: Key Issues Paper, Lissabon-

strategien, Kommissionens fremskridtsrapport og

opdatering af de overordnede økonomisk-politiske

retningslinjer (BEPG)

Rådet drøftede ECOFIN’s input til Det Europæiske Råds (DER) forårstopmøde,

herunder det tyske formandskabs udkast til Key Issue Paper.

Rådet udtrykte generel opbakning til formandskabets udkast og fremhævede bl.a.

reformer på de finansielle markeder, arbejdsmarkederne og bedre rammevilkår for

erhvervslivet som vigtige indsatsområder. Ministrene lagde desuden vægt på at

landene konsoliderer de offentlige finanser i lyset af den generelt bedre økonomi-

ske situation.

Dagsordenspunkt:

Forberedelse af DER: Bedre regulering

Rådet havde på baggrund af en præsentation ved Kommissionen en indledende

drøftelse af to meddelelser om bedre regulering, herunder Kommissionens med-

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delelse om en strategisk gennemgang af programmet for bedre regulering i EU og

Kommissionens meddelelse om en handlingsplan for administrative lettelser i EU.

Dagsordenspunkt:

Konvergensrapporter fra Kommissionen og ECB

Rådet drøftede Kommissionens og ECB’s rapporter vedrørende konvergenssitua-

tionen i Tjekkiet, Estland, Cypern, Letland, Ungarn, Malta, Polen, Slovakiet og

Sverige. Rådet støttede Kommissionens vurdering af, at der på nuværende tids-

punkt ikke bør ændres i landenes status som medlemslande med dispensation.

Dagsordenspunkt:

Sloveniens indførelse af euroen d. 1. januar 2007

Kommissionen præsenterede en rapport om status for Sloveniens overgang til

euroen den 1. januar 2007, der er forløbet hurtigt og fleksibelt.

Forventninger om højere inflation kan ikke bekræftes af den faktiske inflationsud-

vikling.

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Bilag:

Rådsbeslutning om ophævelse af proceduren for Frankrig

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in partic-

ular Article 104(12) thereof,

Having regard to the recommendation from the Commission,

Whereas:

(1)

By Council Decision 2003/487/EC

, following a recommendation from

the Commission in accordance with Article 104(6) of the Treaty, it was

decided that an excessive deficit existed in France. The Council noted

that the general government deficit was 3.1% of GDP in 2002, above

the 3% of GDP Treaty reference value, and projected both by the

French authorities and the Commission services to be above 3% in

2003, while the general government gross debt stood at 58.2% of GDP,

and was very likely to breach the 60% Treaty reference value in 2003.

On 3 June 2003, in accordance with Article 104(7) of the Treaty and

Article 3(4) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1467/97 of 7 July 1997 on

speeding up and clarifying the implementation of the excessive deficit

procedure

(EDP), the Council made a Recommendation, based on a

recommendation from the Commission, addressed to France with a

view to bringing the excessive deficit situation to an end by 2004 at the

latest. The recommendation was made public.

In October 2003, the Commission considered that the measures taken

by France had been insufficient to respect the Recommendation of 3

June 2003 and recommended to step-up the excessive deficit procedure.

Instead, on 25 November 2003, the Council adopted conclusions ad-

dressing recommendations to France for the correction of the deficit by

2005, which were annulled by the Court of Justice of the European

Communities on 13 July 2004

. On 14 December 2004, the Commis-

sion adopted a Communication

to the Council which concluded that

2005 should be considered as the relevant deadline for the correction. It

also concluded that actions taken by France until then were broadly

consistent with a correction of the excessive deficit by 2005, based on

an adjustment in cyclically-adjusted terms of some 1% of GDP over

(2)

(3)

OJ L 165, 3.7.2003, p. 29.

OJ L 209, 2.8.1997, p. 6. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1056/2005 (OJ L 174, 7.7.2005, p. 5).

Case C-27/04, Commission vs Council, [2004] ECR I-6649.

Communication from the Commission to the Council:

The situation of Germany and France in relation to their obligations under the

excessive deficit procedure following the judgement of the Court of Justice,

COM (2004) 813 final.

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2004 and 2005. On 18 January 2005, the Council concurred with this

view.

(4)

In accordance with Article 104(12) of the Treaty, a Council Decision on

the existence of an excessive deficit is to be abrogated when the exces-

sive deficit in the Member State concerned has, in the view of the

Council, been corrected.

In accordance with the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure an-

nexed to the Treaty, the Commission provides the data for the imple-

mentation of the procedure. As part of the application of this Protocol,

Member States are to notify data on government deficits and debt and

other associated variables twice a year, namely before 1 April and be-

fore 1 October, in accordance with Article 4 of Council Regulation

(EC) No 3605/93 of 22 November 1993 on the application of the Proto-

col on the excessive deficit procedure annexed to the Treaty establish-

ing the European Community

Based on data provided by the Commission (Eurostat) in accordance

with Article 8g(1) of Regulation (EC) No 3605/93 following the notifi-

cation by France before 1 October 2006 and on the Commission ser-

vices’ Autumn 2006 forecast, the following conclusions are warranted:

The general government deficit, after rising from 3.2% of GDP in

2002 to 4.2% of GDP in 2003, was reduced to 3.7% of GDP in

2004 and further to 2.9% of GDP in 2005, which is below the

3% of GDP deficit reference value;

Over the period 2004-2005, the structural adjustment (i.e. the im-

provement in the cyclically-adjusted balance net of one-off and

other temporary measures) reached 1 percentage point of GDP:

0.4% in 2004 and 0.6% in 2005. Indeed, although the reduction

in the headline deficit in 2005 below the 3% Treaty reference

value benefited from substantial one-off revenues and higher-

than-expected tax revenues, the deficit reduction was also driven

by a better expenditure control at the State and health-care sec-

tor levels. Notably, the annual increase in spending in the

health-care sector was drastically reduced compared to previous

years as the measures decided as part of the 2004 health-care re-

form are bearing fruit;

For 2006, the Commission services' autumn 2006 forecast projects the

deficit to be reduced further to 2.7% of GDP, better than the tar-

get set in the January 2006 update of the stability programme

(2.9%). The deficit reduction is expected to be driven by a fur-

ther fall of the annual spending growth rate in the health-care

sector and the continuous expenditure control at the State level

which is expected to meet its target of zero volume expenditure

(5)

(6)

OJ L 332, 31.12.1993, p. 7. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2103/2005 (OJ L 337, 22.12.2005, p. 1).

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growth. The recourse to one-offs would be limited to ¼% of

GDP. The autumn forecast projects for 2007 a further decline in

the deficit to 2.6% of GDP (with a recourse to one-offs limited

to 0.05% of GDP) and 2.2% of GDP in 2008 (on a no-policy

change basis and without one-offs). This indicates that the defi-

cit-to-GDP ratio has been brought below the 3% of GDP ceiling

in a credible and sustainable manner. The improvement in the

structural balance (the cyclically-adjusted-balance net of one-

offs) is estimated at 0.5%, 0.3% and 0.6% of GDP in 2006, 2007

and 2008, respectively. This also has to be seen against the pro-

gress needed towards the medium-term objective (MTO) of a

balanced structural position as set by the French authorities;

After rising from 58.2% of GDP in 2002 to 66.6% of GDP in 2005,

breaching the 60% of GDP Treaty reference value in 2003, the

debt-to-GDP ratio decreased to 65.4% of GDP in the second

quarter of 2006. According to the Commission services’ autumn

2006 forecast, the general government gross debt is expected to

fall further to 64.7% of GDP in 2006 and around 63% of GDP

by 2008 (on a no-policy change basis).

(7) In the view of the Council the excessive deficit in France has been cor-

rected and Decision 2003/487/EC should therefore be abrogated.

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

From an overall assessment it follows that the excessive deficit situation in France

has been corrected.

Article 2

Decision 2003/487/EC is hereby abrogated.

Article 3

This Decision is addressed to the French Republic.

Done at [Brussels], [30 January 2007].

For the Council

The President