19 Stability and Growth Pact
| (a)
26508
8192/05
COM(05)154
(b)
26509
8193/05
COM(05)155
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Draft Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No. 1466/97 on the strengthening of the surveillance of budgetary positions and the surveillance and coordination of economic policies
Draft Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No. 1467/97 on speeding up and clarifying the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure
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| Legal base | (a) Article 99(5) EC; co-decision; QMV
(b) Article 104(14) EC; consultation; unanimity
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| Department | HM Treasury |
| Basis of consideration | Minister's letter of 12 July
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| Previous Committee Report | HC 34-i (2005-06), para 56 (4 July 2005)
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| Discussed in Council | 13 June 2005
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared (decision reported on 4 July 2005)
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Background
19.1 The Stability and Growth Pact adopted by the Amsterdam European
Council in June 1997,[52]
is designed to support the requirements of Title VII, Chapter
1 (Economic Policy) of the EC Treaty. Additionally, the Council
agreed in 1998, and revised in 2001, an Opinion on the content
and format of stability and convergence programmes. That "Code
of Conduct" sets out more detail on the interpretation of
the Stability and Growth Pact. The fiscal framework involved has
two arms — multilateral surveillance and the excessive deficit
procedure.
19.2 These two draft Regulations are designed to
amend the two existing Regulations so as to improve multilateral
surveillance and the excessive deficit procedure. We cleared them
from scrutiny earlier this month. But we asked the Minister to
give us a fuller explanation as to why he felt it necessary to
override the scrutiny reserve, telling us in particular what the
adverse consequences, if any, would have been of indicating support
for the measures whilst insisting that a final decision should
await the conclusion of parliamentary scrutiny.
The Minister's letter
19.3 The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Mr Ivan
Lewis) tells us that the Government strongly supported the Luxembourg
Presidency's intention to secure as quickly as possible a secure
legal base for implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact.
As one of the draft Regulations was subject to co-decision, progress
at the Council of 13 June 2005 was necessary to allow the European
Parliament to complete its consideration of the proposals at its
plenary session of 22-23 June. The Minister says that, if the
matter had been held over by the Council until after we cleared
the documents on 4 July, the European Parliament would not have
been able to complete its processes until the plenary session
of 5-8 September. And because of subsequent procedural stages
this would have meant that the new legal base for the Stability
and Growth Pact, reflecting the political agreement to reforms,
would not have come into force until October 2005.
Conclusion
19.4 As we said in our earlier Report, we understand
the desire to implement the reforms of the Stability and Growth
Pact. And in the circumstances the Minister describes we are content
to accept the overriding of the scrutiny reserve resolution.
But we remind the Government that we only overlook such an override
in exceptional circumstances.
52 Consisting of the European Council's Resolution
(OJ No. C 236, 2.8.97, p. 1) and Regulations (EC) No. 1466/97
and No. 1467/97. Back
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