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Det Politisk-Økonomiske Udvalg 2004-05 (2. samling), Finansudvalget 2004-05 (2. samling)
2638 - Økofin Bilag 6, FIU Alm.del Bilag 23
Offentligt

emmerne af Folketingets Europaudvalg

res stedfortrædere

Journalnummer

400.C.2-0

Kontor

EUK

1. marts 2005

Til underretning for Folketingets Europaudvalg vedlægges Finansministe-

riets redegørelse for rådsmøde (økonomi- og finansministre) den 17. fe-

bruar 2005.

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28. februa

12 CHM

Referat vedr. rådsmødet (ECOFIN) den 17. februar 2005

Dagsordenspunkt:

Stabilitets- og Vækstpagten – Vurdering af

opdaterede konvergens- og stabilitetspro-

grammer for Belgien, Danmark, Estland,

Frankrig, Tyskland, Irland, Italien, Malta, Po-

len, Slovakiet og Finland

Rådet vedtog udtalelser vedrørende stabilitetsprogrammerne for Belgien, Frankrig,

Tyskland, Irland, Italien og Finland samt konvergensprogrammerne for Danmark,

Estland, Malta, Polen og Slovakiet.

I udtalelsen om det danske konvergensprogram noteres det, at Danmark fuldt ud

opfylder Stabilitets- og Vækstpagtens krav, at Danmark er i en gunstig position i

forhold til den langsigtede finanspolitiske holdbarhed og, at forudsætningerne ved-

rørende afdæmpet udvikling i det offentlige forbrug og stigningen i arbejdsudbud-

det kan vise sig at være udfordrende.

Dagsordenspunkt:

Stabilitets- og Vækstpagten – Kommissionens

meddelelse om europæisk strategi for ledelse

og ansvar vedr. statistik for offentlige finanser

Rådet vedtog konklusioner (vedlagt) på baggrund af Kommissionens meddelelse

om forbedret budgetstatistik. Rådet lægger bl.a. vægt på, at de nationale statistikbu-

reauer har tilstrækkelige ressourcer og kompetencer til at producere statistikker af

høj kvalitet, og at de sikres uafhængighed. Samtidig lægger Rådet vægt på, at EU’s

krav til produktionen af statistik prioriteres. Der lægges desuden vægt på at styrke

Eurostat og Kommissionens muligheder for overvågning af landenes økonomiske

situation og analyse af kvaliteten af data. Det blev pointeret, at der ønskes adfærds-

kodekser på området frem for direktiver.

Dagsordenspunkt:

Stabilitets- og Vækstpagten – Proceduren for ufor-

holdsmæssigt store underskud vedr. Grækenland

Rådet vedtog et pålæg under Traktatens artikel 104.9 i proceduren for uforholds-

mæssigt store underskud til Grækenland med henblik på at træffe foranstaltninger

til at bringe situationen med det uforholdsmæssigt store underskud til ophør så

hurtigt som muligt og senest i 2006. Rådet pointerede, at Grækenland skal fremlæg-

ge et opdateret stabilitetsprogram senest den 21. marts 2005, der redegør for planer

om at efterleve anbefalingerne. Grækenland tog rådets beslutning til efterretning og

udtrykte vilje til at konsolidere de offentlige finanser.

Udtalelserne offentliggøres på Rådets hjemmeside.

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Forberedelsen af Det Europæiske Råds Forårstopmøde

– Kommissionens rapport vedr. Lissabon-strategien, de

overordnede økonomisk-politiske retningslinier og

”Key-issues” papiret

Rådet vedtog konklusioner (vedlagt) vedr. Kommissionens implementeringsrapport

om de overordnede økonomisk-politiske retningslinier 2003-2005, der bl.a. opfor-

drer medlemslandene til at gøre en ekstra indsats i forhold til de områder, hvor

Kommissionen har påpeget manglende fremskridt.

Kommissionen præsenterede kort sin meddelelse vedr. Lissabon-strategien. Der var

generel støtte til Kommissionens oplæg, men bred tilslutning til at den foreslåede

fokusering på vækst og beskæftigelse skal ses inden for rammerne af bæredygtig

udvikling og social samhørighed.

For så vidt angår ’Key-issues’ papiret var medlemslandene positive overfor for-

mandskabets oplæg, herunder dets fokusering på vækst og beskæftigelse inden for

en miljømæssig og social bæredygtig ramme samt sikring af konsistens mellem den

overordnede makroøkonomiske ramme og strukturforbedringer. Papiret ventes

vedtaget på det kommende ECOFIN-møde.

Forberedelsen af Det Europæiske Råds Forårstopmøde

– Styrkelse og bedre implementering af Stabilitets- og

Vækstpagten

Ministrene drøftede i opfølgning på rådsmødet (ECOFIN) den 16. november 2004

og 18. januar 2005, hvordan implementeringen af Stabilitets- og Vækstpagten kan

styrkes.

Der var blandt landene bred støtte til at styrke den forebyggende del af Pagten, bl.a.

gennem retningslinier for styrket konsolidering i gode tider. I forhold til de mellem-

fristede målsætninger var der bred enighed om i første omgang at differentiere dem

efter både gæld og potentiel vækst og på et senere tidspunkt, når det analytiske ap-

parat er udviklet, at differentiere dem efter også den samlede finanspolitiske hold-

barhed. Udgangspunktet er fortsat budgetter ’tæt på balance’, og at der bør være en

tilstrækkelig sikkerhedsmargin i forhold til 3-pct.grænsen. Der var endvidere bred

enighed om at øge fleksibiliteten i proceduren for uforholdsmæssigt store under-

skud, herunder i tilfælde af lav vækst. Endvidere drøftede man en mulig klargøring

af konceptet om at tage højde for ’alle andre relevante faktorer’ i forbindelse med

igangsættelsen af proceduren og de øvrige trin. Endelig drøftede ministrene styrket

’governance’ i forhold til Pagten, herunder kommunikationen til offentligheden og

mellem institutioner samt forpligtelse af landene til at producere pålidelig statistik i

samarbejde med EU-institutionerne.

Dagsordenspunkt: De finansielle perspektiver 2007-2013

Formandskabet orienterede kort om organiseringen af det hidtidige og fremtidige

arbejde med de flerårige finansielle rammer for perioden 2007-2013. Formandska-

bet pointerede, at målsætningen for forhandlingerne er at opnå politisk enighed om

de finansielle perspektiver i juni 2005.

Diverse

Dagsordenspunkt:

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Kommissionen og Den Europæiske Investeringsbank (EIB) orienterede ministrene

om situationen i de katastroferamte lande i Sydøstasien, herunder behov og mulig-

heder for lånefacilitet til genopbygning.

Ministrene havde under frokosten bl.a. en drøftelse af det tysk-franske forslag om

beskatning af flytransport - en såkaldt kerosin-skat - til finansiering af udviklingsbi-

stand. Flere lande var positive overfor yderligere overvejelser af forslaget, men

mange var imod at øremærke bestemte skatteprovenuer til bestemte formål. For-

mandskabet bad Kommissionen analysere mulighederne for forslaget.

Endvidere havde ministrene en drøftelse af et forslag til ændring af valggruppeop-

delingen i EIB efter Bulgariens og Rumæniens optagelse, jf. Rådets beslutning den

2. juni 2004. Rumænien indtræder i Danmarks valggruppe som også inkluderer

Grækenland og Irland.

Endelig drøftede ministrene kort EF-domstolens praksis på det skattepolitiske om-

råde, herunder et tysk ønske om at nedsætte en gruppe på højt niveau til at analyse-

re denne praksis. Nogle medlemslande var imod forslaget, og formandskabet vil

overveje om og i så fald i hvilket regi sagen skal drøftes.

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Rådets konklusioner vedr. om europæisk strategi for ledelse og ansvar vedr.

statistik for offentlige finanser

“On several occasions in the past months, Ecofin ministers have emphasised that

reliable and timely statistics are the basis of economic policy-making and multilat-

eral surveillance and a crucial precondition for effective Council decision-making.

In line with its intentions expressed at earlier meetings, the Council therefore decid-

ed on 7 December 2004 to return to the issue of how to improve the governance of

the European statistical system in early 2005.

The Council therefore welcomes the Commission Communication on “Towards a

European Governance Strategy for Fiscal Statistics“, adopted on 22 December

2004, which proposes three lines of action: building up the legislative framework;

improving the operational capacities of the relevant Commission services, i.e. Euro-

stat and the Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN);

and establishing European standards on the independence of national statistical

institutes. The Commission is planning to present proposals in the above areas.

The Ecofin Council emphasises that the following principles should guide future

work on these issues:



The core issue remains to ensure adequate practices, resources and capabili-

ties to produce high quality statistics at the national level. It is the responsi-

bility of Member States to ensure that their national statistical offices have

sufficient resources to function effectively. Capacity can be further en-

hanced by an increased focus on sharing best practices through peer re-

views. The Council welcomes the on-going work on a code of conduct for

European standards for the statistical authorities. These standards should

provide clear and practical guidance as regards the safeguarding of the inde-

pendence, integrity and accountability of the National Statistical Institutes

and Eurostat when it comes to producing and disseminating statistics.



National statistical offices’ capacity to meet high statistical standards de-

pends crucially on the ability to prioritise the burden from EU statistical re-

quirements on authorities. Priority setting in this respect would also need to

be conducive to a reduced regulatory burden on respondents. Therefore,

and in line with the Ecofin Council conclusions of 2 June 2004, ministers

are looking forward to discussing in June 2005 suggestions by the Econom-

ic and Financial Committee (EFC) on the rebalancing of statistical priori-

ties.



The Council recognises the need to enhance the capacity of the relevant

Commission services to reinforce its role in multilateral fiscal surveillance.

This is essentially a question of more efficient and effective allocation of re-

sources in the Commission budget.



While recognising that government finance data are in general of a high

quality standard, the Council acknowledges that the Eurostat should be in a

better position to analyse the quality of the reported public finance data.

The surveillance should be able to benefit from the use of a complete set of

government accounts as soon as they become available.



Finally, the scope of the enhanced Eurostat powers, as well as the scope of

the surveillance on statistical standards under the new code of conduct,

should strike the right balance between the benefits in terms of improved

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

statistical quality and the costs in terms of added administrative burden at

the EU and national level.

Independence of Eurostat should be enhanced and formally established to

clarify the internal statistical governance of the relevant Commission ser-

vices.

It is vital that Eurostat/Commission services promptly inform the EFC and

the Council should major statistical problems arise.

These improvements in statistics would be consistent with the on-going discussions

on enhancing governance within the Stability and Growth Pact.”

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Rådskonklusioner vedr. de overordnede økonomisk-politiske retningslinier

(BEPG)

“The Council welcomes the Commission’s Second Implementation Report on the

2003-2005 Broad Economic Policy Guidelines, which provides a comprehensive

account of progress made since the original Guidelines were adopted in June 2003

(and updated in July 2004). The Council welcomes the improved focus on policy

measures, compared to the concentration on policy intentions in last year’s Imple-

mentation Report. The Council also acknowledges that the assessment of the new

Member States is less conclusive as they had only limited time to respond to the

country-specific challenges identified in the 2004 update of the BEPGs.

The assessment of the Second Implementation Report is broadly in line with the

key messages of the Annual Report on Structural Reforms 2005, prepared by the

Economic Policy Committee, and endorsed by the Council on 18 January 2005.

Both Reports stress, once again, that despite progress in a number of areas - for

instance, a relatively good follow-up of the country-specific recommendations has

been given by Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Finland and the United

Kingdom - the current pace of reform is insufficient to achieve a timely completion

of the Lisbon objectives. The Commission’s Implementation Report clearly identi-

fies weaknesses and areas with a lack of progress, as does the Annual Report on

Structural Reforms, thereby providing valuable input for the upcoming Mid-Term

Review of the Lisbon Strategy.

In discussing the Implementation Report on the BEPGs, Ministers fully shared the

view that macroeconomic policies supportive of stability and growth are indispen-

sable in reaping the full benefits of structural reforms in terms of growth and em-

ployment. Successful structural reforms enhance the effectiveness of macroeco-

nomic policies, ensuring long-lasting growth and the long-term sustainability and

quality of public finances.

Ministers also highlighted the following elements, which are central to the Lisbon

strategy aim to enhance Europe’s growth potential:



Enhancing productivity.

The Council notes that the recovery was only mod-

erate and that the budgetary position of the EU as a whole did not improve. In

this context, the appreciation of the euro, the oil price increase, inflation differ-

entials and wage developments within the euro area are relevant. The Council

reiterates the need for reaching or maintaining sound budgetary positions,

which are a key requirement for a macroeconomic framework supportive of

growth and stability. It welcomes progress made in specific areas crucial for

raising the EU’s growth potential. In this context, one should note the good

progress made in providing a regulatory framework for more efficient capital

markets, in making the overall business environment more favourable and en-

hancing the effectiveness of competition policies. However, the Council notes

with concern the disappointing transposition record for Internal Market direc-

tives and the high number of infringement cases. The EU continues to lag be-

hind the US in the transition towards a knowledge-based economy. The current

pace of reform in research, innovation, education and training systems is too

slow to attain the objectives set in Lisbon and Barcelona.

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

Increasing employment.

The Council notes that progress has been made in

reforming European labour markets towards efficiency, but recalls with some

concern that the pace is insufficient in order to achieve the employment targets

(possibly with the exception of the female employment rate target). As regards

Member States, the Council welcomes the measures adopted in Germany in

2004 and the good progress made in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and

Austria. Measures have generally remained focused on tax cuts, life-long learn-

ing strategies or active labour market policies. Most Member States undertook

measures in 2003 and/or 2004 to make work pay by increasing work-related tax

credits or reducing the marginal tax rate at the low end. Reforms to address the

unemployment benefit system were also undertaken in some Member States

(notably the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, France and the Netherlands).

The Council notes that only few initiatives have been taken related to wage bar-

gaining or employment protection legislation.”