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Europaudvalget 2004-05 (2. samling), Finansudvalget 2004-05 (2. samling), Det Politisk-Økonomiske Udvalg 2004-05 (2. samling)
2651 - økofin Bilag 5, FIU Alm.del Bilag 58, PØU Alm.del Bilag 42
Offentligt

emmerne af Folketingets Europaudvalg

res stedfortrædere

Journalnummer

400.C.2-0

Kontor

EUK

20. april 2005

Til underretning for Folketingets Europaudvalg vedlægges Finansministe-

riets referat vedr. rådsmødet (ECOFIN) den 12. april 2005.

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20. april 2

12 CHM

Referat vedr. rådsmødet (ECOFIN) den 12. april 2005

Dagsordenspunkt:

De økonomisk-politiske retningslinier

Kommissionen præsenterede sit udkast til pakke med de integrerede retningslinier

bestående af de overordnede økonomisk-politisk retningslinier (BEPG) samt be-

skæftigelsesretningslinierne (EG) for perioden 2005-2008. Pakken er første skridt i

opfølgning på konklusionerne fra Det Europæiske Råd marts 2005 om revision af

Lissabon-strategien, og den skal danne grundlaget for medlemslandenes udarbejdel-

se af nationale handlingsplaner. ECOFIN tog Kommissionens præsentation af pak-

ken til efterretning.

I pakken har Kommissionen forsøgt at integrere de to instrumenter BEPG og EG

for at sikre konsistens i både udarbejdelse og den efterfølgende behandling. Kom-

missionens forslag vil herefter blive behandlet i en række komiteer, hvorefter Rådet

ventes at sende et endeligt udkast til Det Europæiske Råds møde i juni, der skal

endossere de endelige retningslinier.

Dagsordenspunkt:

Stabilitets- og Vækstpagten – Grækenlands

stabilitetsprogram og opfølgning af Rådets på-

læg under Traktatens artikel 104.9 til Græken-

land

Rådet vedtog en udtalelse (vedlagt) vedrørende det græske stabilitetsprogram. Pro-

grammet er ligeledes et led i Grækenlands opfølgning på pålægget om at bringe

underskuddet ned under 3 pct. af BNP senest i 2006.

I udtalelsen anbefaler Rådet bl.a., at Grækenland gennemfører de nødvendige tiltag

for at sikre en korrektion af det uforholdsmæssige store underskud i 2006, og redu-

cere det konjunkturrensende underskud med mindst 0,5 pct. af BNP årligt fra 2007

for at sikre et budget tæt på balance eller i overskud. Rådets udtalelse konstaterer

ligeledes, at Grækenlands beslutninger og planer er på linje med anbefalingerne i

Rådets pålæg under Traktatens artikel 104.9 den 17. februar 2005, og at det aktuelt

ikke er nødvendigt med yderligere skridt i proceduren for uforholdsmæssigt store

underskud.

Dagsordenspunkt:

Stabilitets- og Vækstpagten – EU-landenes

notifikationer vedrørende offentlig budgetsaldi

og offentlig gæld marts 2005

Kommissionen redegjorde for medlemslandenes indberetninger af 1. marts 2005

om den offentlige gælds- og budgetsituation for årene 2001-2004. Kommissionen

fokuserede primært på situationen i Grækenland og Italien. Budgetunderskuddet i

Grækenland for 2004 er pt. opgjort til 6,1 pct. af BNP, men kan blive større grun-

det uoverensstemmelse i opgørelsen af betalingsstrømme mellem Grækenland og

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EU’s budgetter. I forhold til Italien er der udeståender vedrørende bl.a. opgørelsen

af, hvornår aktiviteter og betalinger har fundet sted samt statistiske uoverensstem-

melser i de offentlige regnskaber.

Dagsordenspunkt:

Bedre regulering

Kommissionens præsenterede sin meddelelse af 16. marts 2005 vedrørende en ræk-

ke nye initiativer, som skal forbedre reguleringen i EU-medlemslandene. Kommis-

sionen redegjorde desuden for et tilhørende arbejdspapir med forslag til fælles me-

tode til måling af administrative byrder i EU. Der lægges op til, at Kommissionen i

samarbejde med medlemslandene iværksætter 3-5 pilotprojekter, som skal teste

metoden i løbet af 2005. Pilotprojekterne skal bl.a. omfatte lovgivning vedr. byg-

gematerialer, grundvandsdirektivet samt indberetningskrav vedr. statistikken for

handel mellem medlemslandene. Rådet bød meddelelsen velkommen og fremhæve-

de vigtigheden af at involvere det private erhvervsliv i forbindelse med opstilling af

en fælles målemetode.

Dagsordenspunkt:

Rentebeskatningsdirektivet – status

Kommissionen aflagde en kort statusredegørelse for rentebeskatningsdirektivet,

som træder i kraft den 1. juli 2005. Kommissionen henviste samtidig til to udestå-

ende spørgsmål om fortolkningen af direktivet vedrørende virkningstidspunktet for

de renter, der betales den 1. juli eller senere, men som vedrører perioden inden

denne dato samt afkast fra investeringsforeninger.

Man opnåede enighed om, at direktivet i henhold til periodeafgrænsningen fortol-

kes således, at det kun anvendes til at beskatte renter, der vedrører perioden efter 1.

juli 2005. I henhold til spørgsmålet om direkte/indirekte investeringer i fordringer

(artikel 6 stk. 6) opnåede Rådet enighed om, at Kommissionens fortolkning skulle

lægges til grund. Dvs. uanset om en investeringsforening direkte eller indirekte gen-

nem en anden investeringsforening har investeret i fordringer, skal de medregnes i

opgørelsen af andelen af fordringer.

Dagsordenspunkt:

Kommissionens rapport om alkoholafgifter

Rådet vedtog konklusioner (vedlagt) om Kommissionens alkoholrapport.

Rådskonklusionerne opfordrer bl.a. Kommissionen til at fremsætte forslag om en

justering af minimumssatserne for at undgå et fald i realværdien af minimumssat-

serne samt en modernisering af det eksisterende klassifikationssystem med henblik

på at en ensartet gruppering af alkoholprodukter i EU.

Dagsordenspunkt:

De finansielle perspektiver 2007-2013

Formandskabet præsenterede sin forhandlingsboks vedrørende de overordnede

finansielle rammer for perioden 2007-2013. Formandskabet arbejder på at opnå

enighed på Det Europæiske Råd i juni, og forhandlingsboksen skal ses som en ska-

belon for de elementer, der skal inkluderes i DER-konklusionerne. Formandskabet

tilkendegav, at man løbende vil udfylde denne skabelon frem til juni.

Rådet tog formandskabets præsentation til efterretning. Der var bred enighed om,

at forhandlingsboksen var et godt udgangspunkt for de videre forhandlinger.

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Dagsordenspunkt:

Finansiering af udviklingsbistand

Kommissionen samt Den Økonomiske og Finansielle Komité (EFC) præsenterede

sine arbejdspapirer med analyser af forslag til finansiering af ulandsbistand, herun-

der skattemæssige og ikke skattemæssige finansieringsforslag.

Medlemslandene bød analyserne velkommen, og man drøftede den internationale

finansieringsfacilitet (IFF), gældslettelse samt beskatning af flybrændstof og finan-

sielle transaktioner. Der var generel enighed om behov for at efterleve FN’s mål-

sætning om 0,7 pct. af BNI pr. år i udviklingsbistand. Nogle medlemslande ytrede

positive men afventende holdninger vedrørende IFF og gældslettelse, medens et

flertal udtrykte skepsis over for forslaget om beskatning af flybrændstof. Der var

blandt medlemslandene enighed om at beskatning af finansielle transaktioner - den

såkaldte Tobin-skat - ikke var et brugbart instrument.

ECOFIN ventes på baggrund af yderligere analyser fra Kommissionen og EFC at

skulle drøfte sagen nærmere på det uformelle møde i maj 2005.

Diverse:

Under frokosten havde ministrene en drøftelse af den påtænkte ”Indian Ocean

Tsunami Facility” under EIB. Der var på baggrund af Verdensbankens behovsvur-

deringer og Kommissionens ’progress report’ enighed om ikke at oprette faciliteten,

idet officiel gavebistand og koncesionelle lånemidler overstiger behovet for genop-

bygningsarbejdet. EIB blev opfordret til at dække eventuelle behov under det eksi-

sterende Asien-Latin Amerika (ALA) mandat. Eftersom Maldiverne, som det eneste

katastroferamte land, ikke er inkluderet i dette mandat, var ministrene enige om at

arbejde for en udvidelse af mandatet til at omfatte Maldiverne.

Endvidere blev domstolens praksis på det skattepolitiske område drøftet, og der var

enighed om at nedsætte en uformel gruppe på højt niveau til drøftelse heraf.

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Rådets udtalelse vedrørende Grækenlands stabilitetsprogram

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1466/97 of 7 July 1997 on the

strengthening of the surveillance of budgetary positions and the surveillance and

coordination of economic policies

, and in particular Article 5(3) thereof,

Having regard to the recommendation of the Commission,

After consulting the Economic and Financial Committee,

HAS DELIVERED THIS OPINION:

On 12 April 2005 the Council examined the updated stability programme of

Greece, which covers the period 2004 to 2007. The programme broadly complies

with the data requirements of the “code of conduct on the content and format of

stability and convergence programmes”. Price developments are presented in terms

of the deflator of private consumption expenditure and not in terms of Harmo-

nised Index of Consumer Prices. As regards the basic external assumptions the

programme does not provide data on world GDP growth excluding EU nor the

growth rate of relevant foreign markets as required by the code of conduct. The

programme does not provide detail of the measures behind the targets for 2007.

Accordingly Greece is invited to achieve full compliance with the data require-

ments.

The programme considers three different macroeconomic scenarios. On the basis

of the latest available information, incorporated in the Commission services spring

forecast, the third scenario, and not the baseline one, is taken as the reference for

assessing the programme because it seems to reflect plausible macroeconomic as-

sumptions close to the Commission forecasts. In this reference scenario used for

the assessment of the programme, real GDP is projected to grow at 2.9% in 2005

and marginally accelerate to 3% in 2006 and 2007. Potential output growth is ex-

pected to gradually ease over the programme period from around 3.3% in 2005 to

3% in 2007, while the sizeable positive output gap recorded in 2004 is set to narrow

up until 2007.

On 5 July 2004, the Council decided that Greece was in excessive deficit and rec-

ommended its correction by 2005 at the latest. On 18 January 2005, the Council

decided that Greece had not taken effective action in response to these recommen-

dations. On 17 February 2005, the Council decided in accordance to Article 104(9)

to give notice to Greece to take measures for the deficit reduction below the 3% of

GDP threshold by 2006 at the latest. The Greek authorities were also required to

identify and control factors other than net borrowing, which contribute to the

change in debt levels, and to improve the collection and processing of general gov-

ernment data.

OJ L209, 2.8.1997, p . 1.

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According to the March 2005 EDP notification, the general government balance of

2004 is estimated to have recorded a deficit of 6.1% of GDP. This deficit is 0.8

percentage points higher than the figure of 5.3% of GDP estimated by the Greek

government in autumn 2004 at the time of the September 2004 EDP notification,

reflecting tax shortfalls and expenditure overruns worth half a point of GDP. On

18 March 2005 Eurostat decided not to validate the deficit figures for Greece, not-

ing that due to some outstanding issues the government deficit figures for 2004 and

earlier years may have to be revised upwards.

The budgetary strategy of the Greek government aims at reducing the deficit below

the 3% of GDP reference value by 2006, in line with the Council decision under

Article 104(9), through a mix of expenditure retrenchment and also revenue-

enhancing measures, which should result in increasing primary surpluses. To that

end, the Greek government has adopted a package of fiscal measures for 2005, in

addition to those included in the 2005 budget, which are of permanent nature. The

reference scenario targets a sizeable reduction of the nominal general government

budget deficit by 3.6 percentage point over the programme period, from the out-

turn of 6.1% of GDP in 2004 to 2.4% in 2007. The primary balance is projected to

improve substantially from a deficit of 0.4% in 2004 to a surplus of 1.8% of GDP

in 2005 increasing to 3.3% of GDP at the end of the period.

There is a risk that the budgetary outcome for 2005 and beyond may be worse than

in the programme. In particular, trends in social security contributions and public

consumption expenditure may have been projected favourably, while the envisaged

adjustment measures, especially in the outer years of the programme, are not suffi-

ciently indicated. Moreover, the new statistical revisions for 2004 and earlier years

may imply potential carryover effects requiring additional measures for the future.

The Greek authorities have announced that they stand ready to implement addi-

tional saving measures on the expenditure side in the 2006 budget, on top of the

measures already adopted in 2005, in order to effectively bring the deficit below the

3% reference value in 2006 as required by the Council. The budgetary stance in the

programme does not provide a sufficient safety margin against breaching this

threshold with normal cyclical fluctuations nor does it achieve the Stability and

Growth Pact’s medium term objective of a budgetary position of close-to-balance

or in surplus throughout the programme period.

The debt ratio is projected to decline from 110.5% of GDP in 2004 to only 109.5%

in 2005 and then to 107.2% in 2006 and 104.7% in 2007. A faster pace of debt re-

duction is hampered by significant debt-increasing stock-flow adjustments, which,

while declining compared to 2004, are expected to remain significant in spite of

planned privatisation proceeds. The evolution of the debt ratio may be less favour-

able than projected given the risks to the budgetary targets mentioned above.

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Greece appears to be at serious risk with regard to the long-term sustainability of

public finances, also on account of the very important projected budgetary costs of

an ageing population. The considerable increase projected in age-related spending

suggests that additional measures to control public pension expenditures, including

the resolute implementation of reform measures enacted, are necessary.

The economic policies outlined in the update are partly consistent with the country-

specific Broad Economic Policy Guidelines in the area of public finances. In par-

ticular, the programme does not outline sufficiently effective action towards the

close-to-balance-or-in-surplus position. The cyclically-adjusted deficit calculated by

the Commission services according to the commonly agreed methodology applied

to the data of the reference scenario, although projected in the programme to im-

prove by 0.5 per cent of GDP per year, would remain above 3% of GDP through-

out the programme period. However, the steps taken towards correcting fiscal im-

balances and the government commitment made public on 29 March are in line

with the Council recommendations in its notice given to Greece on 17 February in

accordance with Article 104(9). Therefore, no further steps in the excessive deficit

procedure are needed at present. A new assessment of compliance with such rec-

ommendations will be carried out on the basis of the report to be presented by the

Greek authorities in October, as foreseen in the Council notice.

***

In view of the above assessment, the Council is of the opinion that Greece should:

implement the necessary permanent measures in order to correct the excessive

deficit by 2006 at the latest;

reduce the cyclically-adjusted deficit by at least 0.5% of GDP from 2007

onward, mainly through primary spending control measures, leading to a close-

to-balance-or-in-surplus position in the medium term;

enhance the efforts to identify and control factors other than net borrowing,

which contribute to the change in debt levels, in order to ensure a reduction in

the government gross debt ratio so as to approach the reference value at a

faster pace;

control public pension expenditures and resolutely implement the enacted

reforms to ensure the sustainability of public finances;

further actively improve the collection and processing of general government

data in collaboration with Eurostat, notably by enhancing the mechanisms that

ensure a prompt and correct supply of this data.

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Real GDP

(% change)

HICP inflation

(%)

General government balance

(% of GDP)

(*)

Primary balance

(% of GDP)

(*)

Cyclically-adjusted balance

(% of GDP)

(*)

Government gross debt

(% of GDP)

SP Mar 2005

COM Mar 2005

SP Dec 2003

SP Mar 2005

COM Mar 2005

SP Dec 2003

SP Mar 2005

COM Mar 2005

SP Dec 2003

SP Mar 2005

COM Mar 2005

SP Dec 2003

SP Mar 2005

(1)

COM Mar 2005

SP Dec 2003

SP Mar 2005

COM Mar 2005

SP Dec 2003

2004

4.2

3.0

-6.1

-1.2

-0.4

4.7

-7.0

-7.1

-1.2

2005

2.9

4.0

n.a

3.2

2.8

-3.7

-4.5

-0.5

1.8

1.0

5.1

-4.4

-5.5

-0.5

2006

3.0

3.1

3.8

n.a

3.2

2.6

-2.9

-4.4

0.0

2.7

1.0

5.3

-3.5

-5.3

0.0

2007

3.0

n.a.

n.a

n.a.

-2.4

n.a.

3.3

n.a.

-3.0

n.a.

104.7

n.a.

110.5

98.5

109.5

110.5

94.6

107.2

108.9

90.5

Note:

Commission services calculations on the basis of the information in the programme

(*)

The

Sources:

Stability programme March 2005 revised update (SP); Commission services spring 2005 economic forecasts (COM); Commission services

calculations

Commission projections do not take into account the measures announced on 29 March

Rådskonklusioner vedr. Kommissionens rapport om alkoholafgifter

1. The Council notes that:

A vast majority of Member States believes that enhanced approximation

would help to reduce distortions of competition and fraud, but reservations

were expressed as concerns the level and the direction of such approxima-

tion.

No consensus could be reached on the introduction of a positive minimum

rate for all alcoholic beverages. Twelve Member States are firmly against any

proposition to introduce a positive minimum rate on wine.

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There is a broad convergence of views that minimum rates of excise duty

should be adjusted in order to compensate for inflation and so as to restore

their real value.

The vast majority of Member States do not consider that health and social

aspects should be a major determinant in setting rates.

All Member States support the need for a modernisation of the existing

classification of alcoholic beverages for excise duty purposes, but without

any fundamental changes to the current structure of classification of alco-

holic beverages.

2. The Council calls upon the Commission:

to come forward with a proposal to adjust the minimum rates of excise duty

in order to avoid a fall in the real value of the Community minimum rates,

providing transitional periods and derogations for those Member States

who may have difficulties in increasing their rates; the Commission should

also duly take into account the overall political sensitivity of this special is-

sue.

to modernize the existing system with the aim of resolving the current

problems relating to the classification of alcoholic beverages for excise duty

purposes.

Statement to the minutes concerning Council conclusions

Latvia, Lithuania and Cyprus note that adequate transitional periods and exceptions

will be needed to reach the inflation adjusted minimum excise tax rates for selected

alcoholic beverages