One of the most important factors in the field of economic governance is tightening fiscal discipline by strengthening the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), taking better account of public debt in the excessive deficit procedure (EDP) and strengthening the fiscal framework of the Member States.
Another crucial issue is the establishment of a mechanism which identifies and addresses macroeconomic imbalances. Finalising work on the permanent crisis resolution mechanism for the Euro Area is also of high importance and requires amendment of the Treaty. In order to safeguard the financial stability of the Euro Area as whole in the long term, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) will replace the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM), which will remain in force until June 2013. The shift to the European Semester in 2011 will give a clear ex-ante dimension to economic policy coordination at EU level, ensuring more timely policy guidance for Member States. The European Semester will provide the framework for aligning the timing of the submission of the Stability and Convergence Programmes on macroeconomic outlook and fiscal plans, with the National Reform Programs on the progress towards the Europe 2020 targets (whilst the integrity of the Stability and Growth Pact will be fully preserved, as will the specific responsibility of the ECOFIN Council in overseeing its implementation).
Building on the discussions on the Annual Growth Survey, the Spring European Council will give Member States guidance, which must be followed when preparing the programmes; opinions and recommendations on the programmes submitted is to be taken into account in the preparation of the national budgets.
The recent financial and economic crisis has highlighted the need for better financial services regulation, and the Union has taken important steps in that respect. During the next six months, a number of dossiers related to financial services will be launched and we will also proceed with the issues already on the table. The Hungarian Presidency will consider carefully the coherence and the overall impact of the various reforms.
A new supervisory structure for the financial system (the European Systemic Risk Board and the European Supervisory Authorities) will start to operate at a European Union level. The Hungarian Presidency wants to support the work of this new structure also by updating the relevant pieces of legislation (Omnibus II).
In order to avoid future crises, it is important to enhance transparency on derivatives markets. The Hungarian Presidency intends to achieve this via a common approach in the Council on the regulation of financial markets and contracts not yet subject to supervision.
The comprehensive crisis management framework prevention and resolution instruments must be improved, in particular those intended to deal with systematically important and failing institutions and cross-border problems.
The question of taxation directly affects the fiscal sovereignty of Member States. However, it is essential to solve the problems that hinder the evolution of common policies. The Hungarian Presidency would like to make substantial progress in the taxation of the financial sector. The Hungarian Presidency will endeavour to achieve an agreement as regards the Savings Tax Directive and encourage discussions on the review of the Energy Tax Directive.
In the field of budgetary issues, the Hungarian Presidency’s priority in the ECOFIN Council is the 2009 discharge procedure and the finalisation of the Lisbon Package.
© ECFIN
Documents associated with this article
|
|
HU_PRES_STRONG_EUROPE_EN_3.pdf
|
Key
Hover over the blue highlighted
text to view the acronym meaning
Hover
over these icons for more information
Comments:
No Comments for this Article