The fiscal compact, officially the Treaty on stability, coordination and governance in the economic and monetary union (TSCG), was signed yesterday by 25 of the 27 governments of the EU member states. Only the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom chose to exclude themselves at this stage.
The TSCG text is available in the 22 authentic treaty languages (Bulgarian, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish).
A common concern
The recital reminds us of the obligation of all member states of the European Union to regard their economic policies as a matter of common concern. This obligation was introduced by the Maastricht Treaty, which was signed twenty years ago.
Recently, the failure of the states to adhere to and to enforce this obligation has turned it into a grave concern, common to all EU citizens (and beyond).
The TSCG still builds on the principle of national economic policies, which need to be coordinated intergovernmentally, although it purports to shrink the straitjacket.
Treaty law and enhanced cooperation
The aim of the signatories is to incorporate the substance of the TSCG into the legal framework
of the European Union within five years (Article 16). According to Article 10, enhanced cooperation is seen as an option.
This intergovernmental treaty, close to but outside the institutional framework of the European Union, went through six different drafts, which were not officially made public. However, the draft texts were leaked to selected media. Even if selective leaks violate the principle of equality between EU citizens, openness was served.
Ratification
According to Article 14(2) and (3), the TSCG needs to be ratified by at least twelve euro area member states to enter into force among them.
The meaning is twofold. The final number of ratifying states may be less than 25. For constitutional reasons Ireland is going to call yet another national referendum. Other countries may stumble when they try to transpose the changes into national law, although aid from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) will become conditional upon the ratification of the TSCG.
On the other hand, a few dropouts won't spoil the party for the masochists.
Euro Summit
The provisions on governance (Euro Summit) apply to all parties from the original entry into force. See Article 14(4). The TSCG legalises the recent practice of euro summits, which have eclipsed the Eurogroup, which meets informally but is mentioned in an EU Treaty protocol.
Political alignment
For the non-euro countries, the TSCG is mainly a symbol of political alignment, since they undertake no concrete obligations, if they do not expressly undertake obligations. See Article 14(5). However, according to Article 12(3) they are granted limited participation rights in the Euro Summit.
The TSCG as a whole applies to the eurozone countries, although only a part of the provisions are real additions to the euro area acquis.
The signing of the TSCG took care of the ”austerity” part at the European Council 1-2 March 2012, so the main part of the EUCO meeting could – for a change – be devoted to economic growth, competitiveness and jobs.
Ralf Grahn
speaker on EU affairs, especially digital policy and law
P.S. Between the global issues and the national level, with a tenuous hold on democracy, the European Union institutions and the eurozone coteries shape our future. At the same time we see a European online public sphere emerging. Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish) are among the more than 900 euroblogs aggregated by multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. Are you following the debates which matter for your future? Is your blog already listed on Bloggingportal?
Showing posts with label TSCG. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TSCG. Show all posts
Saturday, 3 March 2012
Breaking news!!! ”Van Rompuy bites dog!!!”
At this moment the home page of the European Council is all about the spring EUCO meeting 1 to 2 March 2012, with further pages dedicated to the re-election of president Herman Van Rompuy, the first day of the spring European Council, the euro area leaders on Greece, the Treaty on stability, coordination and governance (TSCG aka the fiscal compact) signed, and day two of the EUCO meeting summed up.
These summaries have links to documents, speeches and webcasts, so technically the communication effort was handled neatly. Under Meetings, I would prefer for the conclusions and the euro statement to link to the page with all the available language versions regardless of the language the visitor happens to use. The link to the TSCG offers an example.
EUCO summary
For the reader pressed for time, the EUCO conclusions begin with a summary of the results:
Herman Van Rompuy
One of the concrete decisions was the reappointment (formally election) of the EUCO president for two and a half years.
I already noted that president Herman Van Rompuy promised no real change for EU citizens during his second term, during which he will chair the Euro Summit as well. (A post in Swedish on Grahnblawg too about this election of a sole candidate.)
In addition to the draft conclusions (not formally published) and press conference videos, Van Rompuy left a number of speeches and statements as reading for journalists and aficionados of EU politics: his acceptance speech, his statement after the first session of the European Council with the letter S in prominence, his speech at the signing of the of the Treaty on Stability, Coordination
and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union (TSCG) by 25 of the 27 EU member states, and his positive end note at the conclusion of the summit, even risking a joke about his own (s)election (in French).
Van Rompuy bites dog?
Those who cry out for boldness and charisma are probably driven to despair before Van Rompuy opens his mouth, and they possibly fall asleep before hearing a word.
If ”Man bites dog” encapsulates news, there is little front page headline material to wring out of these addresses.
The structure is clear and the style restrained. In a low key they put chosen policies in perspective and explain the choices made. Their lack of hyperbole makes them more credible than many EU proclamations of yore. The messages seem to be the kind of gentle prodding national leaders want, or at least tolerate.
Are Van Rompuy's interventions and work effective? Can the outcomes be judged now or later?
Ralf Grahn
speaker on EU affairs, especially digital policy and law
P.S. Between the global issues and the national level, with a tenuous hold on democracy, the European Union institutions and the eurozone coteries shape our future. At the same time we see a European online public sphere emerging. Grahnlaw (ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish) are among the more than 900 euroblogs aggregated by multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. Are you following the debates which matter for your future? Is your blog already listed on Bloggingportal?
These summaries have links to documents, speeches and webcasts, so technically the communication effort was handled neatly. Under Meetings, I would prefer for the conclusions and the euro statement to link to the page with all the available language versions regardless of the language the visitor happens to use. The link to the TSCG offers an example.
EUCO summary
For the reader pressed for time, the EUCO conclusions begin with a summary of the results:
The European Council discussed the implementation of the EU's economic strategy. This strategy pursues both continued fiscal consolidation and determined action to boost growth and jobs; sustainable growth and jobs cannot be built on deficits and excessive debt levels. The measures taken to stabilize the situation in the euro area are bearing fruit.
The European Council endorsed the five priorities for 2012 set out in the Commission's Annual Growth Survey. It looked at action that has to be taken at national level. Member States must make faster progress towards the targets of the Europe 2020 Strategy and step up efforts on the reforms taken up in the 2011 Country-Specific Recommendations. They are expected to indicate the measures they intend to take to that effect in their National Reform Programmes and their Stability or Convergence Programmes. The European Council also discussed action required at the EU level, pushing ahead with completing the Single Market in all its aspects, both internal and external, and boosting innovation and research.
In the margins of the European Council the participating Member States signed the Treaty on stability, coordination and governance in the EMU.
The European Council set the EU's priorities for the forthcoming G20 meeting and UN Rio+20 Conference, with a particular emphasis on growth-enhancing measures and reforms. It took stock of developments concerning the Arab Spring and set guidance for future EU action to support that process.
The European Council granted candidate status to Serbia.
It agreed that the Council should revert to the issue of Bulgaria and Romania's accession to the Schengen area in order to adopt its decision in September.
Finally, the European Council re-elected Herman Van Rompuy as its President.
Herman Van Rompuy
One of the concrete decisions was the reappointment (formally election) of the EUCO president for two and a half years.
I already noted that president Herman Van Rompuy promised no real change for EU citizens during his second term, during which he will chair the Euro Summit as well. (A post in Swedish on Grahnblawg too about this election of a sole candidate.)
In addition to the draft conclusions (not formally published) and press conference videos, Van Rompuy left a number of speeches and statements as reading for journalists and aficionados of EU politics: his acceptance speech, his statement after the first session of the European Council with the letter S in prominence, his speech at the signing of the of the Treaty on Stability, Coordination
and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union (TSCG) by 25 of the 27 EU member states, and his positive end note at the conclusion of the summit, even risking a joke about his own (s)election (in French).
Van Rompuy bites dog?
Those who cry out for boldness and charisma are probably driven to despair before Van Rompuy opens his mouth, and they possibly fall asleep before hearing a word.
If ”Man bites dog” encapsulates news, there is little front page headline material to wring out of these addresses.
The structure is clear and the style restrained. In a low key they put chosen policies in perspective and explain the choices made. Their lack of hyperbole makes them more credible than many EU proclamations of yore. The messages seem to be the kind of gentle prodding national leaders want, or at least tolerate.
Are Van Rompuy's interventions and work effective? Can the outcomes be judged now or later?
Ralf Grahn
speaker on EU affairs, especially digital policy and law
P.S. Between the global issues and the national level, with a tenuous hold on democracy, the European Union institutions and the eurozone coteries shape our future. At the same time we see a European online public sphere emerging. Grahnlaw (ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish) are among the more than 900 euroblogs aggregated by multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. Are you following the debates which matter for your future? Is your blog already listed on Bloggingportal?
Friday, 24 February 2012
Transparency during the eurozone crises
On 22 February 2012 Attac Finland and Attac Parliament organised a seminar about the new budgetary discipline in the EU and its implications for socio-economic developments and democracy.
The discussion was kicked off by foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja, who is also the chair of Attac Parliament, and by professor Heikki Patomäki, who is one of the three chairpersons of Attac Finland. Between professor Magnus Ryner, who is a political economist, and the researcher Kenneth Haar, who represents the Corporate Europe Observatory, I made a presentation titled The New Stability Union: Implications for Transparency and Democracy, offering my views from the perspective of an EU citizen.
This blog post and a string of later ones are based on my speech, which I began by asking:
Where are we going in terms of transparency and democracy?
My short answer is: from bad to worse, at least in the short term.
However, some of you might want to know why and how.
Transparency
I'll begin by looking at transparency, or openness, in the European Union, in general, with regard to economic policy and concerning the new stability union, the so called fiscal compact.
The Treaty of Lisbon entered into force on 1 December 2009, so we have seen the new EU ground rules in action for a little more than two years.
The start is quite promising. Right at the top, in Article 1 of the Treaty on European Union, we are told:
Let us now put ourselves in the role of the trusting citizen, who takes this promise of a maximum of openness and closeness at face value.
Instead of building theoretical castles, he or she takes a closer look at economic policy making and the birth of the stability union in the light of available public information.
During these last two years, no questions have been more central to the economic wellbeing of European citizens than the ongoing multiple crises in the eurozone, the efforts to contain the effects and to return to a path towards economic growth and new jobs.
For the sake of brevity, I am going back in history only to the December 2011 summits. The heads of state or government of the euro area countries issued a statement (9 December 2011), where they announced future action in two directions:
- a new fiscal compact and strengthened economic policy coordination;
- the development of stabilisation tools to face short term challenges.
The statement itself contained main points about the common understanding, but no exact documentary references.
How about the guarantees for openness during the operations to contain and to overcome the crises?
Eurogroup
The informal Eurogroup, where finance ministers meet ”to discuss questions related to the specific responsibilities they share with the single currency”, is at least referred to in a protocol (No 14) annexed to the Treaties.
Euro Summit
The eurozone summits have just been convened without any particular legal basis. The Euro Summit has now been institutionalised, turned into a permanent feature with at least biannual meetings and a permanent president.
The Euro Summit is currently based only on the conclusions of the eurozone heads of state or government themselves (Euro Summit statement 26 October 2011, paragraphs 30-33 and Annex 1), although the so called fiscal compact tries to catch up with reality (Article 12 TSCG).
Good governance and transparency?
We are looking at economic policy making for the euro area, which consists of 17 countries, with a total population of 332 million people (Eurostat) – bigger than the home of the US dollar, with 313 million (US Census Bureau).
What do we have? Now we have not only one, but two informal conclaves preparing and agreeing on crucial issues in the dark, before they give the public a rough outline of what has been agreed (if not formally decided).
Ralf Grahn
speaker on EU affairs, especially digital policy and law
P.S. 1: For better or for worse, between the global issues and the national level, the European Union institutions and the eurozone coteries shape our future. More than 900 euroblogs are aggregated by multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. Is your blog already listed among them? Are you following the debates which matter for your future?
P.S. 2: Referring the anti-piracy treaty #ACTA to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) marks a lull in the proceedings, but not an end to the political battle. A few moments ago, the petition launched by @Avaaz for the European Parliament (and the national parliaments) to reject ACTA had already been signed by 2,422,421 netizens, but more are welcome until the official burial.
Tomorrow, Saturday 25 February 2012, European netizens join forces through more than 150 demonstrations for open and democratic legislation and Internet freedoms. In Finland Stop ACTA Helsinki convenes in front of the Central Railway Station at 14:00 hours.
The discussion was kicked off by foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja, who is also the chair of Attac Parliament, and by professor Heikki Patomäki, who is one of the three chairpersons of Attac Finland. Between professor Magnus Ryner, who is a political economist, and the researcher Kenneth Haar, who represents the Corporate Europe Observatory, I made a presentation titled The New Stability Union: Implications for Transparency and Democracy, offering my views from the perspective of an EU citizen.
This blog post and a string of later ones are based on my speech, which I began by asking:
Where are we going in terms of transparency and democracy?
My short answer is: from bad to worse, at least in the short term.
However, some of you might want to know why and how.
Transparency
I'll begin by looking at transparency, or openness, in the European Union, in general, with regard to economic policy and concerning the new stability union, the so called fiscal compact.
The Treaty of Lisbon entered into force on 1 December 2009, so we have seen the new EU ground rules in action for a little more than two years.
The start is quite promising. Right at the top, in Article 1 of the Treaty on European Union, we are told:
This Treaty marks a new stage in the process of creating an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe, in which decisions are taken as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen.
Let us now put ourselves in the role of the trusting citizen, who takes this promise of a maximum of openness and closeness at face value.
Instead of building theoretical castles, he or she takes a closer look at economic policy making and the birth of the stability union in the light of available public information.
During these last two years, no questions have been more central to the economic wellbeing of European citizens than the ongoing multiple crises in the eurozone, the efforts to contain the effects and to return to a path towards economic growth and new jobs.
For the sake of brevity, I am going back in history only to the December 2011 summits. The heads of state or government of the euro area countries issued a statement (9 December 2011), where they announced future action in two directions:
- a new fiscal compact and strengthened economic policy coordination;
- the development of stabilisation tools to face short term challenges.
The statement itself contained main points about the common understanding, but no exact documentary references.
How about the guarantees for openness during the operations to contain and to overcome the crises?
Eurogroup
The informal Eurogroup, where finance ministers meet ”to discuss questions related to the specific responsibilities they share with the single currency”, is at least referred to in a protocol (No 14) annexed to the Treaties.
Euro Summit
The eurozone summits have just been convened without any particular legal basis. The Euro Summit has now been institutionalised, turned into a permanent feature with at least biannual meetings and a permanent president.
The Euro Summit is currently based only on the conclusions of the eurozone heads of state or government themselves (Euro Summit statement 26 October 2011, paragraphs 30-33 and Annex 1), although the so called fiscal compact tries to catch up with reality (Article 12 TSCG).
Good governance and transparency?
We are looking at economic policy making for the euro area, which consists of 17 countries, with a total population of 332 million people (Eurostat) – bigger than the home of the US dollar, with 313 million (US Census Bureau).
What do we have? Now we have not only one, but two informal conclaves preparing and agreeing on crucial issues in the dark, before they give the public a rough outline of what has been agreed (if not formally decided).
Ralf Grahn
speaker on EU affairs, especially digital policy and law
P.S. 1: For better or for worse, between the global issues and the national level, the European Union institutions and the eurozone coteries shape our future. More than 900 euroblogs are aggregated by multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. Is your blog already listed among them? Are you following the debates which matter for your future?
P.S. 2: Referring the anti-piracy treaty #ACTA to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) marks a lull in the proceedings, but not an end to the political battle. A few moments ago, the petition launched by @Avaaz for the European Parliament (and the national parliaments) to reject ACTA had already been signed by 2,422,421 netizens, but more are welcome until the official burial.
Tomorrow, Saturday 25 February 2012, European netizens join forces through more than 150 demonstrations for open and democratic legislation and Internet freedoms. In Finland Stop ACTA Helsinki convenes in front of the Central Railway Station at 14:00 hours.
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