EMU: Publishing decisions on excessive deficits

Due to the eurozone crisis, we have checked how little of the decisions and positions have been reflected centrally on Eur-Lex, the legal portal: in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) or under preparatory acts (COM and SEC documents). There are considerable gaps.

Transparency is more than eventual publication for historians.

The publication today, 21 May 2010, of a number of Council Decisions within the larger context of budgetary discipline is naturally a positive addition, but timely publication would be even better.

The ten decisions were all made on 19 January 2010, so they put into question the usefulness of the OJEU as a source for up-to-date legal information.

See OJEU 21.5.2010 L 125.



Excessive deficits

According to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU):

Article 126(6) TFEU

6. The Council shall, on a proposal from the Commission, and having considered any observations which the Member State concerned may wish to make, decide after an overall assessment whether an excessive deficit exists.

On 19 January 2010 the Council concluded that excessive deficits existed in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Slovakia.





COUNCIL DECISION 2010/282/EU of 19 January 2010 on the existence of an excessive deficit in Austria





COUNCIL DECISION 2010/283/EU of 19 January 2010 on the existence of an excessive deficit in Belgium






COUNCIL DECISION 2010/284/EU of 19 January 2010 on the existence of an excessive deficit in the Czech Republic





COUNCIL DECISION 2010/285/EU of 19 January 2010 on the existence of an excessive deficit in Germany





COUNCIL DECISION 2010/288/EU of 19 January 2010 on the existence of an excessive deficit in Portugal





COUNCIL DECISION 2010/289/EU of 19 January 2010 on the existence of an excessive deficit in Slovenia





COUNCIL DECISION 2010/290/EU of 19 January 2010 on the existence of an excessive deficit in Slovakia



Excessive deficit procedure (EDP) Greece

According to the treaty, the next steps in the excessive deficit procedure are:

Article 126(7)-(9) TFEU

7. Where the Council decides, in accordance with paragraph 6, that an excessive deficit exists, it shall adopt, without undue delay, on a recommendation from the Commission, recommendations addressed to the Member State concerned with a view to bringing that situation to an end within a given period. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 8, these recommendations shall not be made public.

8. Where it establishes that there has been no effective action in response to its recommendations within the period laid down, the Council may make its recommendations public.

9. If a Member State persists in failing to put into practice the recommendations of the Council, the Council may decide to give notice to the Member State to take, within a specified time limit, measures for the deficit reduction which is judged necessary by the Council in order to remedy the situation.

In such a case, the Council may request the Member State concerned to submit reports in accordance with a specific timetable in order to examine the adjustment efforts of that Member State.

In the case of Greece, the Council concluded that it has not taken effective action in response to the Council Recommendation of 27 April 2009 within the period laid down in that Recommendation.




COUNCIL DECISION 2010/291/EU of 19 January 2010 establishing whether effective action has been taken by Greece in response to the Council Recommendation of 27 April 2009



Comment

The financial, economic and sovereign debt crises have left questions with regard to the publishing parameters and the timeliness of publication of official information on Eur-Lex.




Ralf Grahn

EU codification and consolidation: Euro introduction

On the European Union’s portal for legal information, Eur-Lex, there is a useful sidebar with Preparatory acts.



It leads us to the reports and proposals of the Commission – COM documents – and to the accompanying SEC documents (often with more detailed background information).

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Codification

One way to simplify EU legislation is by replacing old legal acts, amended a few times (maximum ten), by new codified versions. Codification leads to a new act, although the exercise is technical. It does not change the substance of the original act, as amended, so the procedure is expedited.

A recent example of a proposal to codify EU legislation is the Commission’s Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) No …/… of […] on the introduction of the euro (Codified version) (Brussels, 1.7.2009 COM(2009) 323 final). Procedure number 2009/0083 (CNS).



The proposal offers a clear example of the codification procedure.

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Consolidation

Eur-Lex often offers an unofficial consolidated (updated) version of a law. By using the simple search function for the legal act in question – in this case Regulation 974/98 – by year (1998) and number 974, the Bibliographic notice shows the existing consolidated versions.

In this case we find that the latest consolidated version is of 1 January 2009.




Ralf Grahn

EU: Aviation security charges - SEC documents published

One of the blog posts yesterday mentioned the publication of the Commission Proposal for a Directive on aviation security charges (Brussels, 11.5.2009 COM(2009) 217 final).




The accompanying Commission Staff Working Documents Impact assessment SEC(2009) 616 and the impact assessment summary SEC(2009) 615 have now been published on Eur-Lex, under Preparatory acts, SEC documents.






Ralf Grahn

EU: Crime victims (new documents)

We add a few complementary references to Commission documents concerning the standing of crime victims and compensation to victims of crime, which we wrote about in an earlier blog post: EU: Victims of crime & compensation (8 April 2009).




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Standing of crime victims

Press release

Commission adopts report on implementation of framework decision on the standing of victims in criminal proceedings (21 April 2009; IP/09/549)

The Commission has adopted the report on the implementation of Council Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA of 15 March 2001 on the standing of victims in criminal proceedings. This report was drawn up in accordance with Article 18 of the Framework Decision.



Report

The documents – COM or SEC – can be found through the Eur-Lex web portal’s pages on preparatory acts.




Brussels, 20.4.2009
COM(2009) 166 final
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION
pursuant to Article 18 of the Council Framework Decision of 15 March 2001 on the standing of victims in criminal proceedings (2001/220/JHA)
[SEC(2009) 476]



Staff working document


Brussels, 20.4.2009
SEC(2009) 476
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Accompanying document to the COMMISSION'S REPORT based on article 18 of the Council Framework Decision of 15 March 2001 on standing of victims in criminal proceedings [COM(2009)166 final]

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Compensation for crime victims

European Union makes it easier for crime victims to obtain compensation (21 April 2009¸IP//09/548)

The Commission has adopted the Report on the application of Council Directive 2004/80/EC of 29 April 2004 relating to compensation to crime victims, which aims to make it easier for victims to obtain compensation in cross-border situations. The report was produced in accordance with Article 19 of the Directive.


Summary on crime victims

Report on the implementation of the Directive on compensation to crime victims (21 April 2009; MEMO/09/159)
Directive 2004/80/EC
Summary for the attention of Vice-President J. Barrot



Report


Brussels, 20.4.2009
COM(2009) 170 final
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE on the application of Council Directive 2004/80/EC relating to compensation to crime victims
[SEC(2009) 495]


Staff working document

Brussels, 20.4.2009
SEC (2009) 495
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT
accompanying document
TO THE REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE on the application of Council Directive 2004/80/EC relating to compensation to crime victims
[COM (2009) 170 final]



Ralf Grahn

EU: Brussels I Regulation (new documents)

When we wrote about the Brussels I Regulation, we were unable to locate the report and the green paper referred to in the Commission’s press releases.

They have now been posted on the Eur-Lex pages dedicated to preparatory acts, among COM documents:

Brussels I Regulation report

Brussels, 21.4.2009
COM(2009) 174 final
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE on the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters



Green paper Brussels I Regulation

Brussels, 21.4.2009
COM(2009) 175 final
GREEN PAPER ON THE REVIEW OF COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 44/2001 ON JURISDICTION AND THE RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS IN CIVIL AND COMMERCIAL MATTERS



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Overview

IP/09/606

We have the Commission’s press release: European citizens and business to benefit from greater access to justice - strengthening co-operation in civil and commercial matters (21 April 2009; IP/09/606).



According to the press release, on 21 April, the Commission adopted a report and a green paper on the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement in civil and commercial matters. This Regulation, widely known as the "Brussels I Regulation", is the matrix of European judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters. It aims at providing the legal support for the good functioning of the internal market, addressing two key questions which arise in the event of a dispute involving natural or legal persons from different Member States:

• The courts of which Member States shall have jurisdiction to rule on the dispute;
• How the judgment given by that court will be recognised and enforced in the other Member States.


MEMO/09/169

Report and Green paper on the review and application of regulation (ec) no 44/2001 on jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (21 April 2009; MEMO/09/169)

On 21 April 2009, the Commission adopted a report and a green paper on the functioning of the existing rules on jurisdiction of the courts and the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. It concludes that time has come to achieve a free circulation of judgments in civil and commercial matters in the European Union on the basis of mutual recognition of judgments among Member States.


Ralf Grahn