Verbatim report of proceedings

Wednesday, 16 November 2011 - Strasbourg

9. Signature of acts adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure

  President. – I would like to welcome everyone to the afternoon period of our sitting. Prior to commencing our proceedings a legislative procedure will take place, namely the signing of a legislative act. This is standard practice in the case of an ordinary legislative procedure. The act is signed by the President of the European Parliament and the representative of the Presidency acting on behalf of the Council. On this occasion, the act that we are signing is extremely important as it concerns economic governance. We also spoke about it this morning and, undoubtedly, we will speak about it on many more occasions. These decisions are key to the future of Europe. The act will be signed by Minister Szczuka, on behalf of the Council; the European Commission is represented by Vice-President Rehn; we are also grateful to the Commissioner for being here with us.

I would now like to read a declaration which is important for the signing of this act, as it relates to the fulfilment of all the provisions, which we have established together during our negotiations. I will read it in English, as I do not have the translation, and it is important that the content is expressed precisely, in the manner which the European Parliament desires for such declarations.

As the President of the European Parliament signing this law today, I would like to underline that the Commission’s declaration attached to the Parliament resolution of 28 September on the ‘six pack’ stated that ‘macroeconomic surveillance covers countries with current account deficits and surpluses with appropriate differentiation as regards the urgency of policy responses and the type of corrective actions required’. This declaration paved the way for a final agreement on the ‘six pack’, so we can trust the Commission to remain fully committed to it.

Any conclusions of the Council cannot limit the legal rights of the Commission in this respect, including the Ecofin Council conclusions of 8 November on excessive surpluses. The ‘comply-or-explain’ principle is now integrated in the preventive and corrective arm of the Stability and Growth Pact. From now onwards, the Council must either follow the Commission recommendations or explain itself in public in the European Parliament.

  Wiesław Szczuka, President-in-Office of the Council. – (PL) Mr President, it is with great pleasure and satisfaction that today, on behalf of the Council of the European Union, I am signing the legislative acts which strengthen the economic governance of the European Union. On behalf of the Polish Presidency, I would like to express gratitude to all those who have contributed to the successful conclusion of the negotiations, which, in my opinion, should also be acknowledged as a mark of the success of the Community method. This has been made possible thanks to the active engagement of the European Parliament, the European Commission and all Member States.

I would like to convey special appreciation to all the negotiators, including, in particular, the Chair of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, and the rapporteurs, as well as to Commissioner Rehn and his collaborators in the European Commission. We should also give special mention to the important contribution made by the predecessors to the Polish Presidency, namely the Hungarian and the Belgian Presidencies.

I believe that the implementation of this package of new regulations will be an important step towards the strengthening of not only European economic governance, but also the EU integration process itself. In adopting these acts, we have succeeded in proving that the European Union is capable of working quickly and efficiently, and in a spirit of solidarity and unity. Although the new regulations form part of the wider framework of measures undertaken as a response to the economic and financial crisis, their implementation should also serve the purpose of ensuring long-term economic stability for all Member States.

  President. − Minister Szczuka, thank you for your remarks. You were giving your remarks on behalf of the Polish Presidency and also on behalf of the Council. I would like to invite you to sign our legislative package. I would also like to invite the Chair, Ms Sharon Bowles, and the rapporteurs, Ms Corien Wortmann-Kool, Elisa Ferreira, Sylvie Goulard, Carl Haglund, Vicky Ford, Diogo Feio, and of course the Vice-President of the European Commission, Mr Olli Rehn. We will meet around the table to sign the document.

IN THE CHAIR: ROBERTA ANGELILLI
Vice-President