Germany’s positive trade balance
17.2.2020
Question for written answer E-000924/2020
to the Council
Rule 138
Silvia Sardone (ID)
According to the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedures (MIP) introduced by the EU in 2011, a country’s positive trade balance should not exceed 6 % of GDP over a three-year average. Despite this, Germany does not systematically comply with this requirement and, on the contrary, saw its current account balance rise from 7.3 % to 7.6 % of GDP in 2019. This percentage of 7.6 % of GDP implies a positive trade balance and current account surplus of EUR 262 billion.
The European Union has always been quite precise when it comes to highlighting any failure to comply with the economic rules, and Italy has been repeatedly warned and reprimanded for certain cases of non-compliance.
Can the Council clarify the following:
- 1.Why is Germany not being asked to comply with the constraints and why has no infringement procedure been implemented?
- 2.What has been done in recent years to request compliance with the procedures?
- 3.Are there any double standards at play when it comes to compliance with budgetary constraints by different Member States?