Draft:Broad economic policy guideline

Review waiting, please be patient.

This may take 3 months or more, since drafts are reviewed in no specific order. There are 2,828 pending submissions waiting for review.

If the submission is accepted, then this page will be moved into the article space.
If the submission is declined, then the reason will be posted here.
In the meantime, you can continue to improve this submission by editing normally.

Where to get help

If you need help editing or submitting your draft, please ask us a question at the AfC Help Desk or get live help from experienced editors. These venues are only for help with editing and the submission process, not to get reviews.
If you need feedback on your draft, or if the review is taking a lot of time, you can try asking for help on the talk page of a relevant WikiProject. Some WikiProjects are more active than others so a speedy reply is not guaranteed.

How to improve a draft

Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia – a basic overview on how to edit Wikipedia.
Help:Wikitext – how to use the markup
Help:Referencing for beginners – how to include references
Wikipedia:Article development – how to develop your article
Wikipedia:Writing better articles – how to improve your article
Wikipedia:Verifiability – make sure your article includes reliable third-party sources

You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article.

Improving your odds of a speedy review

To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags.

Add tags to your draft

Editor resources

Easy tools: Citation bot (help) | Advanced: Fix bare URLs

Reviewer tools

Instructions · What links here · Broad economic policy guideline (talk: + · bio) · (log) · Copyvios report · reFill · Citation Bot · (Search: Google, Wikipedia) · Submitted 11 hours ago by Lisaa.sk (talk: D · +) · Last edited 7 hours ago by Citation bot

The Broad Economic Policy Guidelines (BEPGs) are the economic policy recommendations addressed each year to the member states of the European Union. They cover a wide range of areas, from structural reforms to wage negotiations, as well as sustainable development policy.

These recommendations are adopted by the Council of the European Union in its « Ecofin » configuration^{[alpha 1]}, in collaboration with the European Council^[1],on the basis of recommendations from the European Commission^[2], resulting from the analysis of the country's stability programme. These broad guidelines are governed by Article 121 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

As recommendations, they are not legally binding. However, sanctions against a State may be imposed when it fails to present « an insufficient corrective action plan » following « two successive recommendations from the Council »^[3].

Historical background

Created by the Maastricht Treaty

The Broad Economic Policy Guidelines (BEG) originate from the Maastricht Treaty. This treaty introduces the progressive coordination of the economic policies of the Member States^[4]. This was made necessary by the upcoming creation of the single European currency, which required harmonization of the economic conditions of member countries^[5].

Clarification by the Amsterdam Treaty and European Councils

The Treaty of Amsterdam specifies the content of this coordination^[6], stipulating that « Member States shall regard their economic policies as a matter of common concern and shall coordinate them within the Council [7] ». This means that Member States must have the tools to coordinate their budgetary policies. There are two such tools: the Stability and Growth Pact and the BEPGs.

At the European Council of March 23 and 24 2000, the Member States included the participation of other Council formations in the preparation of the guidelines, including the Social Affairs, Internal Market, Education and Environment formations [4].

At the European Council of June 15 and 16, 2001, the Member States defined the BEPGs as « a framework for defining major policy objectives »[4].

Development by the Six-Pack

The « Six-Pack » strengthened the role of the BEPGs in the early 2010s. First, it increased the surveillance of budgetary policies: regulation (EU) no. 1175/2011 of November 16, 2011 stipulates that member states must « duly » take account of the BEPGs « before any major decision is taken concerning their national budgets for the coming years »^[7].

It has clarified the scope of the surveillance of macroeconomic developments: the role of the BEPGs is strengthened in the context of the new procedure concerning excessive imbalances in a eurozone Member State, instituted by Regulation (EU) no. 1176/2011 and in line with its first recital, which considers that « the coordination of Member States' economic policies within the Union should be developed in the context of the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines ». Under this procedure, the BEPGs are given a binding character, as the Member State's corrective action plan to remedy macroeconomic imbalances must be « consistent with the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines » (art. 8, §1). Indeed, it is precisely the measures presented in the BEPGs that (according to the Council) enable the imbalances to be corrected. At the end of the procedure, if the Member State has not taken the recommended corrective measures, it may be fined in accordance with certain rules set out in Regulation (EU) no. 1174/2011, in particular Article 3.

Surveillance and prevention tool

These guidelines fall within the framework of Chapter 1 of Title VII of Part Three of the TFEU, which deals with the European Union's economic policy and the rules common to that policy among the Member States. This chapter enshrines the principle that Member States should conduct their economic policies « with a view to contributing to the achievement of the objectives of the Union ». These policies cover a wide range of areas, from structural reforms to wage negotiations and sustainable development policy[6]. However, article 288 paragraph 5 of the TFEU stipulates that « recommendations [...] shall not be binding »^[8].

In order to ensure « closer coordination of economic policies and sustained convergence in the economic performance of the Member States»^[9], the Council of the European Union is responsible for « [monitoring] economic developments in each of the Member States and in the Union»^[9].

The surveillance of economic developments is being replaced by a preventive role, first provided for in the TFEU and then supplemented by the adoption of the « six-pack » in 2011.

Paragraph 4 of Article 121 TFEU states that if a Member State's economic policies prove not to be in line with the broad guidelines or risk destabilizing economic and monetary union, «the Commission may issue a warning »^[10] and the Ecofin Council may make further recommendations to the Member State concerned ^[10].

Notes

^ This forum brings together the Finance Ministers of the member states.

Sources

References

^ Article 121(2), paragraph 3 of the TFEU.
^ Article 121 TFEU.
^ “REGULATION (EU) No 1174/2011, Article 3. [archive]”, on eur-lex.europa.eu (accessed December 11, 2021)
^ Dufresne 2001, p. 597
^ Collectif and La Documentation française, Comprendre l'Union européenne: Institutions - Politiques - Droit, La Documentation française, January 1, 2016 (ISBN 978-2-11-010158-7, read online [archive])
^ “Economic policy coordination in Europe: the malaise before the crisis? [archive]”, on Sénat, 2017 (accessed December 8, 2017).
^ Article 2(bis) of Regulation (EC) no. 1466/97.
^ Article 288 TFEU.
^ Article 121(3) TFEU
^ Article 121(4) TFEU

Bibliography

Consult the bibliography on the European UnionTemplate:Bibliographie sur l'Union européenneTreaty on the Functioning of the European Union, 2012 (read online [archive])

Anne Dufresne, “Les grandes orientations de politiques (économiques?) : un tournant institutionnel, quels changements substantiels”, Revue belge de sécurité sociale, Service public fédéral. Sécurité sociale, no 3, September 2001, pp. 597-620 (ISSN 0771-1530, online [archive])

Council Regulation 1466/97 on the strengthening of the surveillance of budgetary positions and the surveillance and coordination of economic policies, 31997R1466, adopted July 7, 1997, OJ of August 2, 1997, p. 1-5, entered into force July 7, 1997 [consult online [archive], bibliographic notice [archive]]

“Member States shall take due account of the guidelines transmitted to them for the formulation of their economic, employment and budgetary policies before any major decisions are taken concerning their national budgets for the coming years.”

Regulation 1174/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down implementing measures to remedy excessive macroeconomic imbalances in the euro area, 32011R1174, adopted on November 16, 2011, OJ of November 23, 2011, p. 8-11, entered into force on November 16, 2011 [consult online [archive], bibliographic notice [archive]]

Regulation 1175/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1466/97 on the strengthening of the surveillance of budgetary positions and the surveillance and coordination of economic policies, 32011R1175, adopted 16 November 2011, OJ 23 November 2011, p. 12-24, entered into force 16 November 2011 [consult online [archive], bibliographic notice [archive]]

Regulation 1176/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the prevention and correction of macroeconomic imbalances, 32011R1176, adopted 16 November 2011, OJ 23 November 2011, p. 25-32, entered into force 16 November 2011 [consult online [archive], bibliographic notice [archive]]

“[Whereas] The coordination of Member States' economic policies within the Union should be developed in the context of the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines and the Employment Guidelines, as provided for in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.”

“The remedial action plan takes account of the economic and social impact of these actions and is consistent with the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines and the Employment Guidelines.”