8/19/2019 Pro Reversed Majority Voting
1/1
Pro Reversed Majority Voting
The Stability and Growth Pact, and the member state's compliance with the fiscal rules which state
that the excessive government deficit should not be higher than 3% of G P and the debt rate no more
than !"% of G P, have a main tool# the reversed $ualified ma ority voting& The preventive arm and the corrective arm are the tools used by SGP , in which the preventive arm
sets the goals ember States have to achieve, while the corrective arm is implementing financial
sanctions for ember States which are violating the rules&
The necessity of immediate action for changing the Pact was shown by the recent financial crisis&
echanisms of (rt& )*! needed a long time to be applied therefore the implementation of sanctions
was not ta+en too serious& efore the reform, the -ommission.s proposal was adopted by a $ualified
ma ority decision in the -ouncil& ut many countries encountered troubles meeting the criteria and
member states were hesitating to implement strict sanctions on others, especially when the financialcrisis hit& -onse$uently, the experiences throughout the crisis showed that /the SGP was nowhere near
of being efficient and the only reliable guardian was the -ommission&0
1Palmstorfer, *")2, ) )4&
5n ecember *")), in order to strengthen enforcement of the SGP, the reform brought new rules for
economic and fiscal surveillance& Some reform proposals suggested an automatism in case of a
member state's violation of the criteria but the fundamental element is 67 8, under which the
9uropean -ommission.s decisions for ember States enter into force automatically& 5t is said that
67 8 will /considerably strengthen the -ommission.s position and improve the effectiveness of the
SGP0 1ebd& ) ):) *4& The mechanism is an effective tool when it comes to forcing member states to
comply with the criteria of the SGP& The -ouncil 1only the $ualified ma ority4 can re ect the proposal
though, because the sanctions are very drastic when it comes to sensitive political decisions such as
the monitoring phase, a decision stating that no effective action was ta+en against the deficit, or the
imposition of sanctions or fines&
5n spite of the drastic sanctions, 67 8 is allowing the member states to intervene in necessary cases
and to have the last word, therefore deciding whether or not the sanctions should be implemented&
Top Related