Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance (TSCG)
29.1.2021
Question for written answer E-000584/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Moritz Körner (Renew)
With the TSCG, 25 Member States pledged to introduce permanent binding fiscal rules, including debt brakes, preferably at constitutional level. In its report of 22 February 2017, the Commission concluded that the German legislation complied with the requirements of the TSCG. In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, Germany suspended the debt brake in 2020 and 2021, in line with TSCG exemptions. In January 2021, Helge Braun, Federal Minister and Head of the German Chancellery, spoke out against a continued application of the derogation in the coming years. This would open the door to a ‘permanent softening of the debt rule’. Instead, the German Basic Law should be amended to ‘provide for a reliable degressive corridor for new debt and to set a clear date for the return to compliance with the debt rule’.
- 1.In the event that 70 % of the EU population can be vaccinated against the SARS-CoV 2 virus in 2021, as of when would the Commission recommend that the TSCG derogation should no longer apply?
- 2.What can be done to prevent the COVID-19 derogation from opening the door to a permanent weakening of the debt rule?
- 3.Does the Commission consider that the proposals of the Chancellery Minister to amend the Basic Law are in line with the TSCG, and if not, does it intend to submit a new report in accordance with Article 8 of the Treaty in order for the CJEU to consider the matter?