A3-0296/93

Resolution on removing the legal obstacles to the use of the ECU

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the White Paper by the Commission on Removing the Legal Obstacles to the Use of the ECU (SEC(92)2472 - C3-0040/93),

-whereas one of the tasks listed in Article 109f of the EC Treaty for the European Monetary Institute is to 'facilitate the use of the ECU and oversee its development',

-agreeing that the change from national currencies to a single currency will be both difficult and costly for firms, banks and individuals, particularly consumers, and that "the development of the use of the ECU from now on would be the best way to deal with this challenge",

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy (A3-0296/93),

1.Notes that the White Paper by the Commission on removing the legal obstacles to the use of the ECU proposes an approach that aims to establish the ECU as a settlement currency in the interim phase of EMU without proposing the appropriate and necessary institutional framework to enhance and support the second stage of EMU;

2.Believes that removing obstacles in each Member State by means of legal acts in order to confer on the ECU the legal status of a 'foreign currency' in Member States is only a partial solution and will not be sufficient for establishing the ECU in official and private markets and will not secure the ECU's function as a means of payments;

3.Believes, nevertheless, that Germany should act immediately to give the ECU legal status as a foreign currency, and that the United Kingdom should take whatever steps are necessary to remove any doubt about such status;

4.Agrees with the Commission that legal and administrative obstacles to the use of the ECU prevent the free movement of capital and of financial services and that such obstacles are not compatible with the underlying principles of the Treaty on European Union;

5.Agrees with the Commission that a general freedom to conclude contracts in ECUs should be established, including measures covering value clauses and payment clauses, rules governing ECU accounts, procedural rules to enable courts to hand down judgements denominated in ECUs, changes in invoicing and accounting rules which would allow the denomination of assets and liabilities in ECUs, and the payment of wages, social security contributions and taxes in ECUs;

6.In particular, calls for a change to Regulation (EEC) No. 523/91 so that customs valuation, customs duties, anti-dumping duties and other trade protection measures are denominated and settled in ECUs;

7.Notes that the US dollar continues to enjoy a dominant role as an instrument of pricing and settlement on the world's commodity markets and calls for an examination of ways in which the ECU could be promoted as an alternative;

8.Proposes that Member States should undertake to denominate a proportion of all new public debt in ECUs;

9.Notes with interest that if the legal and administrative obstacles to the use of the ECU are removed, the ECU will be recognised as a settlement currency in Member States; for this to be orderly, the Community will be obliged to take the necessary institutional decisions that would ensure monetary and financial stability and would have to adopt a forward-looking approach; proposes, therefore, four criteria, which, should they be fulfilled, will gradually establish the ECU as the anchor currency of the second stage of EMU:

(a)a highly stable currency associated with a low inflation rate,

(b)high confidence in a currency resulting in low real interest rate,

(c)support by a strong, open and sound economy playing a pre-eminent role in international exchanges, which will influence the stability of the exchange rate,

(d)the appropriate institutional structure in the context of the TEU;

10.Requests the Commission, the Council and the Committee of Central Bank Governors to examine whether the above four criteria could be met by maintaining a stable relationship between the exchange rates of the ECU and of the strongest currency and then correcting any fall in the value of the ECU against one or more other currencies by either freezing the relative weights of each currency within the basket or increasing, in compensation, the quantity of any currency or currencies within the basket. Accordingly, asks the Commission to examine:

(i)such a proposal in the light of Article 109g EC given the context of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1971/89 amending Article 1 of Regulation (EEC) No. 3180/78 amending the value of the unit of account used by the European Monetary Cooperation Fund,

(ii)the effects of such a system on the markets in ECU-denominated securities and possible remedies,

and to submit the following proposals:

(a)pursuant to Article 109f(7) EC, a proposal to the Council conferring on the EMI the task of maintaining a fixed exchange rate between the ECU and the dominant currency of its basket in order to fulfil its tasks,

(b)in accordance with Article 209 EC, a proposal amending the Financial Regulation governing the Community budget in order to make obligatory the settling of all financial rights and obligations of the Community in ECUs,

(c)in accordance with Article 109f(7) EC, a proposal establishing the ECU clearing system,

(d)specific proposals aiming at creating an ECU zone that would encompass European states associated or having important trade and financial links with the Community,

(e)measures to be taken by the Commission in order to implement its resolution of 12 February 1993 on the system of payments in the context of EMU;

11.Calls upon banks, credit and payment card companies, hotels, travel companies, transport undertakings and all similar undertakings to facilitate the charging and settlement of accounts in ECUs; and believes that the European Monetary Institute should urgently examine ways in which the exchange costs of such transactions could be reduced to a minimum;

12.Believes that, in order to prepare financial markets for the introduction of the new ERM and the hard ECU, the ECOFIN Council should immediately implement Article 73f EC on the basis of the fact that the average daily turnover of currencies due to speculation within the OECD area is at present six times greater than the commercial demand for currency and that on certain days the speculative element of the turnover in the foreign exchange markets can be anything up to 95% of the days business; notes, further, that this sort of turnover has led to a situation in which the OECD countries currency reserves occasionally are equivalent to no more than a good half of one day's total turnover in the foreign exchange market;

13.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Committee of Governors of the Central Banks and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.