The challenges ahead

Directorate-General For Translation European Commission

Description

A plan for Europe
Economic policy - Economic and Monetary Union

Informations

• Publié par: EUROPEAN-COMMISSION
• Nombre de lectures: 7
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
€
European perspectives
The challenges
ahead -
A plan for Europe
1979 COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
The challenges ahead
A plan for Europe
THE EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVES SERIES
BRUSSELS 1979 COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
The challenges ahead
A plan for Europe
THE EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVES SERIES
BRUSSELS 1979 This publication is also available in
DA ISBN 92-825-■1402-1
DE ISBN -•1403-X
FR ISBN 92-825-■1405-6
■1406-4 IT ISBN -
NL ISBN 92-825-■1407-2
ES ISBN -■1408-0
GR ISBN 92-825-■1409-9
PT ISBN -•1410-2
Cataloguing data appear at the end of this volume
This publication was prepared outside the Commission of the European Communities.
The opinions expressed in it are those of the authors alone; in no circumstances should
they be taken as an authoritative statement of the views of the Commission.
© Copyright ECSC - EEC - EAEC, Brussels - Luxembourg 1979
Printed in the FR of Germany
ISBN 92-825-1404-8 Catalogue number CB-28-79-827-EN-C Contents
Chapter I: INTRODUCTION AND TERMS OF REFERENCE
Chapter II: WHAT IS MEANT BY 'PLANNING': ITS ECONOMIC AND
POLITICAL CONTEXT 7
The meaning of 'planning'
The notion of'heavy structures' 10
The importance of political will1
Planning and the loss of confidence in expectations3
Some guiding principles6
The difficulty of decentralized prediction6
The growing importance of a coherent Community-wide view 17
Decentralized decision-making responsibility increases the virtue of centralized
information-gathering 18
The creation of a central agency9
Increasingly democratic decisions call for centralized information 20
Rational planning principles should spread, and in particular the feedback between
intentions, information and decisions 22
Conditions governing the inclusion of long-term decisions in a central plan 23
Conclusion 25
Chapter III: NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY EXPERIENCE WITH
REGARD TO MEDIUM AND LONG-TERM FORECASTING 27
Avoiding counsels of despair 30
The increased complexity of common problems1
Separate national targets2
The interest in global scenarios3
External transactions4
Industrial policy and the management of supply7
Manpower and employment policies9
The enlargement of the Community 41
The achievement of economic and monetary union3
Chapter IV: THE PROVISION, ORGANIZATION AND USE OF INDICA­
TIVE PLANNING INFORMATION5
EEC and larger organizations8
Chapter V: SOME INSTITUTIONAL ASPECTS: RECOMMENDATIONS 51
Chapter VI: POSSIBLE FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS 55 The challenges ahead - A plan for Europe
ANNEXES
Annex I: The planning experience in Germany 61
Annex 2: The planning in Belgium3
Annex 3: The planning experience in France6
Annex 4: The planning in Italy8
Annex 5: The planning experience in the Netherlands 72
Annex 6: The planning in the United Kingdom4
Annex 7: The planning experience in the Community6 Chapter I: Introduction and terms of reference
1. Our terms of reference have not been narrowly defined. It would
not have been helpful if they had, since part of our time has of course
been spent considering the type of planning which ought to be applied
at the Community level. In broad terms, we have been asked by the
Commission to examine the role which longer-term Community
planning should have in helping to overcome the economic difficulties
of the Community and in enabling the Community and the countries to
tackle effectively some of the problems that will arise in the future.
2. We have met ten times. We have received oral evidence from
senior members of the Commission staff on Community policy in the
fields of foreign trade, steel, education and energy. We took part in a
valuable symposium on planning procedures and methods with the
Economic Policy Committee, with the Study Group on Medium-Term
Economic Assessments and with Commission staff in Nice in
September 1977. We have been greatly assisted in all our work by
officials of the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs
of the Commission.
3. We have made a resolute effort to reach a unanimous view
without retreating into ambiguity or bland generalizations. This has
been no easy task because we found that we had a wide spread of initial
opinions about the need for, and the political and technical feasibility
of, an extended European planning role. We have been helped to draw
closer together by the knowledge that we were commissioned as
independent experts, and not to represent the official views of national
governments.
4. In what follows we do not attempt to resolve (nor even thoroughly
describe) the problems to which Community planning can be
addressed. These have been discussed in a number of recent studies.1
Among these, we single out for mention:
Report of the Study Group 'Economic and monetary union 1980', March 1975; t of the Studyp 'Problems of inflation', March 1976;
Draft fourth medium-term economic policy programme, October 1976;
Report of the Study Group on the role of public finances in European integration.
April 1977;
'Growth stability and employment: stock-taking and prospects', Commission
contribution to 1977 Tripartite Conference, June 1977;
'Industrial change and: review of Community's industrial policy and
future prospects', ESC Opinion, September 1977;
Report of the Study Group on medium-term assessments. 'Outlook 1980', September
1977;
'International environment, growth and sectoral changes in the Community".
Commission contribution to 1978 Tripartite Conference;
'Investment and employment', Commission contribution to 1978 Tripartite
Conference;
Report of the Study Group 'New characteristics of socio-economic development';
'A blueprint for Europe', December 1977. The challenges ahead — A plan for Europe
However, we have tried throughout to interpret the case for planning in
terms of insistent and important questions, such as the new
international division of labour, the aim of a greater monetary stability
in Europe, the coherence of national plans, energy policy,
over-capacity, the restoration of growth expectations, changing
industrial structure, medium-term employment policy, the involvement
of multinational enterprises, and the implications of a further
enlargement of the Community.