27.Recalls that the Commission and Parliament must ensure better application and implementation of European Union law;

28.Calls on the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission to organise better co-operation modalities with the Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in order to be able to take their opinions into account at an earlier stage in the legislative procedure;

29.Stresses the importance of the subsidiarity principle, as laid down in Article 5 TEU, which is binding on all institutions and bodies, notably the CoR and the EESC, and of the instruments contained in Protocol (No 2) on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality; supports a flexible interpretation of the deadlines enshrined in the Protocol and calls on the Commission to improve the quality of its responses to reasoned opinions;

30.Considers that the practical possibilities for national parliaments to ensure the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality should be improved, and cooperation between national parliaments strengthened, to enable them, in close cooperation among themselves, to reach the necessary quorum under article 7(3) of the Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality;

31.Recalls that any further development of the EMU should be based on, and build on, existing legislation and its implementation;

32.Calls for further institutional reforms in order to provide the EMU with an effective and democratic economic government with improved capacities and integrated within the institutional framework of the Union, whereby the Commission acts as the executive and Parliament and Council as co-legislators, as outlined below;

33.Insists on the adoption of Convergence Guidelines, to be enshrined within a Convergence Code and adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure, with a view to creating a more binding framework for economic policy coordination (with key economic, competitiveness and social targets, such as in the areas of labour markets, competitiveness, business environment and public administrations, aspects of tax policy and social protection) that is open to all 28 Member States and that guarantees them the possibility of participating in a shock-absorption mechanism;

34.Believes that a limited number of crucial areas for structural reforms that increase competitiveness, the growth potential, real economic convergence and social cohesion over a five-year period to strengthen the European social market economy, as outlined in Article 3 (3) TEU, should be laid down;

35.Underlines the importance of a clear division of competences between the EU institutions and the Member States increasing the Member States’ ownership of, and the national parliaments’ role in, implementation programmes;

36.Calls for better use of available instruments in conjunction with Article 136 TFEU to facilitate the adoption and implementation of new measures in the eurozone;

37.Points out the need for fewer and more targeted Country Specific Recommendations (CSR), based on the policy framework set out in the Convergence Code and the Annual Growth Survey (AGS), and on the concrete proposals presented by each Member State, in line with their respective key reform objectives, from a broad range of structural reforms, fostering competitiveness, real economic convergence and social cohesion;

38.Insists on formalising Parliament’s scrutiny role in the European Semester through an interinstitutional Agreement, including by involving it formally in the adoption of the AGS;

39.Considers it necessary for Parliament to be invested with a more substantial role in negotiations within the framework of the European Semester by allowing it to call hearings with governments of Member States affected by Country Specific Recommendations, Economic Partnership Programmes (EPP), Corrective Action Plans (CAP) and Alert Mechanism Reports (AMRs);

40.Calls for the establishment of an enhanced dialogue between Parliament, the Council, the Commission and the Eurogroup by agreeing on dedicated meeting time-slots during the main steps of the European Semester cycle;

41.Considers it necessary to have an overall assessment of the budgetary situations and prospects in the eurozone as a whole, of the individual Member States in the eurozone and of all members of the fiscal compact, ahead of the spring European Council;