L 306/12 Official Journal of the European Union 23.11.2011 REGULATION (EU) No 1175/2011 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 16 November 2011 amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1466/97 on the strengthening of the surveillance of budgetary positions and the surveillance and coordination of economic policies THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 121(6) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments, Having regard to the opinion of the European Central Bank ('), Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (3), Whereas: (1) The coordination of the economic policies of the Member States within the Union, as provided for by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) should entail compliance with the guiding prin- ciples of stable prices, sound public finances and monetary conditions and a sustainable balance of payments. (2)  The Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) initially consisted of Council Regulation (EC) No 1466/97 of 7 July 1997 on the strengthening of the surveillance of budgetary positions and the surveillance and coordination of economic  policies }),  Council  Regulation  (EC) No 1467/97 of 7 July 1997 on speeding up and clar- ifying the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure () and the Resolution of the European Council of 17 June 1997 on the Stability and Growth Pact (°). Regulations (EC) No 1466/97 and (EQ) No 1467/97 were amended in 2005 by Regulations (EC) No 1055/2005 (9 and (EC) No 10562005 () respectively. In addition, the Council Report of 20 March 2005 on ‘TImproving the implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact’ (%) was adopted. () OJ C 150, 20.5.2011, p. 1. (®) Position of the European Parliament of 28 September 2011 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and decision of the Council of 8 November 2011. () OJ L 209, 2.8.1997, p. 1. () OJ L 209, 2.8.1997, p. 6. () O] C 236, 2.8.1997, p. 1. (®) Council Regulation (EC) No 1055/2005 of 27 June 2005 amending Regulation (EC) No 1466/97 on the strengthening of the surveillance of budgetary positions and the surveillance and coordination of economic policies (O] L 174, 7.7.2005, p. 1). (7) Council Regulation (EC) No 1056/2005 of 27 June 2005 amending Regulation (EC) No 1467/97 on speeding up and clarifying the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure (O] L 174, 7.7.2005, p. 5). (°) See document 7423/3/05 on http://www.consilium.europa.euf documents.aspx?lang=en. G) (6) The SGP is based on the objective of sound government finances as a means of strengthening the conditions for price stability and for strong sustainable growth under- pinned by financial stability, thereby supporting the achievement of the Union’s objectives for sustainable growth and employment. The preventive part of the SGP requires that Member States achieve and maintain a medium-term budgetary objective and submit stability and convergence programmes to that effect. It would benefit from more stringent forms of surveillance in order to ensure Member States’ consistency and compliance with the Union’s budgetary coordination framework. The content of the stability and convergence programmes as well as the procedure for their exam- ination should further be developed both at national and at the level of the Union in the light of the experience gained with the implementation of the SGP. The budgetary targets in the stability and convergence programmes should explicitly take into account the measures adopted in line with the broad economic policy guidelines, the guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States and the Union and, in general, the national reform programmes. The submission and assessment of stability and convergence programmes should be made before key decisions on the national budgets for the succeeding years are taken. Therefore, an appropriate deadline for submission of the stability and convergence programmes should be established. Taking into account the specificities of the budgetary year of the United Kingdom, special provisions for the date for submission of its convergence programmes should be established. Experience gained and mistakes made during the first decade of the economic and monetary union show a need for improved economic governance in the Union, which should be built on a stronger national ownership of commonly agreed rules and policies and on a more robust framework at the level of the Union for the surveillance of national economic policies.