The European Commission presents this Wednesday a communication on the review of Economic Governance in the European Union. Brussels intends to update the rules of supervision and coordination of the fiscal policy of the Member States “to the challenges” of this decade.
The document should include, for example, arguments in favor of a just transition, but also a new approach to the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact, considering investment in strategic sectors, preserving fiscal sustainability.
The rules are expected to come into force in January 2024, when the “so-called escape clause” is lifted, reactivating the budget discipline rules, suspended in 2020, after the Covid-19 crisis. Brussels should, therefore, put pressure on governments, asking for speed in the discussion and approval of future regulations.
MEP Margarida Marques, European Parliament rapporteur for the review of the Economic Governance of the European Union, considers it “important” that the Commission has adhered to the “principle that the rules need to be reviewed”. On the other hand, she believes that it is “a recognition that the current rules” of economic governance of the European Union have “failed”.
The MEP hopes that the Commission will follow up on Parliament’s proposals, specifically defining “simpler but democratic rules, with greater appropriation by the Member States, and with perceptible indicators”.
“It is necessary to know from the outset whether the European Commission is willing to continue to keep the escape clause activated”, says Margarida Marques, who admits that the measure “seems unlikely”.
“This means that [a Comissão Europeia] It has to be clear how the transition is going to be made, that is, we cannot deactivate the clause on December 31, 2023 and on January 1, 2024 we have new rules, there has to be a transition period here, “he defends.
“We hope that the Commission’s proposal is inspired by what has been, the model of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism”, defends the MEP, recalling that, under these conditions, “the Member States would be asked to make reforms and, at the same time, at the same time, have the necessary investment to carry out these reforms”, because “on this basis the recovery and resilience instrument is based”.
Another aspect that Margarida Marques hopes the European Commission will take into account is the differences that characterize the economies of each country, considering that “not all States start from the same starting point”.
“There are Member States that have debt and deficits that clearly exceed current indicators and we, and the European Commission, cannot demand that all Member States have the same pace to achieve the objectives,” he defends.
Regarding the simplification of the deficit rules, the MEP hopes that “the European Commission, in the rules it proposes, does not exist, that is, the Member States have the ability to define, within the framework of their recovery plans, ( … ) what are their investment priorities, namely ensuring the social impact and the social dimension and ensuring the climate transition and the digital transition.”
To finance the transition measures, Margarida Marques defends that the European Union should “be endowed with a budgetary capacity”, although Brussels is not expected to give guidelines in this regard. As an alternative, the deputy defends the creation of “a permanent mechanism”, within the multi-annual budget of the European Union, “that allows support to the Member States to invest in priority areas”, but also “that is available to be activated in times of crisis”. “.
Source: TSF
