“Parliament
is a step closer to providing its contribution to the public debate on
the EU economic governance review”, said the lead MEP Margarida Marques (S&D, PT), after her report was adopted by the ECON committee with 38 votes to 6 and 12 abstentions.
The report says that the EU’s economic
governance framework needs to be reviewed, prior to deactivation of the
General Escape Clause, which allowed member states to deal adequately
with the crisis, while departing from the budgetary requirements that
would normally apply under the European fiscal framework.
The review must not undermine the
economic recovery by prematurely suggesting a withdrawal of support,
MEPs stress,but it should strengthen a sustainable, inclusive, green and
digital recovery by contributing to the European Green Deal and to the
implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights. It should also
consider differing situations across member states and counteract
macroeconomic imbalances.
Monetary and fiscal policies
The report underlines the importance of
interaction between monetary and fiscal policies and calls for
favourable financing conditions and support for firms, workers and
people to be preserved. At the same time, MEPs highlight the importance
of sustainable fiscal policies, as well as debt and deficit trajectories
that ensure credible paths to reducing debt, including a
country-specific pace of sovereign debt reduction.
Finally, MEPs recall that the European
Semester is a well-established framework to coordinate the budgetary,
economic, social and employment policies across the European Union;
supporting the EU’s long-standing goals of sustainable growth, and
sustainable public finances. They point, however, to the lack of
national ownership as one its main weaknesses and call for the
Parliament to be more involved in the European Semester process.