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Dijsselbloem repeated his plea for an offensive approach to boost economic growth. "Sustainable growth does not come easily. It requires further restructuring our economies, and inevitable structural adjustments", he said. "Above all, it calls for political courage. The political courage to convince our electorates of the need for further adjustments." Two weeks ago the OECD presented a report that clearly showed that the euro area still has high unused growth potential. Reforms to product market regulations alone could yield a 6 per cent gain in output over the next 1-10 years.
The Eurogroup President gave many examples of measures that countries are taking at the moment. He spoke of a "shared sense of urgency across the euro area". And still, he said, "we can – and must – do more". "We need higher levels of growth to deal with unemployment and to bring down debt levels, both public and private."
"I think it is time for a more offensive approach, which focuses on the euro area as a whole", said Dijsselbloem. "The benefit of growth-enhancing reforms is not limited to the country where the measures are taken. As we are highly interconnected, growth in one country benefits other countries as well. So we should strengthen growth in the eurozone by jointly working on competitiveness. In tandem with specific national policy changes, joint reforms can further advance our agenda."
Dijsselbloem suggested the same approach for economic reforms as the ministers in the Eurogroup have adopted, whereby they review each others’ draft budgetary plans. He added that it could be helpful to identify joint reforms in crucial sectors of the economies and define best practices that all countries would have to adhere to. In Dijsselbloem’s view, this approach would enable all countries to follow the best practices in Europe and to reach the common goal of sustainable growth in the eurozone. "Politically, this is a very sensitive topic in almost all of our countries", he said. "But by moving the reform discussion to the European level we could open up professions in the same manner across the euro area. More specifically, if a eurozone-level evaluation shows that certain countries have been successful at opening up a certain ‘closed’ profession for outsiders, we could use this example as a best practice for all. Peer pressure could help to achieve breakthroughs in long-lasting political stand-offs in certain countries."