It is an old claim of European Socialists, to which Brussels now responds by launching the Plan Juncker: the contributions that Member States do for the new European Fund for Strategic Investments (Feie), program anchor 315 billion investment launched by the new president of the European Commission, will not count for the fiscal adjustment under the 3% deficit limit of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP). The same rule applies to national contributions to the co-financing of projects covered by the fund.
� � The flexibility is provided in the operating model Juncker Plan that the EU executive presented Tuesday to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Specific rules have been put on the table: if the deficit is above 3%, and this deviation is due to the contribution to the new fund, the excessive deficit procedure is not triggered. It is necessary that the difference is temporary and corrected as part of the budgetary strategy in the medium term set by governments, which means that the 3% target remains on the horizon and is to meet, but there is more time to correct the imbalances.
The rules are thus applied differently if a country is under the excessive deficit procedure (such as Portugal at this time) or if a country is within the established limits.
The change in Brussels position was considered by the European socialists as an important step forward but not sufficient to solve the problems of economic growth. It is, in any case, a response to a longstanding demand of those who have advocated that to save the European economy from recession, Brussels would have to mobilize public funds for investment, generate economic growth and create jobs – bases of promised political orientation Jean Claude Juncker ahead of the European Commission.
In the explanatory documents of further direction of investment and structural reforms, Brussels wishes to clarify that “is not proposing any change in the current rules” of the SGP ., before specifying how public investments are considered in the Stability Pact
At the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the European Commission Vice-President, Jyrki Katainen, assured: “If Member States decide contribute to the Feie and parallel investment platforms, the Commission will take a favorable position in relation to contributions in the assessment of public finances “.
PS applauds
Reacting the new framework, the PS delegation in the European Parliament came in a statement it is welcoming the decision by the European Commission, regarding it as a breakthrough, but stressing that “is insufficient to solve the economic growth problems affecting the countries of European Union. On the other hand, it is negative that countries such as Portugal, which still have a budget deficit above 3% of GDP, can not benefit immediately from this measure except for the indirect impact of a potential increase in investment in Europe, thanks to this relaxation of the SGP, may open up new opportunities for Portuguese exports “
The delegation of PS belonging to the Group of Socialists & amp.; EP Democrats, stresses the fact that the euro countries benefit from a “smoothing of calendars established at European level for the budgetary adjustment should carry out structural reforms enhancer of economic growth.” And leaves a particular word to the role of Italy and the new European Commission. “It is the first tangible result of a long struggle that we have caught over the past years and which was made possible thanks to the persistence of the Italian Presidency of the European Union (EU) and the new opening of the Commission Jean-Claude Juncker.”
Accelerating investment
Accelerating investment in Europe was a cry of Jyrki Katainen repeated order on Tuesday in Strasbourg to the European Parliament and the Member States members to give progress to the legislative proposal of Feie, acting in partnership with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to achieve a multiplier effect of funds to reach 315,000 million euros of public and private investment.
The objective of the European Commission is that the legal procedures necessary to constitute the Feie receive Parliament’s green light to June and from there, with the foot Juncker plan earlier this year, projects begin to receive funding. “We need the United States and the European Parliament speed up these legal texts, so that they can be approved by June and the investment reaches the real economy,” he said in Strasbourg Vice President Jyrki Katainen of the Commission. And clarified the mission of Feie: “Support projects with a higher risk profile, to countries and sectors where job creation and growth are most needed”
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