Euro area economic policy 2021

Key points:

The EESC

• welcomes the Commission's recommendations on the economic policy of the euro area;
• advocates an economic policy approach to support recovery, increase investment, further integrate the single market, ensure fair working conditions, and deepen the EMU;
• strongly supports the Next Generation EU package and urges that the necessary agreements be reached as soon as possible;
• believes that the recovery will only be successful if it is accompanied by a restructuring of our economy and society, and that rebuilding confidence is key to stabilise demand;
• calls for fiscal rules to be shifted towards a more prosperity-oriented economic governance, including a golden rule;
• believes that the impact of the crisis on inequality and socio-economic insecurity should be more carefully considered, and that both the business and the social environment should be improved;
• calls for a better involvement of social partners and civil society in climate policy and the national recovery and resilience plans;
• calls for a decisive reform of tax policies in order to tackle economic, social and environmental challenges, while taking care not to create regressive effects;
• points at the need to complete the Banking and Capital Market Unions, while prioritising financial market stability.