Euro area economic policy 2020

Key points

The EESC:

• notes with concern the euro area's economic downturn and the gradual end to a fall in unemployment, wedded to the persistent higher incidence of risk factors affecting economic performance;
• is convinced that the structural reforms and investments required by the European Green Deal could do much to further the economic prosperity and convergence within the euro area and the EU as a whole;
• is concerned about the shortfall in proposed funding for the Just Transition Fund and Mechanism;
• points out that national public and private resources will have to be enlisted and the mechanism provided for these to be allocated to meet the Green Deal goals;
• stresses the continuing need for a cautiously aggressive fiscal policy in the coming period, especially with a view to the expected economic slowdown, while at the same time ensuring a balanced interplay between economic policy and the pillars on which the EMU is based;
• believes that adopting the "golden rule" for public investment would help to achieve these goals;
• recommends that greater attention be given to tailoring the tax system to future needs, in terms of encouraging more environmentally friendly behavior, limiting discrepancies in the level of income and wealth, and preventing tax fraud, evasion and avoidance;
• points out the need to strike the right balance between enabling financial innovation and setting rules for financial market supervision and regulation;
• points out the high importance of ensuring financial market stability by implementing the remaining key elements that are essential to completion of the financial union.