Economic recovery: state of play and practical initiatives

Economic recovery: state of play and practical initiatives

Key points

 

To keep the process of growth going the EESC stresses the importance of aggregate demand, and private consumption in particular. For economic support to have a substantial effect on growth it must target the lower income groups. Labour market policies should be centred round the search for new skills for new jobs. It is also necessary to increase the general level of education. An obvious policy to increase the employment rate is high-quality childcare and a parental leave long enough and sufficiently paid.

 

The EESC wants to underline the need to reduce the large differences in current account balances. The EESC, therefore, proposes that the Commission conducts a check on current account balances, similar to those carried out on public deficits and debt. This can be formalised by amending the Regulations governing the Stability and Growth pact. New statistics on private credits and the foreign share of sovereign debt should be included in discussions on the Stability and Growth Pact.

 

Investment must focus on environmental protection and measures against climate change. In a period of lacking business investments the public sector has to step in by investing in infrastructure and energy. By letting EIB issue Eurobonds, or rather EU-bonds covering all 27 Member States, new capital could be raised for the public sector without total reliance of the private financial sector. Taxes on financial transactions and on carbon dioxide are possible new sources of public income.