Left-wing attempt to destroy economic policy rejected

"We have successfully rejected attempts by the Left to destroy sound economic rules that are essential for future growth and competitiveness in Europe. We are connected by a common currency and only by having sensible common fiscal rules in the Euro area will we be able to achieve our ambitious goals, such as the digital transition or climate protection, which are primary tools for creating opportunities for our companies - especially Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) - and creating jobs", said Enikő Győri MEP, EPP Group Shadow Rapporteur, after the Report on economic policies of the Euro area 2020 was rejected in the European Parliament.

Enikő Győri also warned of overburdening the economic policy governance framework built up in the so-called European Semester with other issues not directly linked to this original purpose of keeping sound and stable finances - like a proposal to include a climate indicator.

"There is a race within the European Parliament about who can be greener, but we consider the climate issue more important than making it a political toy. This is why we voted against the Report", she commented.

The EPP Group Spokesman in the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, Markus Ferber MEP, underlined that Euro area countries have the necessary room for manoeuvre in their fiscal policy.

"We have succeeded in suppressing the Left’s efforts to completely abandon our fiscal rules enshrined in the Treaties and the Stability and Growth Pact, while these rules have provided sufficient flexibility for the Member States in the event of an emergency, such as the COVID crisis", he concluded.