By Niki Zorba
The “premiere” of cooperation of the think tank of the technocratic advisers of Alexis Tsipras with the competent heads and executives of SYRIZA was brought by the pre-announcement of the president of SYRIZA in the middle of last December, when, on the sidelines of the conference of Eurosocialists (PES), Mr. informed the European Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Paolo Gentiloni, during their meeting that he would submit a proposal to the European Commission’s public debate platform on the future of European governance.
The proposal for the revision of the European framework for economic governance, according to party sources, was submitted last week through the European Commission’s online public dialogue platform, at the forefront of the revision of the Stability Pact.
The five axes
Based on the same sources, the proposal of the president of SYRIZA moves in five axes:
1. The conduct of European fiscal policy should treat Europe as a single entity. In this context, he proposes that a symmetric adjustment process be instituted that addresses both excessive deficits and surpluses, with a framework of commitment for all Member States. The revised framework will have the necessary flexibility to deal more effectively with the effects of the pandemic, the structural weaknesses of Member States and the weaknesses of the European economy as a whole. At the same time – taking advantage of the existing European Semester process – it will have automatic fiscal stabilizers based on new tools (eg common unemployment benefit, minimum guaranteed European income), which will be activated either in times of crisis or when a Member State faces budget imbalance.
2. It is proposed to revise the public debt and deficit targets so that the public debt target rises to what is currently the EU average debt. and the annual deficit reduction to be replaced by the implementation of an annual target different for each Member State, which will take into account equally: debt sustainability, growth rate, employment, but also social objectives, such as reducing inequalities and poverty.
3. Establishment of a common, simple and clear rule (golden rule) that will reflect the framework for recognizing the respective public investment as “productive” in order to exclude from the deficit measurement those that focus on tackling climate change, digitizing the public sector and strengthening health and education systems. At the same time, from the measurement of the deficit, it is proposed to deduct the expenses for the management of the refugee and the financing of extraordinary natural phenomena (earthquakes, fires, etc.)
4. Steady growth of the European Budget and the expansion of its role as a mechanism for balancing internal imbalances, resolving crises, creating automatic fiscal stabilizers and finally a common fiscal policy. At the same time, following the example of the Recovery and Resilience Fund, through the process of issuing common debt, the European Budget is proposed to contribute to the gradual reduction of the public debt of the member countries and to the creation of safe assets of securities that will strengthen the role of the euro in international foreign exchange markets.
5. It is proposed that the new framework for European economic governance be based on strengthening the role of national parliaments and the European Parliament, as well as wide-ranging consultation processes involving civil society, academia and the social partners.
The “whole” SYRIZA
The first “experiment”, however, for the cooperation of the group of technocrats of the think tank Tsipras with SYRIZA politicians, apparently, was crowned with success.
This is because, according to Koumoundourou’s sources, “Tsipras’ proposal for a new framework of European economic governance is one of the first positive examples of the president cooperating with the new think tank, the financial staff and his financial advisers.”
The original idea to submit a proposal to the official platform of the Commission came from Georgette Lali, responsible for European policy at the think tank Tsipras (specialist in European law, executive of the European Commission for 35 years). The idea was adopted from the beginning by the president of SYRIZA and he communicated it to Paolo Gentiloni in December, discussing with him the details of its implementation. This was followed by a meeting with Enrico Letta, where they agreed on the proposal for Mr. Tsipras to present it at a meeting to be organized by the leader of the Italian Center-Left in Rome in early March.
The next step was the “craze test” for the good (or not) cooperation, the “marriage” of the think tank with the party executives. The plan, based on the same information, was prepared in meetings of Al. Tsipras with his advisers on economic policy (G. Chouliaraki, T. Korkoli, T. Pavlopoulos and D. Liakos), the head of Finance Efi Ahtsioglou and the coordinator of the economic cycle of SYRIZA, former YPOIK, Euclides Tsakalotos.
From the beginning, however, the interior of SYRIZA welcomed the announcement of the Tsipras think tank team without any adventures. No complaints have been heard about the scientific adequacy of each one, as, among other things, many of the names presented yesterday by the official opposition leader have either participated in thematic events of the party in which he presented the SYRIZA program by sector or were It is known to the residents of the party Jerusalem that they are in an “open line” with Alexis Tsipras.
Republished from the “Chapter” that is circulating
.
Source From: Capital
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
