Brussels, 26/03/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 25 March, the European Parliament adopted two reports on economic and monetary policies in Europe. The first, drafted by Edward Scicluna (S&D, Malta), focuses on action by the ECB to address the economic and financial crisis. The second, by Sven Giegold (Greens/EFA, Germany) is on the 2009 annual declaration for the eurozone and public finance.
MEPs expressed disappointment that the extra liquidity injected by the ECB did not sufficiently ease the credit crunch faced by industry, particularly small and medium-sized businesses. They recommend that any moves to increase interest rates should be made with the utmost caution so as not to endanger future economic growth.
Regarding eurozone public finance, MEPs call on the Commission to develop diagnostic tools and indicators, in order to more effectively monitor and assess relevant economic developments in the member states, including multilateral surveillance of unit labour costs, real exchange rates, financial markets and policies affecting competitiveness. They call on the Commission to propose a set of measures to help member states restore balance in their public accounts and finance public investment through: - eurobonds or similar measures in order to lower the cost of interest for servicing public debt; - the promotion of tax cooperation between member states, in particular through the establishment of a timetable for the introduction of a common consolidated corporate tax base; - and the introduction of an obligation to introduce country-by-country reporting on corporate income and the taxes paid thereon. (A.B./transl.jl)