Brussels, 23/01/2012 (Agence Europe) - Balancing budget consolidation and growth and jobs policies while expanding the single market and making full use of its potential - this idea is growing among the EU27 and Italy wants it discussed more at EU level, explained Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti after a meeting of EU27 economy and finance ministers in Brussels on Tuesday 24 January.
Italy is doing its bit, explained the prime minister, who had an opportunity to brief first his eurozone counterparts and then the EU27 ministers about the public spending cuts and growth stimulus measures Italy has introduced (competition, infrastructure and “simplification” laws) and the expected positive outcomes. He said the measures were structured in such a way as to encourage growth and jobs, with tax reforms to penalise landed wealth rather than workers and businesses. This policy of combining budget consolidation and growth is backed by the British and Polish finance ministers, who say it is far too rare that there is this type of talk at Ecofin.
Monti said that the Polish finance minister had made interesting comments that as the finishing touches are finally being made to budget discipline legislation through the Budget Pact despite the fact that the Stability and Growth Pact was flouted by two countries in 2003, it is just as important to establish what may prove useful for economic union (proper economic integration, the single market, etc) by breathing new life into the EU directive on the liberalisation of services, which has been in deadlock since 2004.
Commenting on other economic issues, Monti said Italy backed the two draft regulations unveiled recently by the Commission on budget consolidation (the “two-pack”) to back up the “six-pack” that recently came into force. One of the two-pack gives the Commission the right to scrutinise member states' draft budgets, which is a move, said Monti, towards greater integration of budget policies in the eurozone through increased surveillance by the Commission.
He said it was also important to ensure the two-pack meshed well with the Budget Pact being drawn up at the moment, which will be discussed by heads of state at their summit on 30 January.
Fielding questions, Monti mentioned the transport strikes in Italy and the need to explain the reform process to people, adding that what had long been an obstacle to economic growth in Italy was the tendency to promote sectional interests in preference to the general interest (see separate article on other issues brought up). (FG/transl.fl)