Brussels, 25/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - Several MEPs gave Euro Commissioner Olli Rehn a rough ride on Thursday 25 April in a debate on macroeconomic imbalances in the EU, in which the Commissioner was called to account for the European Commission's economic policies.
MEPs from countries in receipt of aid slammed the European Commission's obstinate focus on budget austerity. Portuguese S&D MEP Elisa Ferreira said that she's from a country that has followed the troika's recommendations to the letter but public debt has gone up from 93% of GDP in 2010 to 124%, unemployment has shot up to 19% and the recession will continue into 2013. She referred to statements by the president of the European Commission that the current policies, although unavoidable, has reached the limits of what was socially and politically acceptable (see EUROPE 10833). Enough is enough, she cried.
Philippe Lamberts (Greens/EFA, Belgium) said it was problematic to give Ireland as a good example because poverty is rising in the country.
Urging the Commission to stick to its austerity guns, Jean-Paul Gauzès (EPP, France) criticised problems with the political message, because language had suddenly become more accommodating towards countries in difficulty. In difficult times, he said, courage and determination are needed and he had the feeling that these two qualities were in short supply at the Commission. Courage means not watering down measures that have been taken because, where the measures are suitable, they must continue. If they are not suitable, they must be changed. He said Barroso's comments made him worry that he was adapting to the way the wind is blowing, while countries like France, whose economy is stagnating and where jobs are being destroyed, should be paid particular attention in the light of the updated stability and growth pact, he said, talking about a letter sent to the Commission (and to France) by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble recommending what France should do to boost its economy. Gauzes said France was not being hit by austerity, but was taking a battering on the tax front.
Without ignoring the problems faced by struggling countries from the line he advocates, Rehn said that the consolidation of public finance was still necessary and must be pursued in parallel with structural reforms. He said that high levels of debt tend to have a negative impact on the wider economy and regretted that deficit reduction was being achieved by tax increases rather than cutting spending. (MB/transl.fl)