Brussels, 27/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Council must “maintain a high level of ambition” in its work to promote growth and employment, said Olli Rehn, the commissioner for economic and monetary policy, as he addressed a summit of Liberals held on the sidelines of the European Council on Thursday 27 June.
That same morning, during a press briefing, Sir Graham Watson, the ALDE president, had hoped that the wrangling over the multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2014-2020 would not eclipse discussion on youth unemployment and the financing of SMEs. Since then, a political deal was struck on the MFF just hours before the summit (see related article). The Liberals are slowly preparing for the elections and do not intend to change their discourse regarding the appropriate remedy to the crisis. Watson reiterated that the austerity policies should be continued “to ensure a better future” for European citizens, saying that, although this strategy may take more time than planned to come up with results, the “countries are on the good path of recovery”. This is not an “unpopular message” for the population which tends to recognise the magnitude of the problems that need to be tackled with determination. The commissioner for home affairs, Cecilia Malmström, was of the same opinion, saying “citizens understand that austerity is needed”. She nonetheless voiced concern about the rise in nationalism and extremism, saying this was one of the major challenges of the day. Rehn, for his part, pointed out that the Commission was seeking to work on two different fronts - that of growth and that of consolidation of public finance. The Commission has therefore recommended granting some states more time to reduce their deficits, so that they have time to undertake structural reforms. The Commission is also examining the possibility, which would be given to the countries that are not subject to excessive deficit procedure (such as Italy), to exclude from the public deficit calculation certain expenditure linked to the co-funding of projects/programmes supported by European funds. “We are working on that and will try to conclude in the coming weeks”, Rehn explained. (EL/transl.jl)