The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, is reported to have no objections to the prospect of excluding budgetary expenses on defence and development from the Stability and Growth Pact.
This is reportedly what he told Benoît Hamon, the Socialist party's candidate for the French presidential elections, on Tuesday 21 March, when the latter was in Brussels securing the support of the S&D group members of the European Parliament, one source told us about the face-to face meeting between the two politicians.
In his speech presenting the White Paper on the future of the EU, Juncker called for an increase in national defence spending and said that international stability also meant the member states keeping their commitments on development aid and fighting climate change (see EUROPE 11736).
Involving the national parliaments to deepen EMU
Hamon presented first Juncker, and then the Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, with his vision of a reboot of the European project, which, he argues, can only be done by making the decision-making process more democratic. All too often, citizens get the impression that decisions on the governance of the Eurozone are made in committees that escape any form of democratic control, he told the press. Taking inspiration from the proposal of the economist Thomas Piketty, the candidate suggests getting the national parliaments more involved, as they have competence in taxation matters. He also calls for true social and economic convergence within the Eurozone.
Commenting positively on Hamon's approach, Moscovici said that he was prepared to debate ways of democratising the Eurogroup and increasing investments in Europe, as France must be a driving force of Europe and spearhead proposals. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)