The Executive Vice-President-designate for 'An economy that works for people', Valdis Dombrovskis, intends to pursue his future policy in line with the one he led under the Juncker Commission.
In his answers to written questions put to him before his hearing in the European Parliament on Tuesday 8 October, the Latvian Christian Democrat emphasised his long political experience in the European institutions and recalled that elected to the European Parliament in May for the third time, he had decided to give up his seat to sit in the 'von der Leyen' Commission (see EUROPE 12279/20).
Although he is joining the rank of Executive Vice-President, his role under this new Commission will be much the same (see EUROPE 12324/1). "If my appointment is confirmed, I will be responsible for leading and coordinating the work within the Commission to ensure that the European economy works for citizens and that we preserve our unique model of a social market economy", he explains.
Mr Dombrovskis will thus lead the work to deepen the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and will remain responsible for the Euro. He will continue to work towards a stabilisation function in the context of future fiscal capacity for the euro area and is committed to concluding negotiations on the reform support programme and the convergence and competitiveness budgetary instrument for the euro area.
In addition, the Latvian will continue to support Member States in their efforts to join the euro and wishes to contribute to overcoming the divide between Eastern and Western Europe, which he believes is still too wide.
In his answers, Mr Dombrovskis unsurprisingly calls on Member States to conduct a "responsible fiscal policy". "We must be vigilant about potential risks to economic and financial stability and preserve the sustainability of public finances", he warned.
For his part, the Commissioner-designate for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni - with whom Mr Dombrovskis will be working with - has called for full flexibility within the Stability and Growth Pact (see other news).
Asked about his three main political objectives for the next term of office, Mr Dombrovskis referred to the completion of the Banking Union through the creation of a European Deposit Insurance Scheme (EDIS). He also wishes to give new impetus to the Capital Markets Union, in particular by proposing a strategy to facilitate access to finance for SMEs.
Second objective: the transition to a sustainable economy, with the development of a new Sustainable Finance Investment Plan. Finally, the transition to a digital economy is also crucial, he said, and he pledged to continue work on financial technology, as well as to propose a common EU approach on cryptocurrencies (see EUROPE 12229/33).
The fight against money laundering - for which he will now be in charge of under the new commission - is also a high priority. "I see great interest in giving a Union body specific tasks to control and coordinate the fight against money laundering", he writes.
On the social side, Valdis Dombrovskis promises to work with Employment Commissioner Nicolas Schmit to launch a series of initiatives under the European Pillar of Social Rights, including a European unemployment benefits scheme.
See written answers: http://bit.ly/2lG6Rnh (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)