Like his predecessor, the European Commissioner-designate for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, will have to demonstrate his ability to enforce the EU's budgetary rules in his home country, while Italy is still facing sluggish growth and must manage the largest national public debt in the euro area.
In line with the policy line set by the President-elect of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the former Prime Minister promises to enforce the entire Stability and Growth Pact, even if his social-democratic political family wants investment spending on ecological transition to be excluded from the calculation of the public deficit.
Nevertheless, according to his answers to written questions put to him before his hearing at the European Parliament on Thursday 3 October, Mr Gentiloni intends to make “full use of the flexibility allowed” in the Pact to strike the right balance between sound public finances and stimulating growth through structural reforms and investment (launch of the investment plan for a sustainable Europe and implementation of the InvestEU fund).
The Commissioner-designate intends to use the evaluation of the European regulatory framework, announced for the end of 2019, to “reconcile polarised positions and in order to rebuild trust” between euro area countries.
Asked about the deepening of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), the former journalist, who wants a firm that respects gender equality, cites the work in progress: – the creation of a fiscal capacity, the Eurogroup being invited to clinch an agreement on this dossier on Wednesday 9 October (see EUROPE 12327/1); – the finalisation of the banking union.
Mr Gentiloni also mentioned the future European unemployment reinsurance system to support workers who lose their jobs after a macroeconomic shock. It is essential that such a regime does not lead to permanent fiscal transfers between euro area countries or divert them from the need to pursue sound fiscal policies, he warns.
Taxation. On tax issues, the Commissioner-designate intends to “simplify the life of taxpayers that play according to the rules and focus punitive action on those that do not”.
The fight against tax evasion and fraud will therefore be a priority, such as the modernisation of the Energy Taxation Directive, the definitive VAT system and digital taxation.
Mr Gentiloni also called for a “progressive and targeted transition” to qualified majority voting in the EU Council and the ordinary legislative procedure in the field of taxation (see EUROPE 12172/22). The Treaty (Article 116 of the TFEU) also offers “an alternative route” to achieve this, in the event of distortion of competition in the single market. “I am ready to make use of it in the future should the legal conditions be met”, he asserts.
This answer will please MEPs who are pushing for its use for several dossiers blocked in the EU Council (see EUROPE 12237/13).
See the answers by Mr Gentiloni: http://bit.ly/2lHPIcU (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion and Marion Fontana)