Set to begin a third term as European Commissioner focusing on economic and budgetary issues, Valdis Dombrovskis stresses the importance of guaranteeing “equal treatment” in the application of the revised Stability and Growth Pact from January 2025, in his written answers to questions put to him by MEPs ahead of his confirmation hearing in the European Parliament on Thursday 7 November.
“Coming from a small Member State, I am particularly sensitive to the importance of equal treatment. I am fully committed to applying the revised economic governance framework in a coherent and an even-handed way, and to enforce the rules in a credible and transparent manner”, says the European Commissioner-designate.
Pointing out that the new European fiscal rules aim to “reconcile” the consolidation of public finances with the pursuit of investments and reforms designed to stimulate growth (see EUROPE 13348/8), Mr Dombrovskis notes in particular that the regulatory framework will exclude from the calculation of the public deficit national expenditure that co-finances programmes financed by the European Union. Nevertheless, he warns, greater flexibility in determining budgetary trajectories at national level will be accompanied by enhanced surveillance of compliance with the rules.
Competitiveness. When asked what action he intends to take to boost economic competitiveness in the EU, the European Commissioner-designate draws on the position developed by his counterpart Stéphane Séjourné (see EUROPE 13510/13).
Mr Dombrovskis describes his vision of the future ‘European Competitiveness Fund’ that the European Commission will propose to channel investment into the development of disruptive technologies and turn innovation into industrial success in Europe. This fund will aim to streamline the EU’s financial support for competitiveness, which is currently “spread too thinly over too many programmes”, he said.
As far as funding is concerned, the current Executive Vice-President of the Commission believes that public funds will continue to be necessary, in particular to attract private investment by reducing the risk of investing in innovative projects. The EU budget, the EIB, the EBRD and national multinational banks must play “a crucial role” in channelling private funds, he said. But he does not venture to mention a new European loan to help Member States make a success of their climate and digital transition.
Complementing the ‘European Competitiveness Fund’, a specific coordination tool will be developed to “translate EU-wide competitiveness objectives into coordinated national and EU policies, ensuring public and private financing for each strategic priority, as proposed in the Draghi report” (see EUROPE 13478/1), says the Commissioner-designate.
This tool will make it possible to increase the “coherence” of each level of action in order to achieve jointly agreed priorities. It will strengthen existing governance instruments such as the ‘European Semester’ budgetary process.
RRF. As regards the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the budgetary instrument of the EU’s post-Covid-19 recovery plan, the Commissioner-designate believes that the Facility is “generally on track”, with half of the allocated envelope due to be disbursed by the end of 2024. The aim is to ensure that the instrument is finalised in time for the end of 2026.
However, he notes that the Facility, because it is managed at national level, has difficulty in facilitating cross-border projects.
Administrative simplification. Reducing the regulatory burden – by 25% for businesses and 35% for SMEs – in order to boost economic competitiveness is the other main mission of the former Latvian Prime Minister.
“We must create a simpler and more business-friendly regulatory environment, without compromising our policy goals and our standards” or leading to “deregulation”, says Mr Dombrovskis, admitting that the European legislation adopted in recent years was aimed more at large companies, whereas it also applies to SMEs. Nor, he assures us, is it a question of undermining the high social standards that contribute to the EU’s competitiveness and attractiveness.
The Commission will develop stress tests to analyse the entire acquis communautaire and, where necessary, identify “obsolete, redundant and ineffective” rules that fragment the single market and prevent SMEs from growing, with Mr Dombrovkis citing reporting obligations. This evaluation exercise, in which all stakeholders will be involved, will lead to targeted legislative initiatives, technical clarifications or guidelines.
Mr Dombrovskis also intends to extend the use of digital tools to simplify regulatory obligations, automate the exchange of information and eliminate paper-based procedures.
Other proposals will involve impact assessments of major legislative proposals, dialogues with stakeholders, the use of infringement procedures and the revision of the 2016 Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Regulation.
See Mr Dombrovskis’ written answers: https://aeur.eu/f/dzu (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)