Brussels, 13/11/2003 (Agence Europe) - German Social Democrat MEP Christa Randzio-Plath, President of the EP Economic and Monetary Committee welcomed the growth initiative approved by the European Commission on Tuesday (EUROPE yesterday p 7). She immediately toned things down adding, "Except the list of priority projects, there is absolutely nothing new in this initiative…Second, and perhaps more grave, is the fact that it almost exclusively focuses on infrastructure investments" when growth and jobs require "major investments in education, lifelong learning, research and development". She regretted that "the Commission time and time again overlooks the human dimension of economic growth". She suggests, "a large share of what has been proposed could be financed by doing more to crack down on tax fraud. It is estimated that at least EUR 70 bn go missing each year in the EU and its Member States as a result of tax fraud. I would therefore urge Member States to step up their cooperation in the fight against tax fraud so that all the funds that are currently lost to fraud could be used to fund productive investments".
Italian Radical Gianfranco Dell'Alba criticised the "Quick-Start" list, estimating that the "cake is only half finished", particularly because the Commission only retained the Lyon-Turin route for "Corridor 5", which he described as, "certainly important but on its own, does not respond sufficiently to expectations in the north of Italy" particularly in Friuli and Veneto.