“Growth and environmental sustainability must go hand in hand'. The new European Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni writes this in his reply to the European Parliament which questioned him about his commitments over the next five years. Gentiloni will submit to the hearing with the MEPs on Thursday.
"During the crisis years - writes the Eurocommissioner - I understood the importance of safeguarding the sustainability of public finances and providing economic support in difficult times and during my mandate I will commit myself to creating an agenda that supports growth and seeks right balance to ensure sustainability over time, addressing any short-term problem through appropriate flexibility within the framework of EU rules".
La review of tax rulesi contained in the Stability Pact, Gentiloni observed again, must be “an opportunity to reconcile polarized positions and to rebuild trust”. According to Gentiloni, a consensus around the rules of the Pact "has a lot to do with trust, keeping the commitments that have been made and working hard for shared objectives". Thus, effective enforcement of the rules will be "key in the years to come".
As regards decisions in the field of taxation, for the commissioner-designate the European Union should abandon unanimity of the Member States to pass to codecision with the European Parliament and to the system of qualified majority voting. “Taxation – she stated – is one of the latest policy areas of the EU where the decision-making process is based solely on theunanimity- in the last few years new challenges that have emerged in the EU and globally have exposed the limits of unanimity in taxation and our ability to react quickly. In today's digital and global economy, the EU must be able to adjust its tax policy faster and more effectively." According to Gentiloni “a true role of Parliament in the decision-making process on the basis of the ordinary legislative procedure would make the decision-making process in taxation more efficient“. This is why Gentiloni is in favor of one “progressive transition” towards qualified majority voting in this area.
Finally, Gentiloni said himself agree on the European unemployment benefit, but within precise both economic and political constraintsthe. “This regime – she observed – would strengthen the social cohesion ensuring that citizens across the EU are protected in the event of job loss” and “would help Member States mitigate economic shocks”. However, the former Prime Minister specified that "it is essential that the development of this regime takes into account a series of economic and political constraints". According to Gentiloni, the EU unemployment insurance scheme "must not have permanent transfers of resources between countriesmust give support only in case of major external shocks and it must not create disincentives to pursue sound fiscal policies and to implement the necessary structural reforms”. Therefore, “taking into account these constraints – concluded Gentiloni – the creation of a European system of reinsurance of unemployment benefits remains a key element for the completion of the architecture of the economic and monetary union”.
