Category: Economy

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Future European economic policy must be in line with the European Green Deal

Environment

The Committee urges EU Member States to make sustainable economic growth the top priority for European and national economic policies in 2020 and beyond and recommends complementing the current accommodative monetary policy of the European Central Bank (ECB) with a cautiously expansive fiscal policy at euro area level.

In the EESC’s view, the Green Deal represents not only a major shift for EU economies, but also an opportunity to enhance economic prosperity and convergence within the euro area and the EU as a whole. The Green Deal should become the backbone of future EU and euro area economic policy and lead to a new economic paradigm. The economic priorities for 2020 should therefore be aligned with it.

At today’s plenary session (19/02/2020), the Committee adopted its opinions on the European Commission’s Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy 2020 (ECO/502) and on the recommendation for the economic policy of the Euro area (ECO/503). The opinions deliver the perspective and contribution of Europe’s organised civil society to the ongoing debate on the economic priorities for the year ahead and beyond in the framework of the European Semester. The priorities were discussed by the Economic and Financial Affairs Council on 18/02/2020 and will be formally adopted at the upcoming European Summit in March 2020. Continue reading “Future European economic policy must be in line with the European Green Deal”

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A strong European brand οf products and services to enhance European competitiveness

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The coming years will see new prospects and challenges for European products and services, according to the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). Providing innovative, highly specialised products and services with well-recognised and certified key characteristics can boost European competitiveness, says the EESC.

Unanimously adopted, the EESC’s own-initiative opinion “Use-value” is back: new prospects and challenges for European products and services  aims to raise awareness of the branding of European products and services that cater to customers’ needs, as well as to social and environmental sustainability requirements.

Addressing the plenary, the rapporteur for the opinion, Dimitris Dimitriadis, said: Thirty years ago, ‘made in Europe’ was a guarantee for a product; now we are behind China, India and the United States; we have lost the European commercial brand name and want to get it back on track. Mr Dimitriadis mentioned the position of advantage of European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the benefits of this. Continue reading “A strong European brand οf products and services to enhance European competitiveness”

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We need a wellbeing economy that works for people and the planet

Ecology

The EU is currently confronted with emergencies that are challenging its prevailing economic models. Slogans that until recently were used as the flagship of the European project, such as growth, jobs and prosperity, are no longer enough to speak to the hearts of the young generations of Europeans. The EU is under pressure to respond to a number of multifaceted challenges, which originated from a decade of economic and migration crises, social discontent and environmental degradation. It needs to reinvent itself fast, for the sake of its citizens.

This EESC opinion aims to define what “the sustainable economy we need” should look like by exploring a new vision of prosperity for people and the planet, bringing together economic, environmental and social dimensions in an integrated manner. The EESC is calling on the EU to propose new economic models, investment decisions to harness technological advances, and new indicators for the wellbeing economy, in order to regain citizens’ trust and belief.

With the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, a commitment to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development by 2030 worldwide, and the European Green Deal, with the goal of becoming the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050, the EU has finally made these issues its top priorities.

However, the most important thing is that this Green Deal becomes a real Green and Social Deal, making sure that the transition to a climate-neutral economy, which leaves no one behind, is just and coherent from A to Z. In fact, we need to rethink the whole system.

To ensure a just and green transition and implementation of the SDGs, we have to re-think our EU economy. ‘We must reboot the system but we need new software, not just an update!’ said rapporteur Peter Schmidt. Continue reading “We need a wellbeing economy that works for people and the planet”