Investing in our future: seven EU economic governance reforms for a stronger, greener and more resilient Europe

Europe faces major economic, environmental, and social issues requiring reform and investment. The cost of living crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, economic and energy sovereignty, deteriorating infrastructure, poor working conditions, inequality, ageing populations, and funding gaps are among them. Reforms, as well as public investment to catalyse private capital, are required to address these issues. However, fiscal rules limit public spending without considering EU objectives, Eurozone needs, or spending quality. We support the European Commission’s proposal for country-specific debt pathways and the use of debt sustainability analyses.  We also support the transition to national medium-term fiscal-structural plans, as well as the establishment of a common EU assessment framework and a review of EU economic governance. However, there is still work to be done to ensure that EU economic governance supports EU goals, as well as mechanisms to ensure the quality of public finances and reforms.

We, therefore, put forward seven key demands in this publication.