The European Union’s new set of fiscal rules need to answer two simple questions: will they help the bloc’s economy grow? And will countries actually follow them?
All parties agree the rules must change, but not on what the new regime will look like or who will enforce it. In November, the Commission laid out itsand it is due to present draft legislation in the coming weeks. Under the plans, countries would present a four-year fiscal adjustment plan and negotiate its trajectory with EU authorities. National governments can ask for more time to achieve their goals if they can justify extra spending via investment and reform commitments.
. “I advocate for more binding rules, but in a realistic way,” he said in August. “Almost like Halloween: trick-or-treating.”backed The EU needs to look at carrots, not sticks. To prosper, countries must invest in education, new technology and better infrastructure. They also need to encourage global manufacturers to consider Europe as an industrial hub, as the U.S. has done with the $369 billion of subsidies and tax credits in its Inflation Reduction Act.