Fiscal policy should be an enabler, not the chain that holds economies back. The EU fiscal framework needs to be aligned, not at odds, with stated goals of full employment and environmental protection laid out in the Treaty of the European Union. Whilst welcome, an enhanced EU level budget alone will not be enough to meet these goals, national fiscal policy must be empowered too. As Europe faces growing uncertainties, arbitrary numerical fiscal rules are simply not fit for purpose.
Tinkering around the edges with incremental changes will fall wide of the mark. The European Commission needs to seize the current narrow window of opportunity to spearhead a significant paradigm and narrative shift. It is all the more urgent to turn fiscal policy from an end to a means, and think more functionally about what the wider economy, society and the planet we inhabit really need. Getting policy right in this area is one of the single most important priorities for recovering from Europe’s greatest peacetime recession and addressing social and ecological challenges.
Fiscal policy should be an enabler, not the chain that holds economies back. The EU fiscal framework needs to be aligned, not at odds, with stated goals of full employment and environmental protection laid out in the Treaty of the European Union. Whilst welcome, an enhanced EU level budget alone will not be enough to meet these goals, national fiscal policy must be empowered too. As Europe faces growing uncertainties, arbitrary numerical fiscal rules are simply not fit for purpose.
Tinkering around the edges with incremental changes will fall wide of the mark. The European Commission needs to seize the current narrow window of opportunity to spearhead a significant paradigm and narrative shift. It is all the more urgent to turn fiscal policy from an end to a means, and think more functionally about what the wider economy, society and the planet we inhabit really need. Getting policy right in this area is one of the single most important priorities for recovering from Europe’s greatest peacetime recession and addressing social and ecological challenges.
