Calviño receives “unanimous” support from Ecofin for his plan to review fiscal rules

2023-07-14 19:13:58

Los economy and finance ministers of the European Union (Ecofin) have supported this Friday the four block structure raised by Spain in the negotiation of the new rules of the Stability and Growth Pact, one of the main political priorities of the Spanish biannual presidency of the EU. As explained by the First Vice President and Minister of Economy, Nadia Calvinohis strategy has received the “unanimous” support of the Twenty-seven and his objective is to close a agreement before the end of the year. “There has been a unanimous agreement on the approach of the Spanish presidency and the four key elements to reach an agreement in autumn”, he explained after the end of his first Ecofin as rotating presidency.

“The (Spanish EU) presidency has proposed how to structure the work and the ministers have agreed on it, so I think we are making progress”, celebrated the economic vice-president of the Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, which has advocated moving quickly in the areas that arouse greater convergence in order to launch political negotiations after the holiday break. “It is important to conclude and reach an agreement this year”, the Latvian politician insisted on one of the hot potatoes of this second half of the year.

Spain plans to approach the negotiation from four great pillars. The first is to define the relative weight and margin of the European institutions when applying fiscal rules. Second, the parameters to guarantee credible debt reduction paths that lead to fiscal sustainability, and that are compatible with maintaining economic growth and job creation. The third, the mechanisms to guarantee effective compliance with the rules and, the last, how to ensure that the new fiscal framework allows the financing of the necessary investments. “Our note has been well received. It gives us a clear mandate to continue the technical work in the coming weeks”, explained Calviño.

Draft for October

Spain’s intention is to accelerate the work at a technical level in the coming weeks so that they can launch the “political” negotiations after the summer break, with the aim of presenting a draft around the month of October and have the new rules before the end of the year. “We will have to intensify our work and our exchanges so that we can present a proposal as soon as possible. We are determined to enter into political discussions after the summer with the intention of having the new rules before the end of the year”, he indicated about one of the most complicated negotiations.

In fact, the first and only debate held after the presentation of the Commission’s proposal, in mid-June, revealed the deep divergences between two large blocs, that of Francewhich defends more flexibility in the new regulations, and that of Germany which requires greater automatism in the rules and numerical targets for debt reduction. On this occasion, the Twenty-seven have addressed the discussion during a working breakfast that has lasted longer than expected, in which the “constructive tone” has dominated and which has concluded in a “positive” manner, according to diplomatic sources who have described of “useful” the debate. “The cost of lengthening us has been worth it. (…) The feeling it has given is that we are not far from a landing zone,” the same sources have explained.