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- Ελληνικά
The European Parliamentary Week began today in Brussels, with the participation of a delegation of the House of Representatives, consisting of the Chairwoman of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance and Budget, Ms Christiana Erotokritou (leader), the Chairwoman of the Parliamentary Committee on Labour, Welfare and Social Security, Mr. Andreas Kavkalias, the Members of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance and Budget Mr Onoufrios Koullas and Ms Savia Orfanidou and the Member of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign and European Affairs Mr Chrysi Pantelidis.
In the context of the work of the EP's Committee on Budgets (BUDG), the lessons learned at national and EU level from the implementation of the NextGenerationEU programme and the response of the EU budget in times of crisis were examined.
In the context of the work of the EP's Committee on Budgets (BUDG), the lessons learned at national and EU level from the implementation of the NextGenerationEU programme and the response of the EU budget in times of crisis were examined. The Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance and Budget, Ms Christiana Erotokritou, made the following intervention:
"NextGeneration EU (NGEU), the European response to the pandemic, underlines the Union's determination to face common challenges, to pursue economic recovery and resilience and to prepare the ground for the future.
Moreover, the NGEU funding mechanism underlined the high creditworthiness of the Union, which helped to raise capital on the capital markets on more favourable terms than the Member States could achieve on their own, confirming that "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts", as Aristotle stressed. The valuable lesson learned is that the collective actions of the Union have a much greater impact and effectiveness than the individual actions of Member States and that this is the way forward for the Union to play a leading role in shaping a more promising and inclusive future for all.
Furthermore, the implementation of the NGEU has taught us that any future EU crisis response tool must be based on the principles of solidarity, justice and coherence. In the short term, a crisis response tool should first and foremost contribute to upward socio-economic convergence of EU Member States and risk sharing, as well as to mitigate asymmetries between their economies by providing assistance to the Member States most affected by the crisis, while in the medium term it should support all EU Member States in strengthening the resilience of their economies to possible future shocks.
A programme to respond to possible future crises should be strategically designed to ensure that measures taken by Member States to strengthen their economies yield a positive fiscal multiplier and spread the benefits across the EU. Moreover, such a programme should provide for fast, transparent and simplified procedures, reducing bureaucracy and increased administrative burden. However, for the EU to succeed, the NGEU is not enough. Our goal should be to create a Capital Markets Union, a Banking Union and an Energy Union.
In conclusion, I would like to stress that any future EU crisis response programme must have considerable flexibility and adaptability to deal with unforeseen challenges, geopolitical risks and any other uncertainties. Transparency in the allocation of resources to Member States, independent evaluations and effective controls of the programme are vital to ensure its accountability and proper implementation and to safeguard the financial interests of the Union."
(Text as sent by the House of Representatives)
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