The fourth and the final session of the Interparliamentary Conference on Economic and Financial Governance of the European Union (further referred to as the Interparliamentary Conference) centred on the debate on budgetary consolidation and structural reforms.

The keynote speakers of the session were: Rimantas Šadžius, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania; Eduardo Cabrita, Chair of the Committee on Budget, Finance and Public Administration of the Portuguese Assembly of the Republic; Martine Guerguil, Assistant Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department of the International Monetary Fund; and Pervenche Berès, Chair of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs of the European Parliament.         

The Minister of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania said that even though economic recovery in the EU was sluggish after the prolonged downturn, growth was real and should gain momentum in 2014.  Mr Šadžius believes that, in the context of high unemployment both in the EU and in Lithuania, sustainable growth could be delivered through job creation, investment into youth programmes and education. The speaker also highlighted the importance of SMEs in combating unemployment.

During his presentation of Lithuania’s experience, the Minister of Finance remarked that the Government of Lithuania aimed at boosting economic growth, but was trying to adhere to a responsible fiscal policy. According to Mr Šadžius, Lithuania’s objective to introduce the euro in 2015 will create new opportunities for the country’s people and business and contribute to the creation of a common EU economy.    

While referring to the importance of EU fiscal consolidation and structural reform, and analysing whether these processes would be consistent and go in parallel, Martine Guerguil made a conclusion that there could not be an unambiguous answer to this question and that everything depended on the type of structural reform. If the reform is limited to the fiscal area, then budget consolidation and structural reforms may complement each other and go in parallel; if reforms go beyond the fiscal area, then fiscal consolidation could be carried out slower and gradually, especially in the areas where more ambitious reform is needed, such as the labour and products market.

In the context of boosting European economic growth, Ms Berès, MEP, noted the huge macroeconomic imbalances between EU Member States and the levels of unemployment. She also joined other speakers in stressing that growth and structural reform should go hand in hand with addressing the social issues. Fiscal consolidation matters, according to the MEP, should not be solved by reducing the funding for important areas, such as education.       

Mr Cabrita covered the matters of EU fiscal consolidation and structural reform on the basis of the Portuguese experience.

In the final part of the event, participants of the Interparliamentary Conference adopted the document, titled Contribution, by common consent. The document, inter alia, notes that in reaction to the economic and financial crisis lasting for the past several years, the structure of EU economic governance has significantly changed and therefore it is important that subject to these changes due measures are created for effective parliamentary scrutiny of the new governance structures in order to ensure democratic legitimacy and accountability. The Contribution highlights that timely and greater engagement of national Parliaments and the European Parliament into enhanced economic governance is crucial. The Interparliamentary Conference calls on the European Commission to carry through its commitment to expand regular political dialogue with national Parliaments on European Semester by engaging with national Parliaments biannually.

The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania as the Presidency Parliament also presented its Conclusions to the Interparliamentary Conference.

For more extensive information on the Interparliamentary Conference and the said documents, please see the dedicated website of the webpage of the Parliamentary Dimension of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Jolanta Anskaitienė, Public Relations Unit, tel. +370 5 239 6508, e-mail: [email protected]