SHERLOCK TO QUESTION MOSCOVICI ON INVESTMENT RULES
Today at the Finance Committee, Labour Party spokesperson on Public Expenditure and Reform, Sean Sherlock will be questioning the EU Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Taxation and Customs Pierre Moscovici on the EU Stability and Growth Pact, and plans for increasing investment across Europe.
Deputy Sherlock said:
“At a recent meeting of leaders of the Party of European Socialists, Labour leader Brendan Howlin secured agreement on the establishment of a network of economists and financial experts that would re-examine the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact.
“That network has been tasked with “proposing a set of adjustments to the stability and growth pact – not changes that would undermine fiscal discipline, but changes that would add an urgency to investment in our societies, and would place the monitoring of our social good on a par with the strength of our economies.”
“We need to make greater investments in our society, and often the fiscal rules act as a barrier to achieving that social good through increased capital expenditure.
“It is clear the European rules that currently prevent additional capital expenditure need to change.
“As a former Socialist Minister for Finance in France, I look forward to hearing Commissioner Moscovici’s views on how we can increase investment in infrastructure across Europe to secure growth and stronger societies.”