Economy, labour, digital transformation

Economy

2020 had major economic consequences that will leave deep scars in European society, which are reflected in job losses, bankruptcy, long-term unemployment and considerable revenue declines for all European citizens. The European Commission’s economic forecasts for February 2021 estimates that the European economy will reach pre-crisis output earlier than expected in the autumn forecast. However, the recovery speed will vary significantly across the Union. The differences come from the economic dependency on sectors severely affected by the pandemic, but are also the cause of systemic problems and political decisions that have led to a Eurozone of 19 Member States instead of 27 and to the lack of a Banking Union and of a Capital Markets Union. We can not continue as before. We can no longer get over these facts without taking action.

1.1. Economic ambition and governance

Capital markets remain fragmented, making it difficult for European citizens and companies to access sources of financing and investment that ensure competition in the European market. Especially in the context of the economic recovery from the pandemic, a Capital Markets Union is essential to ensure the economic resilience needed for preparedness in the face of future challenges.

The banking sector has been tested since the beginning of the pandemic, and to support it as strongly as it has supported us, we need a common system of protection of bank deposits, the last step in truly achieving a Banking Union.

But ambitions cannot materialize if we remain anchored in the same European decision-making process. The unanimous voting system of the EU Council has delayed progress in many economic sectors, especially fiscal ones, and the extremely limited or even absent role of the European Parliament in some places has called into question the legitimacy and transparency of key decisions for European citizens. There is a need to rethink economic governance, which can become more flexible and able to make quick and appropriate decisions for European citizens. Thus, we propose the transition to a qualified majority-based voting system, so that fiscal and taxation policies can be better adapted to the green transition and the digital transformation.

1.2. Reform of the European Semester

The COVID-19 pandemic has definitely changed priorities at European level and brought to the forefront the vulnerabilities of the European Union, as well as the result of economic, social and institutional discrepancies between the Member States. Discrepancies already highlighted by the European Commission in the European Semester, the main European instrument for coordinating economic,fiscal and budgetary policies across the continent. Each year, the Commission examines Member States’ economic and structural reform programmes in detail and provides them with country-specific recommendations for the next 12-18 months. Unfortunately, only half of these recommendations have been implemented between 2012 and 2019, so we should not be surprised that health systems were only partially prepared, that social protection systems were partially effective and that the European economy was only partially solid.

The Conference on the Future of Europe is the time to acknowledge that we need a reform of the European Semester. We need a functional monitoring framework, aligned with the European Pillar of Social Rights and the European Green Deal. The European Semester must not be eliminated, it must not be criticized, but we must restore its credibility and turn it into a tool for coordinating the European strategic agenda.

1.3. Recovery and Resilience Facility

The most ambitious financial instrument created by the European Union has taken the form of the Recovery and Resilience Facility, which can serve as a model for redefining the concept of spending European money, but also for proper monitoring of massive reform projects and investments in the economy, society and Member States’ industry. The 27 Member States must strive to implement this instrument well in order to regain the trust of European citizens in EU solutions.

The mechanism can serve as a model of stability and flexibility in the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact, and the Conference on the Future of Europe is an opportunity to discuss how we can ensure that funds are managed correctly and transparently and how we sanction fraud.

1.4. Enlargement of the Eurozone

The euro has strengthened the integration and economic progress of the European economy, as well as the EU’s international role in its relations with other economic powers. However, only 19 of the 27 Member States are part of the euro area, which means that the level of economic convergence expected since 1999 has not reached the desired targets. In the context in which the EU is going through the greatest economic and social challenge since the Second World War, but also through the Conference on the Future of Europe, there is an opportunity to set concrete steps to achieve the EU’s economic and social convergence. And one of them is to make a political and economic decision that we want to co-opt the remaining Member States into the euro zone. The euro zone needs a flexible mechanism through which countries wishing to adopt the euro can have access to, and can test certain monetary policies in order to meet the convergence criteria and to truly experience the benefits of the changeover.

1.5. Taxation

A taxation system adapted to the digital environment and the principle of sustainability must be ambitious. And the ambition will be able to materialize when the unanimous vote will be transformed into a qualified majority vote. But in addition to governance, we need to make sure that existing resources can be improved in terms of collection by standardizing the rules. A recent European Parliament study shows that, if full coordination of public spending at the European level would exist, the European economy could earn more than EUR 2 trillion by 2029. Thus, if the Member States were to focus on reforms and worthwhile investments with added to the single market, the digital economy, research, the environment and energy, health and social policies, the EU could provide sufficient resources on its own to meet major challenges.

1.6. Entrepreneurship

SMEs are the backbone of the European economy and it is our duty to provide them with easy access to finance infrastructure. The Conference on the Future of Europe is an opportunity to establish more flexibility in European funds, which no longer requires only public investment, but constant synergies with the private sector, in order to create a healthy economy.

Digital transformation

Digital technologies are already part of our daily life, and during the pandemic they represented the way that we could continue professional activities, and were able to keep our social interaction. Teleworking became the 2020 new style of work, and some Member States had difficulties in implementing this feature not only in terms of lack of digital infrastructure in public administration, but also in terms of lack of skills of administrative staff. At the European level, the integration of digital technologies in companies and SMEs remains at a low level, only 40%.

3.1. Digital Single Market

The European Union has not yet reached the technological level of other actors on the global stage. Innovation is missing from the European way of working. For this reason, massive investments are needed in the research and patents of new technologies, in European projects of cloud computing and high-performance computing, because these play a crucial role in the development of in-depth learning and research.

3.2. Human-centred technologies

Artificial intelligence, blockchain technologies,robotics and automation processes represent components that are increasingly making their way into the labour market, in industries and in public systems at European level, providing greater efficiency and facilitating access to information and services for citizens. However, they can become a factor of social fracture, inequality and even exclusion, if not regulated. The Conference on the Future of Europe offers us the opportunity to define new technologies as an ethical, human-centred concept, and to make sure that their use is based on respect for the fundamental rights, freedoms and values of the European Treaties.

3.3. Digital services and markets

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how vulnerable we are to the deceptive business practices of rogue traders who sell illegal products online, products that do not comply with the Union safety rules. For this reason, online brokerage platforms and services need to improve their efforts to quickly detect and eliminate false claims and combat misleading practices by dishonest traders. Therefore, the way we ensure that we protect consumers and provide security for users is a necessary point of discussion at the Conference for the Future of Europe, and for this special attention must be paid to major platforms, especially those that are controllers of information flow.

3.4. Industrial Policy, SMEs and Digital Innovation Hubs

Digital infrastructures, high-capacity networks that provide high-quality, fast and secure connectivity are basic needs for the integration of new technologies into the European economy and society. These are proving essential for Europe’s industrial future, already on the fast track to Industry 4.0, especially if we want to be serious about regaining our strategic autonomy. In addition to massive investments in infrastructure, advanced digital skills are needed in order for these to achieve their goal. It is SMEs that can make the most out of new technologies to develop a competitive economic environment, and the network of digital innovation hubs and clusters can provide the missing innovation on the European continent.

Efforts at European level have been focusing, even before the pandemic, on an economy that is at the service of citizens. But this cannot be achieved without the involvement of citizens in the decisions that will define our economy, society and the labour market in the coming years. The Conference on the Future of Europe comes at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has left deep wounds, through which we must go with strength and speed in order to heal.

Your ability to contribute to the European project brings direct benefits, both to you and to future generations, to whom you can proudly leave a better future. Open and simplified economic governance, together with a uniform collection of expenditure, will lead to additional resources at European level, which can bring more European funds to the Member States. Thus, many of the necessary projects that have been pending so far due to lack of funds will finally be able to be completed, from highways to the construction of new schools and hospitals. If we manage to use the Recovery and Resilience Facility as a model of stability and growth of the European economy, and if the euro area gives up its rigidity and flexibly receives countries that do not yet have the euro to see the opportunities concretely, we can trigger the potential of the Union, and the countries of Eastern Europe will have the same opportunities as those of the West. And we will make sure that this happens in practice through a reformed European Semester, which will monitor the economic and social well-being but also the quality of life of European citizens.

Entrepreneurs will no longer complain about bureaucratic difficulties, lack of funding and support in a constantly evolving world. In a Digital Single Market, they will have the opportunity to truly reap the knowledge and efforts in their field through projects with an impact at the European level. The digital transformation will provide a greater financial reward for researchers, provide funding for the use of new technologies on a large scale solely for the benefit of the citizens, and the most creative of Europeans will be able to see their achievements used across the European continent.

Any economic growth also brings job creation, which brings well-being and family income that can ensure a carefree life. We all want to have access to opportunities that bring us happiness and prosperity. No one will be left behind if we offer integrated services to all people in a vulnerable situation, dealing with health, nutrition, a safe home, education and skills. Thus equipped, children from disadvantaged backgrounds, people with disabilities or minority groups will have all the chances we can offer in order to access the labour market. And, regardless of the profession, your job will come with much better conditions than now, whether you are a worker on the European market and you will have a fair and compliant salary for your efforts, or you work through platforms and you will benefit from clearer rules.

The Conference on the Future of Europe is the time when the EU should accept that young people and children will become a real priority. Together, we can create a real skills revolution at European level in order for young people to acquire and build their future, and we can set up a European Authority dedicated to the present and future of European children.

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Economy, labour, digital transformation

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