K. Hatzidakis: Time for a Europe with less bureaucracy and more investment
“Europe must move forward with greater speed and determination on reforms that support entrepreneurship and investment, in order to strengthen its competitiveness. We need a Europe with less bureaucracy and more investment.” This was stated by the Vice President of the Government and Vice President of the European People’s Party, Kostis Hatzidakis, from Toulouse, where he participated in the proceedings of the EPP Political Assembly on 28 and 29 September.
Kostis Hatzidakis, in his capacity as Vice President of the European People’s Party, was a keynote speaker on the panel entitled “Europe at a crossroads: Prospects for reindustrialization,” which took place on the afternoon of Monday, 28 September. He was also the rapporteur for the resolution on competitiveness, which was approved by the EPP Assembly.
In his intervention, the Vice President of the Government underlined that the European Union moved forward in previous years with determination in creating a common framework of fiscal rules to avoid excessive deficits and ensure fiscal responsibility. However, it has not shown to date the same determination in addressing the problems that limit the ability of European businesses to compete internationally: high energy costs, excessive bureaucracy, the fragmentation of the Single Market and the lack of economies of scale, as well as Europe’s lag in innovation and new technologies.
“We do not have a diagnosis problem. The reports by Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi have highlighted both Europe’s weaknesses and, to a large extent, the solutions. We have an implementation problem. It is a matter of political will, speed, and taking action,” Kostis Hatzidakis noted. And he added: “Steps have been taken recently in the right direction. But we need to move with even greater determination and speed. Because our competitors are not going to wait for us.”
Kostis Hatzidakis also referred to Greece’s experience and the reform effort of recent years to improve the business environment. “We did not invent the wheel. We implemented reforms and good European practices. We combined fiscal seriousness with a policy friendly to investment, businesses, and growth. These are, after all, deeply European principles. And they are principles that the European Union itself must today apply with greater consistency and determination,” he stressed.
In the context of the Political Assembly, the EPP resolution on competitiveness was also adopted, for which Kostis Hatzidakis was the rapporteur, as President of the European People’s Party Working Group on Competitiveness.
The resolution reflects the proposals of the European centre-right for strengthening the productive power of the European Union, proposing specific initiatives and reforms that should be promoted in the coming period.
Among other things, it proposes:
· The reduction of energy costs, through the completion of the Energy Union, the development of energy networks, the strengthening of interconnections, and energy storage.
· The drastic reduction of bureaucracy by 25% overall and 35% for small and medium-sized enterprises through the rapid implementation of the simplification packages (Omnibus Packages) proposed by the Commission. It also underlines the principle “one in, two out,” that is, for every approval of a legislative initiative or cancellation of two others.
· The deepening of the Single Market, by removing the obstacles that continue to exist in goods, services, energy, telecommunications, and financial services through new tools. Such as the so-called 28th regime, which will give businesses the possibility to operate under a common European framework of rules and truly make use of the size of the European economy.
· The rapid implementation of the European Capital Markets Integration and Supervision package, so that more European savings are directed toward productive investments and businesses gain easier access to capital.
· The bridging of the “innovation and technology gap” that separates Europe from the US and other international competitors, with an emphasis on strategic sectors such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, cloud, and data centers.
· The upgrading of skills and human resources and the increase of participation in the labor market through investments in the upskilling and reskilling of workers, and the attraction and retention of talent.
· The strengthening of Europe’s strategic autonomy while at the same time supporting free trade on the basis of reciprocity, making more effective use of European trade defense instruments against unfair practices by third countries and the planned new framework for common European public procurement (Public Procurement Act).
Presenting the resolution, Kostis Hatzidakis thanked the members of the Political Assembly for their active participation in shaping it, while underlining the important role and particular responsibility of the European People’s Party and the European centre-right, as the largest political force in Europe, to help us move from findings to decisions and from decisions to implementation.
During the proceedings of the Political Assembly, organizational and internal EPP matters were also discussed, while a series of resolutions on individual issues of European policy was approved.