The EU’s fiscal rules are currently deactivated due to the Covid-19 crisis. However, returning to the pre-Corona rules would be counterproductive. The first priority of reform efforts should be to ensure that applying the rules will not deepen economic crises and hold back recovery. The second priority should be to allow for more public investment. […]
The EU Green Deal is the next big step in decarbonising our economies. But it must not be conceived or perceived as a top-down plan by Brussels. We need buy-in at national level and to work to build it. When the European Commission launches the ‘Fit for 55’ package on 14 July, it will be […]
The work on revising the fiscal rules of the European Union had started long before Covid-19. The global pandemic had put the work on hold, for good reasons. Now that the EU debt levels have risen to new highs the past year, there is a strong need to speed up the process to ensure the […]
We are entering a new phase of the European project. The central equation of this new phase can be presented in the following terms: if we want to renew the European economic and social model to address the ongoing ecological and digital transformations, and if we want to improve global governance to address the current […]
To mark the start of the six-month EU Council presidency of Slovenia, a grandiose musical and ballet performance was arranged on Lake Bled. This reminded me of my own very first visit to Slovenia, which was also linked to music, though with a much more modest profile. As an unassuming clarinet player in the wind […]
Today, the European Commission has presented a proposal to the EU council for a Child Guarantee Council Recommendation. It is a timely step for the European Commission to prioritise childcare and children’s rights and to invite member states to step up their plans to fight inequalities already during the early years of childhood. Seen the […]
