Now
that incoming European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has
announced his appointees for the next Commission, TTIP Action will
introduce several of the new commissioners, their portfolios, and their
role in the European Union over the course of the next several weeks.
Today's edition introduces Pierre Moscovici, the designated Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs.
“I am an engaged and convinced European. From now on, I will not act as
the French Finance Minister anymore but as a European commissioner in
the general interest. The most important thing is to contribute to the
collective task of restoring growth in Europe,” Moscovici asserted in a
recent interview following his nomination. Make sure you follow him on
Twitter at
@pierremoscovici, and you can find his official website
here.
Formerly French Finance Minister, Moscovici will assume the position of
Economic Affairs commissioner if confirmed by the European Parliament.
Moscovici’s focus will be to create the conditions for sustainable
economic growth which creates jobs and spur investment across Europe.
His actions will be supervised by Jyrki Katainen, Vice-President for
Jobs and Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, and Valdis Dombrovskis,
Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue which is likely to
create some points of friction as Katainen and Moscovici are both known
advocates of budgetary discipline (
Euractiv).
His appointment sparked considerable criticism, among
those who doubt the credibility and legitimacy of naming a Frenchman to
the Economic post because he will be responsible for overseeing national
budgets and ensuring they meet the Stability and Growth Pact’s deficit
targets (
Euractiv). In the event a budget does not, the
Financial Times
addressed his delicate situation, pointing out that Moscovici will have
to approve or reject a French budget that he was in charge of less than
six months ago.
Moscovici will be a leading actor in the debate between Europe’s South
and North on the loosening of the current fiscal rules. Despite his
statement that, “We can have a dose, a certain dose of flexibility. But
flexibility is not indulgence, flexibility is not complacency,
flexibility is not weakness,” Moscovici made equally clear that
Hollande’s plans for the French economic recovery “which lead to cuts in
public expenditure and help a pro-business attitude and structural
reforms – have to be made.”
Juncker himself deems Moscovici the right person for the job, hoping that he will be a mediator between the EU and the French public
with regards to tough upcoming EU budget decisions. Some German MEPs
are disappointed by Moscovici’s nomination, calling him 'the Trojan
Horse in the Commission', claiming that Juncker has put the fox in
charge of the henhouse (
Euractiv). In
an interview with the German newspaper Spiegel,
Moscovici counters this allegation by stating that “processes of reform
take time. At the beginning of this millennium, Germany was considered
“the sick man of Europe”. Only after years of intensive reform, the
economy recovered.”
In line with the views of his party in France, Moscovici is an advocate
of free trade and the conclusion of TTIP, which might help him to find
future common ground with his German critics.
The official mission letter from President Juncker to Commissioner-designate Moscovici is available
here.
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