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European Commission - Economic and Financial Affairs -

Driving Reform: following the roadmap towards a new European economic governance © Mi Ran Collin

Economic governance: the EU gets tough

The crisis has exposed gaps in the current governance system and showed that existing instruments for economic policy coordination need to be used more fully. The Commission has put forward a comprehensive and coherent package of reforms that will strengthen the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), particularly through an increased focus on public debt and fiscal sustainability, the extension of surveillance to macroeconomic imbalances and by making enforcement more effective through the use of sanctions and incentives.

Klaus Regling, head of the EFSF © European Commission

Klaus Regling, head of the EFSF, on EU governance
Klaus Regling was appointed chief executive officer of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) on 1 July. The €440 billion facility is based in Luxembourg and its board comprises representatives from the 16 euro-area governments. From 2001 to 2008 Mr. Regling was the Director-General of ECFIN.

Employment in Europe © iStockphoto.com

Employment in Europe: it could have been worse but there’s still work to be done
Employment declined in most of Europe during 2009, but the impact of the crisis varied across the EU depending upon labour market structure, macroeconomic position and the policy measures in place.

Financial sector © Ralf Siemieniec – Fotolia

Financial sector reform nearing the finish line
A second EU-wide stress test exercise has confirmed the overall resilience of the EU banking system. Nonetheless, bank capital and liquidity requirements will be increased and the Commission will propose further reforms in the areas of crisis management, derivatives and short-selling.

Finance © iStockphoto.com

Tax reform: increasing revenue without compromising growth
Tax reform is a potential way of supporting budgetary consolidation while enhancing growth. A shift from direct to indirect forms of taxation and the identification of new sources of tax revenue such as financial sector taxation could help boost revenue.

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