It was a very important moment because it symbolised a new period in the transatlantic relationship. In terms of our relations with the US, we have gone from a winter of discontent to a summer of cooperation.
We had an excellent discussion this afternoon with Janet Yellen and I
want to thank Paschal for organising this. It was very useful for the
Eurogroup to exchange views with Secretary Yellen. It was a very
important moment because it symbolised a new period in the transatlantic
relationship.
In terms of our relations with the US, we have gone from a
winter of discontent to a summer of cooperation. It was a positive and
optimistic discussion, overall. The renewal of our relationship has
happened thanks to the commitment of the new US administration. We have
to be honest in recognising this. The role of Secretary Yellen was also
essential for the success of the G20 in Venice.
I can say on behalf of the Commission that we share with the US
administration the conviction that we need not only a rebound to
pre-pandemic GDP levels but to build our economies back better. This is
of course the essence of our recovery plan, which will take a major step
forward tomorrow as the Council is set to adopt the implementing
decisions on 12 national plans.
I can say also we are also very much aligned in terms of the short-term outlook and policy priorities.
On both sides of the Atlantic we are set to see very strong growth
this year, for the EU, the highest level in 45 years, as our economies
reopen. At the same time, it is clear that we are not yet out of the
woods, either in terms of the pandemic or its economic and social
consequences.
So it remains crucial to keep up the rate of vaccinations in
developed countries and to drastically step up the pace in developing
countries. We remain in a race between infections and injections. I
think we are optimistic in the EU as we are reaching the target of 70%
of the adult population with a first dose sooner than we imagined, but
the need to move ahead is very urgent by the spread of more infectious
variants.
And equally important, given the high level of uncertainty and risks
surrounding the outlook, is that we continue to use all available policy
tools to address the adverse consequences of the pandemic, and avoid
any premature withdrawal of support, as was indeed reiterated also by
the G20 in Venice.
So to sum up, a strong convergence of views, a strong will to work
together, and an overall excellent and very welcome session with
Secretary Yellen.
Very briefly on the euro area fiscal stance for next year, which we
discussed with Professor Niels Thygesen, on the basis of the European
Fiscal Board's recent report. Our assessment is that the fiscal stance
for the euro area as a whole is set to remain supportive in 2022 and we
concur with the European Fiscal Board that this is broadly appropriate
in the current context, for the reasons I just set out.
Our assessment of the fiscal stance takes into account the large
impulse coming from the EU recovery fund, in particular from the
Recovery and Resilience Facility, and also the phasing out of temporary
emergency measures.
The fiscal stance is projected to remain supportive in most
individual Member States and most also plan to increase investment
financed at the national level.
On the Board's suggestion to resume the discussions on the economic
governance framework, in particular on the fiscal rules, as I have
already indicated, the Commission intends to relaunch this public debate
in the autumn.
Lastly on the topic of a digital euro, our experts are working
together with the ECB to better understand the benefits and risks of
such a potential innovation and to identify the most relevant technical
designs.
European Commission
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