06 October 2014

Hearing of Valdis Dombrovskis at European Parliament, 6 October 2014

The commissioner-designate for the euro and social dialogue shies away from stating any of the things that made him an interesting national leader. Era of tough EU budget cuts has come to an end, MEPs told. Comment by EV and FT and video.

European Voice: Dombrovskis gives solid, stolid performance

The hearing of Valdis Dombrovskis, until January Latvia’s prime minister, was a rather subdued – even boring – affair, even though Dombrovskis’s unwavering support for austerity in Latvia would have given MEPs plenty to attack.

But those who did attack did so half-heartedly, as if expecting their attacks to have absolutely no effect on Dombrovskis – and they were right. Dombrovskis’s monotonous delivery betrayed no emotion whatsoever.

This was a hearing at which the sparks failed to fly, and that was perhaps surprising. Some of it was down to the nominee. Dombrovskis came across as the technocrat that he certainly is – but his other identity, as a formidable politician of undoubtable skill, simply did not come through in his answers, which were delivered in a monotonous style that would have looked bad in an undergraduate oral exam.

Full article on European Voice (subscription required)

Financial Times: Era of tough EU budget cuts has come to an end, MEPs told

The former Latvian prime minister tapped to oversee eurozone economic policy told European parliamentarians on Monday that the era of severe budget cutting had come to an end and vowed to focus on the social and employment impact of the EU’s crisis response measures.

The declaration by Valdis Dombrovskis, which was made at his confirmation hearing to become the European Commission’s new vice-president in charge of the euro, came as both Italy and France have threatened to flout EU budget rules that forced many other eurozone countries to adopt austerity measures.

Mr Dombrovskis entered the hearing with a reputation as a deficit hardliner, having made drastic cuts in his government’s spending at the outset of the financial crisis only to see Latvia’s economy bounce back sharply after a deep recession.

But under tough questioning from centre-left MEPs – one of whom accused Mr Dombrovskis of advocating “blind austerity policies of the kind that you have applied in your own country” – Mr Dombroskis attempted to project a more balanced view of his record.

Although he proudly touted his turnaround in Latvia, he acknowledged the tough cuts occurred during a period of market panic when quick and sharp responses were needed, and argued the EU could now adopt a more nuanced approach.

“We are now gradually moving from the stage of fiscal adjustment which – not everywhere, and not to the full extent – has by and large been done,” Mr Dombrovskis said. “There is no question that the financial and economic crisis has also created deep social problems and increased unemployment substantially.”

Full article on Financial Times (subscription required)

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