MEPs and MPs call for more democracy and focus on growth in economic policy and budgetary coordination

27 February 2012

Growth and legitimising EU economic governance topped the agenda of the second inter-parliamentary meeting on economic policy coordination, bringing together national and European parliamentarians.

The inter-parliamentary meeting fits into the process of the "European Semester" for economic policy coordination, the second edition of which was launched by the Commission earlier in 2012.

Opening the session, Alain Lamassoure (EPP, FR) stressed that deeper economic coordination could not be carried out if parliaments were marginalised. Gianni Pittella (S&D, IT) also said that the coordination must not be a purely bureaucratic exercise, because this would fail to deliver growth and would lack legitimacy.

European Council President, Herman Van Rompuy, told parliamentarians that successful coordination would require much more interaction among national parliaments, to ensure mutual understanding. For his part, Commission President, José Manuel Barroso, said that the Semester could also have a growth dimension to it and was not only about fiscal retrenchment.

Press release

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