On Monday 15 March, Valeria Ronzitti, General Secretary, represented SGI Europe at the Macroeconomic Dialogue at political level, with the participation of ECB President Christine Lagarde, Eurogroup President Pascal Donohue and European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis.

“One year after the start of the COVID-19 crisis in Europe, we are now seeing some light at the end of the tunnel”, commented Ms Ronzitti.

Addressing the challenges and prospects for the Recovery and Resilience Plans and the economic outlook, Valeria Ronzitti, SGI Europe General Secretary, said:

About the COVID-19 measures: “The swift moves to bring to life the MFF 2021-2027 and Next Generation EU, as well the prolongation of the general escape clause of the SGP, ensured a swift implementation of new investment opportunities. Without overlooking our medium-term stability objectives, it would be a risk to withdraw our fiscal support too soon as this could hold back the recovery.”

About support measures to employment: ”All support measures for employment should also be maintained as we are not yet past the emergency. Passive support should progressively switch to include more active labour market policy elements to address labour shortages, skills mismatches and aiming at new productivity gains. We very much welcome the proposal featured in the Action Plan of the European Pillar of Social Rights for an ambitious EU target on adult participation in learning and a secondary target for basic digital skills.”

About the Recovery and Resilience Facility: “This is the moment for Member States to be ambitious. SGI Europe has been calling for years for quality investments in physical and social infrastructures, especially in sectors such as healthcare, education, energy, digital, waste management and water services. the RRF seems designed for this purpose: renewed Investments in SGIs will be a key lever for new sustainable productivity gains and an important potential source of new quality jobs. SGI Europe is there to show the way.”