‘We need an economy that works for everyone, that takes account of the climate crisis’ Andresen MEP

The EU will be reopening its discussion on the rules coordinating national fiscal and economic policies in the next months. ‘Fiscal Matters’, which brings together social, environmental, civil society and academics invited experts and politicians to share their views on what changes were needed to the current framework. EU Reporter spoke to Rasmus Andresen MEP (DE) from the Green group on how parties could learn from the past and set a new path towards the future. 

EU Reporter (ER): Do you think we've learned from the financial crisis and the EU's response to the pandemic?

RA:There are a lot of lessons we should learn. From our perspective, as greens in the European Parliament, we want to see reform of the fiscal policy and the fiscal rules at a European level. First of all, the fiscal rules have been the reason economic division in the last years in the EU has grown. We still can see a high level of debt and a lot of countries, are seeing deeper social, and economic division, this is something we need to address. We could see deeper divides and we need an economic framework that works for everyone and which also takes into account that we have other challenges, like the climate crisis.

ER: You are, of course, a German Green MEP and we know that following federal elections in Germany (26 September) there's probably going to be a coalition government and that the Green Party will be part of that coalition. Do you think there will be much change in the economic approach of a coalition government that involves the Green Party?

RA: We need things to be different. It's true, it's not easy to go into the negotiations because we know that we will have to negotiate with the current finance minister of Germany. But at least I think that now that the campaigns are over we can have an honest talk about European fiscal policy, the situation in Europe, and what we need to do. But as Greens, we will fight for a different fiscal policy and a new German position.

ER: There are rumours that the liberals will want an economic post within the new government as part of their agreement to be part of the coalition. Is that something that you in the Green Party would resist? Or is it more important to have an agreement on the substance as part of the coalition rather than ministerial positions in the administration?

RA: I mean, you can't change climate policy, you can't change social policy, European affairs without having a strong role in economic policy. And yes, this is one of the key conflicts we will face with the liberals (FDP), which has quite a different position. In the Social Democratic Party there is a lot of support for green policy, but with the liberals, they are opposing a lot of our ideas. If you’re looking at how  the coalition talks are going in Germany, and how successful they could be, then you have to have a closer look on the economic policy and the negotiations about this, because I think that there, the conflicts or the differences in this area are bigger than in others.

ER: Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, has suggested that investment linked to meeting net zero could maybe be excluded from the current spending restrictions. Do you think this solution would be enough?

RA: It could be a good first step, because the spending needs related to the climate transition are enormous. We are not prepared for this at a European level. So this could be one solution out of many others where we could see some steps in the right direction. My hope is that the new German government will at least be open to this, because we know that we need support from the member states, especially from some of the bigger and richer ones. 

ER: Today, you were speaking at a discussion on cross party support for a new approach. This links a little into what you've already been saying about forming a coalition and the approach to green funding. But do you think that will be possible? Do you think the atmosphere has changed?

AR: Yes, in the European Parliament, we, for the first time in the history of the European Parliament actually came up with a report, which expressed support for changing the fiscal rules. It’s a report where a majority in the parliament said that we need to change the fiscal rules and that recognized that we are in a new situation, which is actually good news. And we also can see some new developments going on in the European Commission, you already mentioned. So my feeling is that from the side of the Parliament and the European Commission, there will be some pressure, there will be some new developments and then we can try to push the member states so that it will actually happen.

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