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Aftermath of the elections – MEPs must pay attention to economic and financial policy
The European Parliament is establishing new political groups and leadership, with the first constituent plenary session on the 16th and 19th of July – Euronews has booked MEPs capable of shaping economic and financial policy in the new assembly.
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A new parliament is being formed around the powerful Central European People’s Party group, with its Socialist and Democratic coalition, green and liberal allies, but with a strengthened far right, adding new impetus and uncertainty to the process – which may affect the development of the financial economy. policies over the next five years.
While there is a growing desire among policymakers to focus more on enforcement and implementation before more regulation, there are widespread differences among political groups on how to drive long-term economic growth.
“One of the main reasons for Europe’s poor economic performance is low productivity, the lack of financing available for high-potential, high-risk companies, and barriers to innovative European companies creating scale across the Union,” researchers at think tank Center for European Reform (CER) wrote in a post-election analysis.
“Populist and far-right parties are likely to be an obstacle to many of these measures,” CER analysts added, noting that reforms such as those needed to strengthen the Capital Markets Union will likely occupy the agenda of centrist MEPs.
Also on the to-do list is the digital euro project, which aims to provide consumers with an alternative means of payment, and the review of EU rules on payment services, where Parliament intends to hold online platforms responsible for payment fraud.
But who will be most likely to influence these and other dossiers through a newly formed economic and financial committee in Parliament?
More than 25 sitting members of Parliament’s economic committee are expected to return for another five years, according to a Euronews analysis based on available provisional results.
Among them are the president of the commission, Irene Tinagli (Italy/Socialists and Democrats) and the vice-presidents Markus Ferber (Germany/PPE), Stéphanie Yon-Courtin (France/Renew Europe), Jonás Fernández (Spain/S&D) and Johan Van Overtveldt (Belgium/ECR).
Others were not so lucky.
Romanian liberal economist Dragoș Pîslaru, professor Marek Belka (Poland/S&D) and Eva Poptcheva (Spain/PPE), who led the work to create a new anti-money laundering agency, were not re-elected.
Like the veterans check out our pre-election list step into their old roles alongside new faces – Euronews took a look at some of the interesting newcomers who could be headed to the committee.
Five to watch:
1. Sophie Wilmès (Belgium/Renewing Europe)
Wilmès (49) is a former Belgian Prime Minister, the first woman to hold the position and the successor to the current President of the European Council, Charles Michel.
The Belgian led the list of the liberal Mouvement Reformateur (MR) party, which obtained around 540,000 votes in the June elections – equivalent to three of the 22 seats.
MR’s top candidate studied communications and financial management and also worked for some time as a finance officer for the European Commission and as a financial and economic consultant for a law firm.
In 2015, she was Minister of Budget and Public Service until she became Prime Minister of Belgium, from October 2019 to October 2020, when she also assumed the roles of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In the summer of 2022, she resigned from her duties for personal reasons – but is now ready to shape EU policy.
two. João Cotrim de Figueiredo (Portugal/Others)
Another interesting profile is that of the businessman and politician, the liberal João Cotrim de Figueiredo (62).
Cotrim de Figueiredo won one of two seats for the Liberal Initiative party for the first time in the EU elections.
Graduated in MBA and economist with experience in the financial sector, between 2013 and 2016, he was president of the board of directors of Turismo de Portugal, and only became a politician in 2019, when he was elected deputy for the Lisbon constituency in the 2019 Portuguese legislative elections .
3. Pasquale Tridico (Italy/NI)
Tridico (48) has a PhD in Economics from Roma Tre University and was president of the National Social Security Institute (INPS) from 2019 to 2023.
He was involved in the reform of the Italian pension system and in the implementation of an initiative called “citizenship income”, a minimum income scheme, which could inspire his work as a Member of the European Parliament.
“The idea of a European basic income financed by everyone, with an increase in the European budget, and used based on need, where the crisis hits most, would amortize a State’s social expenses,” Tridico said in an interview. last year.
The Italian has published articles on economic growth, welfare models, sustainable development and inequality in several academic journals – and teaches courses on economic policy and labor economics.
Now it’s your turn to shape future politics with the Five Star Movement party.
4. Fabio de Masi (Germany/Others)
German-Italian MEP Fabio de Masi (44) was the main candidate of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, a newly formed party brought together by former members of Die Linke.
He (and his party, which won six seats) will be one to watch in the next term.
De Masi is an economist and has some previous experience in the European Parliament, where he was a member until 2017.
The economist was a member of the finance committee, as well as vice-chairman of a special committee investigating money laundering and tax evasion, due to his strong credentials in the fight against corruption.
During his term in the German parliament (2017-2021), he headed an investigation into the collapse of the German payments company Wirecard.
5. Sérgio Gonçalves (Portugal/S&D)
In March, Portugal went to the polls and witnessed a change of regime after eight years of government led by the socialists led by António Costa.
A coalition of conservative forces won the national elections and the Portuguese Socialist Party decided to change its strategy for the EU elections.
Gonçalves, 45 years old, is part of that new generation of Portuguese socialists in Brussels and Strasbourg, with eight members – just one less than in the last term.
From 2022 to 2023, he led the Portuguese Socialist Party in Madeira.
Gonçalves dedicated his professional career to the business sector, having a degree in economics and a master’s degree in international management.
MEPs will hold the first parliamentary committee meetings between July 22nd and 25th.