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THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
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– The ESM has to become the basis of a Eurozone Treasury. The Euro-
zone should be equipped with the capacity to issue centralised
debt, as well as with tax harmonisation, particularly as far as corpo-
ration tax and capital taxation are concerned. The Financial Transac-
tion Tax has to be introduced as an independent source of revenue
for the Union. All financial transactions with tax havens must be
prohibited.
2. Economic policy for investment and against inequality
– Monetary policy has to be focused on getting credit to the real
economy and, to be precise, to the productive economy, taking into
account that the effects of productive investment on economic
growth and, therefore, on the demand for money, tend to offset or
outweigh the inflationary effects of the initial expansion of money
supply. This basic criterion of linking monetary policy to the real
economy and of prioritising its relationship with the productive
economy can be managed both through the selection of the re-
cipients of European Central Bank credit operations and by means
of differentiating the base interest rates applied according to the
link with productive investments, or not, of the targets of the mon-
etary operations.
– Under no circumstances should fiscal consolidation become an ob-
stacle to economic recovery. Fiscal policy has to drop inflexible and
monolithic austerity as the core of economic policy and shift the
focus to the promotion of investment for growth and jobs. It is
necessary to do better than the inadequate and, as yet, unimple-
mented Juncker Plan and move on to an investment plan equivalent
to not less than 2 % of European GDP. Technological investment
and social investment (welfare work, education and vocational
training) have to be stepped up, focusing action on convergence
among the Eurozone Member States. It is necessary to create a
social dimension in the European Union, establishing a minimum
monthly wage and a universal basic income, with a harmonisation
of pensions in the Union, in proportion to each country’s average
income level.
3. Refugees. Priority measures:
– Establish a new Union competence regarding the right to asylum
with adequate funding and resources. We support the European
Parliament proposal of creating a centralised system for asylum
claims in Europe, with quotas for each country.