The three Baltic states are supporting former Latvian prime minister Valdis Dombrovskis to take pole position for the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) in the EU elections.
Speaking to EUobserver Dombrovskis said he decided to put his name forward as the EPP top candidate because he believes “there is something from my work experience as a prime minister of Latvia which can be useful also at a European level.”
Dombrovskis, 42 years old, is running again to be an MEP after being elected to the European Parliament in 2004-2009. He became Latvian PM in 2009, just as the financial and economic crisis struck his home country.
Latvia was the first EU country to ask for an international bailout, but later rebounded and managed to meet the strict economic and fiscal criteria for euro membership. It became a member of the single currency on 1 January. Dombrovskis, however, had already resigned a few weeks earlier, following the collapse of a supermarket which killed 54 people.
So far, the other official candidates in the running are ex-eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker (59 years old) and EU internal market commissioner Michel Barnier (63 years old), both veterans of EU politics.
Asked if the need for younger politicians on the EU scene was also a reason for his candidacy, Dombrovskis laughed, saying he would “certainly not like to make age the main issue.”
“I appreciate that the EPP is able to put forward other experienced candidates. Mr. Juncker of course has huge experience in both national govenrment and EU matters, having also led the Eurogroup for a number of years.”
“But I decided to put forward my candidacy to propose these ideas about competitiveness. As I am always saying, I am realistic about my chances, but I still think it’s worth putting forward my candidacy,” he said.
Dombrovskis’ main argument is that while Europe has done a lot to boost fiscal discipline and reduce budget deficits it has focused less on increasing competitiveness.
“You cannot sustain higher levels of welfare and prosperity without high levels of competitiveness, particularly in today’s environment with the emergence of new economies,” Dombrovskis said.
He admitted there is no “miracle solution” to bring Europe out of its current situation of high unemployment and sluggish growth.
But he said things could improve with the creation of a single market for the digital economy, fairer competition in the energy market, and more ambitious investments in research and development “where the US and Japan are outspending the EU.”
“Similar to the European Semester co-ordinating our fiscal policies, we would need an instrument to coordinate policies related to competitiveness,” Dombrovskis noted, echoing similar calls from Germany, which backs “binding contracts” on competitiveness……(more)
Read the whole story here:http://euobserver.com/eu-elections/123153
Source: EUobserver - Valentina Pop