On 26 March, the Saeima will host an international conference on How to Couple Fiscal Discipline with Growth? aimed at providing a forum in Latvia for a high-quality discussion on the EU’s treaty on fiscal discipline signed by 25 EU member states. High-level politicians from the parliaments of the Baltic States and Poland, the European Parliament (EP), as well as economists and political scientists, will take part in the conference and will elaborate further economic growth scenarios for the EU.
The discussion is organised by the European Affairs Committee of the Saeima in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Commission Representation in Latvia and the EP Information Office in Latvia. The opening address will be given by Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, and Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Chairperson of the European Affairs Committee.
“The new fiscal compact is vital for the European Union because ensuring fiscal stability is the first significant step towards solving the economic crisis that has hit Europe. However, it is also essential for the EU to take the next step, namely, to implement comprehensive reforms that would facilitate competitiveness, growth and employment,” stressed Kalniņa-Lukaševica.
“Therefore, the title of the international conference emphasises the need to bring closer together, or even to couple, fiscal stability and growth. Fiscal discipline alone is not enough to overcome the consequences of the crisis; we also need to implement growth-oriented reforms and take measures to encourage competitiveness,” explained the Chairperson of the European Affairs Committee.
The first part of the conference will focus on political aspects of the European fiscal treaty and its impact on further EU integration. During this part of the conference, politicians and political scientists will seek answers to questions such as whether the new fiscal compact is a step towards further EU integration and what kind of EU integration we want to have in the future.
Taavi Rõivas, Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee of the Estonian Riigikogu; Česlovas Vytautas Stankēvičius, Deputy Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas and Chairman of its Committee on European Affairs; Agnieszka Pomaska, Chairperson of the European Union Affairs Committee of the Polish Sejm; and Edmund Kazimierz Wittbrodt, Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee of the Polish Senate, will participate in the discussion. Furthermore, Viktors Makarovs, Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Žaneta Ozoliņa, professor of political science at the University of Latvia, will take part in the panel discussion.
The second part of the conference will be devoted to discussions among economists and politicians on how to strike a balance between fiscal austerity and prerequisites for growth. Inna Šteinbuka, Head of the European Commission Representation in Latvia; Vjačeslavs Dombrovskis, Chairman of the Economic, Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Policy Committee of the Saeima; Andris Strazds, Senior Economist at Nordea banka; Graham Watson, Member of the European Parliament; and Kārlis Bauze, Head of the Monetary Policy Department of the Bank of Latvia, will take part in this part of the discussion. Both panel discussions will be moderated by journalist Pauls Raudseps.
The discussion on the new European treaty on fiscal stability will take place on 26 March from 10:00 in the Red Room of the main building of the Saeima on Jēkaba iela 11. It will be possible to watch the live stream of the conference on the Saeima website www.saeima.lv.
Saeima Press Service