Sat, 13 Sep, 2014 12:00:16 AM FTimes- Xinhua Report, Sept 13
Finance ministers of the Eurogroup agreed on Friday during a meeting in Italy's Milan on achieving the central goal of reducing taxes on labor to relaunch the eurozone's economy.
Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem told a press conference following the meeting that the eurozone has entered a new phase.
"Our focus has shifted from ensuring financial stability to supporting growth," he said.
The monetary policy measures adopted by the European Central Bank (ECB) earlier this month, he said, need to be "complemented by a strong and credible mix of fiscal policy, structural reforms and investment."
Dijsselbloem said the finance ministers all agreed that the European Union (EU) member states should keep any form of flexibility within the existing budget rules. The growth-friendly consolidation strategy, however, should continue, he added.
"As structural reforms require time and affect vested interests, political courage and perseverance is needed," he pointed out, adding the Eurogroup is "determined to act as a driver for structural reforms."
The Eurogroup head insisted that reducing the tax burden on labor, a clear impediment to an efficient functioning of eurozone labor markets and therefore to employment and growth, has become a "clear policy priority."
EU finance ministers, he said, are determined to take this work forward and will monitor the introduction of such reforms in spring 2015 as part of a broader stock-taking exercise on the implementation of the recommendations to the eurozone.
The Eurogroup, the main forum for the management of the single currency area, is an informal body that brings together the finance ministers of countries whose currency is the euro.
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