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Finance Minister Reirs: Stagnating and slow economic growth is not an option
On 23 April, Latvian Finance Minister Jānis Reirs opened an international seminar on financial regulation and services organised by Eurofi thinktank. The Minister presented achievements of the Latvian Presidency in the field of on financial regulation and services and informed about the issues to be discussed at the informal meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN).
“Competitive Europe was and is an objective of Latvia and the Latvian Presidency. During the Presidency, we have been trying to facilitate a number of issues that would return the European economy to growth. Stagnating and slow economic growth is not an option. That is why we have to facilitate it with investments in the real economy,” noted Finance Minister Jānis Reirs speaking about Presidency’s priorities.
The Minister expressed satisfaction that the European Parliament has completed its internal procedures so that the Presidency now can launch the trialogue about the European Fund for Strategic Investment. It will allow attracting as soon as possible at least 315 billion euro to develop such fields as infrastructure, education, science, energy so that the European Union (ES) economy returns to sustainable growth.
As a particularly important task of the Latvian Presidency, the Minister mentioned the fight against tax evasion aggressive tax planning. Latvia has prepared all necessary strategic guidelines to make the fight against tax optimization across the EU more intensive.
“The fight against tax avoidance is a fundamental element of every modern economy. Availability of resources collected in taxes is very important to find resources for public investment, social assistance and successful provision of government’s basic functions,” emphasized the Minister.
The fight against tax avoidance and in particular the EU action plan for Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) is one of the issues on the agenda of the informal meeting of ECOFIN ministers.
The Minister informed that the ECOFIN meeting would discuss such issues as EU growth potential and necessary structural reforms, as well as further steps towards creating a Capital Markets Union.
“We have to achieve competitive EU that does not lag behind other regions of the world and maintains sustainable level of life in the future,” noted J. Reirs.
The informal meeting of ministers of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) will be held in Riga, on April 24 and 25.
More information on Eurofieu2015.lv
Photos from the eventwww.flickr.com
Contact
MAIJA STRAUPMANE
Expert in communication
+371 67083938
+371 27022919
maija.straupmane@fm.gov.lv
