European Wage Growth Slows at End of 2023: Bulgaria Outpaces EU Average
Data released by Eurostat reveals a notable deceleration in wage growth across the European Union (EU) and the eurozone during the final quarter of 2023
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The European Parliament approved on Wednesday the 28 members of the European Commission proposed by Jean-Claude Juncker, reports Reuters.
In his keynote speech in front of the MEPs the incoming EC president Juncker outlined the priorities of his five-year term.
In the next five years EU will not enlarge further, I don't want to mislead the accession candidates, said the EC president-elect before the European Parliament voting on the new European Commission in Strasbourg, quoted by the BTA wire service.
According to Juncker, if it were necessary, accession negotiations will be sped up, but will not be completed.
He also told the European Parliament that one of the main priorities in his term will be unemployment not just the "dreadful" level of youth joblessness but unemployment in general and pledged he would present his EUR 300 B plan for investment to bolster growth and jobs by the end of this year.
"If you give us your support today, we will present the jobs, growth and investment package before Christmas," Juncker told parliament in Strasbourg, adding that investment should focus on improving economic efficiency, not short-term spending.
One of the main sectors, in which investment should increase, according to Juncker, is digital economy.
Juncker also said that the European Union's budget rules that limit the size of government deficits and public debt will not be weakened.
While calling for greater flexibility and investment, he also warned that there could be no re-writing of the rules of the EU's stability and growth pact.
He insisted that increasing member states' debt levels was not the answer to Europe's economic problems.
"The rules will not be changed," Juncker said. "But they can be implemented with a degree flexibility."
Investment, he said, was only one part of a three-pillar strategy, along with structural reforms of national economics and renewed fiscal credibility for governments.
Juncker also said he was not expecting blind subordination from the Commissioners. "It is too late for me at this age to start a career as a dictator," he noted. "I will demand of the Commissioners to feel free and their political opinon to be respected. The great loser from the new division of authority in the EC is me, because I delegate some of my authority to my deputies."
The new European Commission is coming into office on November 1. Juncker succeeds outgoing president Jose Manuel Barroso.
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