Varga discusses Europe’s competitiveness challenges in Brussels

The finance ministry said that Europe’s role in the global economy has declined significantly in recent decades, and the continent is losing ground to its global competitors. Finance Minister Mihály Varga said this at a meeting of Macroeconomic Dialogue at the Political Level (MEDPOL) in Brussels on Monday.

The ministry cited Varga as saying at the meeting he chaired representing the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union that Europe’s increasingly serious challenges call for urgent and effective solutions, underscoring the need to support families with children and households.

He said there was an ongoing debate about which areas the policy measures addressing the EU’s competitiveness challenges should focus on.

He said the Hungarian presidency believed the key areas were real wage growth, productivity, boosting investments, and taking advantage of the opportunities presented by the digital revolution. Varga said the aging European population, declining birth rates, and the difficulties burdening the welfare system were all problems that could be addressed by supporting families with children and households.

The minister said Hungary was setting a good example in this area, pointing out that it has introduced Europe’s broadest family support system and planned to expand it next year.

Varga said participants at the MEDPOL meeting had discussed the various options. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Ecofin Director-General Thomas Westphal also attended the meeting.

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