Europe: Hollande

Growth Pact Dept: Fran ois Hollande s victory is a fresh chance for Europe. It should spell the end of a policy oriented exclusively toward austerity, which has paralyzed our economies and divided the EU. The new French president s commitment to a European growth policy has brought hope to citizens, and should not alarm anyone certainly not the financial markets, according to The Star. A new master plan for growth would not be about printing money. Fiscal discipline remains essential, as are deep structural reforms. The growth pact can be properly financed by new sources of revenue, such as a financial-transaction tax and joint project bonds for infrastructure investment, or by curbing tax evasion and tax fraud and eliminating tax havens, as well as by more efficient and intelligent use of structural funds and bRUSSELS Rarely has an election resonated so widely across the European Union as the French presidential ballot has done. Rarely has a leadership change in one EU member state created expectations of a real policy shift. Hollande s plans for a growth initiative fall on fertile ground, especially in the European Parliament, which has repeatedly called for such measures. I am delighted that this message is increasingly echoed by the political mainstream, including most recently by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi. Likewise, the European Commission is working on a growth pact to be discussed by EU leaders in June. Indeed, Europe needs a master plan to avoid a tailspin of recession, growing unemployment, and weakening banking systems. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.