Pierre Moscovici calls for ‘more Europe’ to fend off populists

Commissioner said his successor’s powers should be equivalent to that of a European finance minister.

DAVOS, Switzerland — The eurozone needs further integration, said Pierre Moscovici, the European commissioner for economic and financial affairs, speaking Wednesday at a panel debate hosted by POLITICO and the World Economic Forum.

“We need more convergence, institutional tools, more policy tools such as a budget and a minister of finance for the EU,” he said, calling on EU countries in the monetary union to give up additional layers of sovereignty.

Moscovici said “my successor needs to be that (European) finance minister,” adding “it is time for accelerating.”

Such a move was warranted, the commissioner said, by an unstable international situation — from “a different presidency” under incoming U.S. President Donald Trump to Russian ambitions to China’s rise as an “unstable superpower.” Under such circumstances, the EU countries needed to get even closer together, he said. “We need to be united more than ever. We need more Europe.”

The former French finance minister also called on countries such as Germany and the Netherlands to spend more.

“Some countries in the EU must still limit their deficits, but others have huge surpluses, both external and fiscal, and they must be used for the common sake of the eurozone and our common growth,” he said.

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That would also help fend off Euroskeptic parties, according to Moscovici. “It’s the economy, stupid, basically. What people in Europe suffered from first of all is too-weak growth, too-high unemployment and too much debt.” This is why they have lost confidence in incumbent political forces, he said.

“The populists are our enemies. This Commission is a political one, an anti-populist one.”