Cover Story
IS GOOD GOVERNANCE ON OUR AGENDA? WHAT MEPS HAVE TO SAY Authors: Miriam Dalli and David Casa
IN THIS ISSUE, THE MIA ASKED TWO MALTESE MEMBERS OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT FOR THEIR PERSPECTIVES ON GOOD GOVERNANCE AND WHETHER THIS IS ON THEIR AGENDA.
Good Governance Towards Stability in Business and a Better Quality of Life - Miriam Dalli, Member of the European Parliament For all members of the European Union to harness a stable business environment and to safeguard European citizens’ quality of life, good governance is essential. Ensuring accountability and transparency are key, together with providing citizens with an effective, efficient and inclusive system. Good governance is a matter of both internal and external relations. EU support for governance reforms has gained ground in the EU’s external relations, particularly in the EU’s development policy. This is not to say that it has not met its challenges – on the contrary, it has come under considerable pressure to ensure that measures implemented, and funds allocated, actually reach the ultimate target of improving the well-being of citizens. The same goes for the EU’s own Member States. Good governance is a matter of improving democracy and ensuring that the expectations of citizens are met. It is a cross-sector approach that has to apply to all – from the judicial, to the financial, to the environmental and social aspects. By way of example, recommendations for member states were adjusted to
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address new priorities that came to be with the advent of the Coronavirus pandemic. Country specific recommendations now focus on two aspects. First, the immediate fiscal, economic and social responses to the crisis, and second, the medium-term reform and investment priorities to put economies back on track. Such reforms have to be geared for sustainable and inclusive growth, while integrating the green transition and the digital transformation. Their implementation will be monitored to ensure that countries embrace good governance and transparency. Failure to do so will result in the Commission asking member states to improve their system. Another example are the transparency rules that the financial industry must abide by. The S&D Group took the lead on this file and was successful on several key issues, including a more transparent approach on remuneration policies. Under the new rules, banks, insurance companies and pension funds will for the first time have to make visible how they include environmental, social and governance risks in their decision-making process.
