Germany has called on the European Union to speed up negotiations and quickly agree on the next stimulus package.
"We don't need a delay, we need quick legislation," Olaf Scholz said on Monday, ahead of the virtual meeting of EU finance ministers this week. "I call on all the parties, including the European Parliament, to refrain from the usual negotiating tactics and to ensure that a consensus is reached as soon as possible."
"The package must be approved and ratified by the end of this year so that funds for reconstruction can arrive as early as possible next year," he added.
The restoration package was already agreed by the EU governments back in July, but has not yet been approved by the Parliament nor ratified by the government of EU member states.
Voting was delayed because of a number of requirements European lawmakers have put forward on the package.
Among them: more money for research and development, a mandatory timetable for introducing new pan-European to taxes pay for stimulus spending, and rules that tie the allocation of funds to supreme law - a demand opposed by the nationalist governments of Hungary and Poland.
At the same time, Bank of Finland governor, Olli Rehn, said the European Central Bank should regularly review its strategy and adopt more sustainable investment methods.
"I think it is a good idea to review the ECB's monetary policy strategy regularly, for example every five years," Rehn said at a webinar on Monday.
"The current review must take into account growing global challenges such as climate change, as well as the need for sustainable economic development," he added.
Rehn also advised the ECB to look at the strategic review of the US Federal Reserve in order to learn from and draw conclusions.
According to him, the ECB should consider a strategy similar to that of the Fed, which has adopted a flexible inflation target that allows inflation to exceed the 2% limit for a while.
"They agreed to exceed the 2% limit precisely because they want to support employment and economic growth," Rehn notes.
