Kamenicky: Energy Prices Important for Slovakia in Debates on Competitiveness

Brussels, March 11 (TASR-correspondent) - The main political discussion among EU finance ministers (Ecofin) in Brussels on Tuesday concerned competitiveness and reducing the regulatory burden, Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD) told TASR following the meeting, adding that Slovakia supports these efforts and stresses the importance of energy prices. Kamenicky noted that the Council of Ministers reached a political agreement on a directive on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation and also addressed the current economic and financial impact of Russia's aggression against Ukraine. According to him, Slovakia supports all activities related to simplifying tax processes, reducing red tape, etc. He also admitted that he was somewhat "amazed" that many of his counterparts at the meeting spoke more about defence than about competitiveness itself. "We're trying to keep energy prices low, and we need to free up gas transit through Ukraine, as Europe has less gas. This is pushing up prices, and we need energy [prices] to be as low as possible and to have competitive industry," stated Kamenicky. The minister pointed out that the government is trying to mitigate the situation by subsidising energy prices so that the impact on households isn't so big, adding that the lower energy prices are, the less state assistance is needed. "I also told my colleagues that we can't be led by the new issue of arms spending into not dealing with competitiveness. This is the main problem we can see in Europe and we, as the largest car manufacturer, have to make sure that our industry is competitive," said Kamenicky. am/df