MEPs present radical new eurozone plans

Parliament President Antonio Tajani supports radical plans tabled by two MEPs which are designed to beef up the ailing eurozone.

MEPs have tabled radical plans designed to beef up the ailing eurozone | Photo credit: Press Association

By Martin Banks

Martin Banks is a senior reporter at the Parliament Magazine

22 Feb 2017


A resolution drafted by German EPP group member Reimer Böge and Pervenche Berès, a French Socialist, proposes bringing the euro area economies closer together and making them more resilient to outside shocks. 

The two MEPs advocate a convergence strategy funded by a specific euro area budget, financed by its member states and available under clear conditions. 

Key proposals include a fiscal capacity consisting of the European stability mechanism (ESM) and specific additional budgetary capacity for the euro area, funded by its members as a part of the EU budget.


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The resolution also calls for a European monetary fund - which should gradually develop out of the ESM - with "adequate lending and borrowing capacities and a clearly-defined mandate to absorb economic shocks."

It also recommends the creation of "a convergence code", proposing a five year period to meet convergence criteria on taxation, labour market, investment, productivity, and social cohesion and governance.

A final proposal is for a bigger role for the European Parliament and national parliaments, merging the functions of Eurogroup President and economic and monetary affairs Commissioner, plus a finance minister and treasury within the European Commission.

Boge said, "Stabilising the eurozone would be in the interests of the European Union as a whole. Our proposals will therefore lay the basis for any further negotiations with the other European institutions. 

"International Monetary Fund experts have also responded positively, showing great interest in our ideas."

Further comment came from Berès, who said, "Sixty years after the treaty of Rome was signed, the spirit of the European Union's founding fathers needs to be reignited. Creating a budget for the euro area would be a big step towards this goal, at a time when the need to preserve the euro's integrity has never been more urgent."

She added, "By delivering solidarity to member states facing an exceptional crisis, absorbing macroeconomic shocks that can affect the euro zone as a whole and promoting upward convergence, such a tool could make the most of the currency, while helping to achieve full employment within the Union."

The resolution was welcomed by the Parliament President Antonio Tajani, who said its proposals were an invaluable contribution to the ongoing debate about the EU's future.

The MEPs' proposals are part of a package that aims to clarify Parliament's position on the future of the EU, in time for the 60th anniversary of the treaty of Rome this spring.

 

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