Brussels, 27/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - The ink of the eurozone leaders' deal is barely dry (see EUROPE 10483) yet the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, has already announced that measures will be unveiled on Wednesday 23 November to boost economic governance in the Eurozone. He made the announcement during a debate at the European Parliament on Thursday 27 October (see separate article). EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehnhas already been given greater powers and a European official commented that the Commission was starting to get results.
Promoted to become a vice-president of the European Commission and Commissioner for the Euro, Rehn will help Barroso prepare for future European summits and will be responsible for representing the eurozone abroad. In order to separate off the job of collecting and analysing facts and figures, Eurostat will now come under the aegis of Commissioner Algirdas Šemeta.
Barroso was delighted that the eurozone had started moving beyond the updated Stability and Growth Pact to introduce proper economic governance based on the Community method. On 27 November, the Commission will introduce the following measures: - two regulations, one on boosting budget surveillance and one on making funds provided under Article 136 of the EU Treaty conditional upon budget surveillance; - a report on representation of the eurozone abroad; - a Green Paper on options for eurobonds to pool a section of eurozone countries' debt; - a report on the Annual Growth Review for 2012 that kicks off the next European semester.
After the eurozone summit, the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, said agreement had been reached on 10 measures to improve eurozone governance, including the holding of at least two eurozone summits a year to set out strategy guidelines for economic policies, improving competitiveness and boosting convergence, and the appointment of a chair of the eurozone at the same time as the election of the president of the European Council for an identical term of office. The measures were demanded by France and Germany. The chair of the eurozone will be Herman Van Rompuy at first, who will keep the ten non-euro countries and the European Parliament “closely informed” of developments. The Eurogroup will ensure permanent coordination of economic policies. The decision to elect a chair of the Eurogroup, to be permanently based in Brussels, will be taken when Jean-Claude Juncker's current term of office expires (he is currently the head of the Eurogroup). The presidents of the eurozone, the Commission and the Eurogroup will meet at least once a month, and the meetings may be attended by the head of the ECB as required. Clear rules and mechanisms will govern communication and ensure greater coherence in eurozone messages, and particular attention is to be paid to this by the heads of the eurozone and the Eurogroup. (MB/transl.fl)