Brussels, 27/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - Countries intending to join the euro should be allowed to attend Eurogroup meetings, suggested the Polish Presidency in an announcement at the end of the 26 October 2011 European Summit, with the aim of avoiding any increase in economic governance in the eurozone being to the detriment of EU27 integration.
On the dual role of Herman Van Rompuy, who will be both chair of the European Council and of the eurozone, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said on Sunday 23 October that this was no more than a temporary situation and on Wednesday, the Polish Presidency announced that it would be unveiling proposals on the structure of economic governance to deal with the problem that would arise for the coordination of the EU27 and Eurogroup. Tusk says the proposals will provide practical solutions to allow true conciliation of two important European interests, namely integration within the Eurogrup and ensuring integration of the whole of the EU27.
No reaction was generated by the not very new idea of allowing non-euro countries to attend Eurogoup meetings. All attention was on France and Germany, as usual, despite the Polish Presidency pointing out that Poland wanted to join the euro at some point. At the European Council on Wednesday evening ahead of the eurozone summit, this comment did not help to advance the debate on important technical details about the Greek bailout or economic governance, as Tusk himself admitted.
The British prime minister, David Cameron, reacted after the Sunday 23 October 2011 summit, but not to the danger of a two-speed Europe. His ire was aimed at Eurogroup's inability to make decsiions, saying that the eurozone crisis affected all European economies, including the UK's, and that failure to solve the crisis jeopardised British interests as well. Despite exasperation among the ten non-euro countries, the European Council on Wednesday 26 October was unable to agree on how the EU27 and EU17 would be coordinated, despite assurances from the Polish prime minister that he was satisifed that his message had got through. Any action to boost the integration of Eurogroup will be action that will not weaken the unity of the EU as a single unit, he said. (JK/MB/transl.fl)