Brussels, 03/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - Several members of the European Parliament's economic and monetary affairs committee have tabled an amendment to the draft own-initiative report by Sylvie Goulard (ADLE, France) on the gradual pooling of eurozone debt. The report sets out the pros and cons of the various eurobond options on the table, explains Goulard and covers misgivings formulated by German MEPs like Markus Ferber (EPP) and Wolf Klinz (ADLE). The report looks at how to get countries like Spain out of difficulty, countries which are introducing drastic budget and economic reforms, along with tight belt-tightening.
Diogo Feio (EPP, Portugal) says that the partial pooling of public debt in the eurozone is not a magic solution to the current crisis, but rather a medium-term solution, which must be accompanied by greater public spending belt-tightening and possibly even a change to the EU treaties. Philippe Lamberts (Greens/EFA, Belgium) says the eurozone has to decide right now whether it wants to introduce eurobonds, wihch will require tighter democratic control of eurobond managers. Liêm Hoang-Ngoc (S&D, France) has tabled amendments about the scale and duration of redemption funds. Redemption funds are an idea mooted by German economists and set out in the draft Goulard Report. The idea is that they would be used to pool excess eurobond debt for 20 to 25 years (see EUROPE 10528). (MB/transl.fl)