Brussels, 18/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - The Christian Democrats have repeated their unfailing support for the single currency. In a manifesto published at the European People's Party (EPP) congress in Bucharest on 17 and 18 October ahead of the European Summit, which re-elected Wilfried Martens as its head, the EPP say: “The euro is irreversible. (…) The benefits of the euro, as our single currency, outweigh the costs by far”. The EPP adds: “Membership of a monetary union implies responsibility and solidarity for the single currency. This requires sound policies, fiscal discipline and continuous economic reform. It also requires a significant proportion of fiscal resources to be channelled thorugh the EU budget”.
The Christian Democrats want the European Central Bank to be independent and continue with its primary task of tackling inflation, but back any measure that complies with the ECB statutes that will “enable the stability of the European financial system as a whole”, this being a veiled reference to the OMT bond purchase system recently announced by the ECB for eurozone countries that request aid from the European Stability Mechanism, the eurozone's new bailout fund. The EPP says: “Maintaining the confidence of investors shall always be a priority during decision-making processes. This can best be achieved by reforms and maintaining the no-bailout principle of the Treaty, but this does not exclude mutual solidarity between the member states”. On the economic front, the EPP calls for structural reforms to continue to encourage the convergence of national economies, social security systems, the labour market (matching pay to productivity, the working week, ensuring nobody works on Sundays) and fighting tax evasion and fraud. Banks should return to their main work - financing the real economy. (MB/transl.fl)