Brussels, 24/01/2013 (Agence Europe) - MEPs from the European Parliament's economic and monetary affairs committee and budget and employment committee and representatives of national parliaments will hold a debate on Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 January 2013 on boosting democratic control over the strengthening of the economic and monetary union (EMU) in the eurozone in particular.
This annual debate is a contribution to the measures to boost the EMU's democratic legitimacy, European Parliament (EP) spokesman Jaume Duch told EUROPE on Thursday 24 January. He said that if the European Commission wants to make changes to a member state's budget, it will have to discuss the matter with the country first. The 25-member state budget pact that came into force on 1 January provides for greater cooperation between the EP and national parliaments of budget pact countries through a body comprising representatives of their relevant committees (see EUROPE 10758).
Special EP committee for the eurozone? At the end of 2012, when unveiling the reports by the European Commission and European Council on strengthening EMU, EP President Martin Schulz (of Germany) reacted to the current debate at EU level about whether to set up special structures to ensure greater democratic control over the EMU. Duch said the European Parliament has taken action to demonstrate that new bodies outside the EP are not needed for ensuring democratic legitimacy in the eurozone, adding that the consideration of this question has now come to an end. In Schulz's circles, people are considering the idea of setting up a special EP committee for the eurozone (or a subcommittee under the aegis of the economic and monetary affairs committee).
Co-piloting talks on behalf of the EP on the “two-pack” of rules amending the Stability and Growth Pact, Elisa Ferreira (S&D, Portugal) said the EP was considering whether to create a mirror of the Eurogroup, the informal club of eurozone finance ministers that has decision-making powers. This is simply one of the ideas that has been put forward, said Jean-Paul Gauzès (EPP, France), who said the debate began in order to respond to the desires of the Council of Ministers, but many people challenged the usefulness of setting up special bodies for the eurozone within the EP.
One of the tricky questions to be answered is the status of MEPs from Central and Eastern European countries that are not yet in the eurozone but will joining at some point. During the talks at the Eurogroup on the setting up of the European Stability Mechanism, these countries wanted to have a say. They were allowed to attend the talks but were not giving voting rights. (MB/transl.fl)