The debate they held at their informal meeting in Bratislava on Friday 9 September revealed that the European finance ministers cannot yet agree on whether the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) should have its own budgetary capacity (see EUROPE 11618).
Rumour had it, furthermore, that the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, has asked the Slovak Presidency of the Council of the EU to put the discussions on hold. "There was a disagreement about the timing of the discussion", the Slovak Secretary of State, Ivan Lesay, confirmed at the press conference. "It's a complex discussion", finance minister Peter Kazimir added.
The fact is that there are several schools of thought within the Ecofin Council. Some ministers are calling for an investment mechanism, others for a stabilisation regime to act in support of Eurozone countries facing a sudden hike in unemployment and a third group believes that the time is not yet ripe to launch a new instrument of this kind. "This means that it is quite clear that more reflection is needed", Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis explained.
According to information leaked from behind closed doors, Sweden questioned whether an EMU budgetary capacity was necessary, noting that economic experts cannot agree on the issue. Schäuble is reported to have said that the capacity would call for treaty change and that there was therefore no time to be lost on such considerations. He did, however, call for a common European employment market and a related 'mobility' package. Denmark is also reported to have questioned the need for, and the benefit to be derived from, a budgetary capacity for the eurozone.
The Dutch finance minister, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, told his counterparts that he was "open-minded and interested" in the idea, but added that it raised political questions. However, he stressed the need for caution and not to "expect too much from a single instrument".
Among the countries that are interested, therefore, opinions also differ on precisely the tool to be set in place. Italy is in favour of a European regime to fight unemployment and has been developing a specific proposal for years. Cyprus is reported to be less at ease with a regime of this kind than with an investment fund. Ireland, however, described the regime as simply "pie in the sky".
Speaking to the press, the French minister, Michel Sapin, called for a security and defence fund. As security is among the most predominant issues, "I think that this is one of the points that will progress the fastest and the most specifically over the next months", he said.
At a press conference, however, ECB vice-president Vitor Constancio observed a shared vision between the ministers: whatever instrument is put in place, the precondition for an initiative of this kind is that the European budgetary rules must be complied with. Any new tool needs to be based on confidence and the majority of ministers stressed the importance of having our 'house in order', Kazimir added.
Constancio said that a new budgetary instrument would not necessarily mean mutualisation. Certain regimes make it possible to avoid permanent transfers between member states, he said. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)