Having been invited to present the package of proposals concerning the deepening of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) published on 6 December of last year (see EUROPE 11920), Massimo Suardi, deputy head of cabinet of the Vice-President of the European Commission with responsibility for the euro and Social Dialogue, Valdis Dombrovskis, told a debate at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on Monday 29 January that the Commission was indeed planning to put in place an instrument to support the member states' structural reforms, together with a stabilisation mechanism aiming to maintain investments in the event of asymmetric shocks.
The two instruments, both already referred to in the above-mentioned package of proposals, are expected to be included in the proposal on the post-2020 multiannual financial framework, which the Commission will present to the European Parliament at the end of May. These reflect two different conceptions of the creation of a fiscal capacity for the Eurozone.
The structural reforms instrument is supported by Germany, which is calling for aid to the member states to be conditional on the implementation of socio-economic measures to improve the public finance situation in a given member state.
The stabilisation mechanism, which is more based on solidarity, would help to support states hit by external shocks. This kind of instrument is more in line with the French vision.
It remains to be seen the extent to which the two mechanisms affect other EU policies. One group of states, based around Germany, may seek to use these mechanisms to limit the amount allocated to other EU policies, such as the common agricultural policy (CAP) or the cohesion policy. In the opposite corner, France considers that these two instruments should be exclusive to the Eurozone (EZ19) and should automatically be separated off from the general budget of the European Union (EU27), as the French President, Emmanuel Macon, said in his speech at the Sorbonne on 26 September of last year (see EUROPE 11870).
The Commission is expected to opt for including both mechanisms in the EU budget. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)