In an opinion dated Thursday 19th April concerning the European Commission's proposals of December 2017 on deepening Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) (see EUROPE 11920), the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) calls for the European leaders to fully commit to reforms that combine solidarity with responsibility.
“The completion of the EMU requires first of all a strong political commitment, efficient governance and better use of the available finances, in order to actually cope with both risk reduction and risk sharing among member states”, says Stefano Palmieri (group II, Italy), co-rapporteur of the opinion, referring to the current discussions on Banking Union (see EUROPE 11988).
Whilst welcoming the package of proposals on the table, the EESC laments the lack of commitment to the European pillar of social rights, which co-rapporteur Mihai Ivascu believes to be of major importance.
Although it takes a position in favour of converting the current European Stability Mechanism into a European Monetary Fund (EMF), it lists certain responsibilities that it feels should be included among its competences. It should, for instance, serve to prevent bank crises, support economic development and absorb macro-economic shocks.
The EESC also supports the creation of a macro-economic stabilisation mechanism, to be activated in the event of economic downturn, a convergence support mechanism and the post of European minister for the economy and finance. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)