On Thursday, 14 March, MEPs in plenary session of the European Parliament supported (237 votes in favour, 152 against, 18 abstentions) the interim report co-written by Pedro Silva Pereira (S&D, Portugal) and Vladimír Maňka (S&D, Slovakia) on the creation of a European Monetary Fund (EMF), calling for a democratisation of the current European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and its inclusion in the EU’s legal framework.
The letter of the text fully corresponds to the draft report adopted by MEPs from the Parliament’s ‘Economic and Monetary Affairs’ and ‘Budgets’ committees at the end of February (see EUROPE 12198/17). This report echoes the European Commission’s December 2017 legislative package deepening the Economic and Monetary Union (see EUROPE 11920/1).
On Thursday, MEPs rejected a series of amendments to the text as adopted in committee, most of which were tabled by the GUE/NGL.
While the Commission initially wanted to establish an EMF to replace the ESM, MEPs are not positioning themselves here to change the name of the current international organisation based in Luxembourg. However, they are advocating that the eurozone’s permanent rescue fund be incorporated into the EU’s legal framework.
It should be recalled that the procedure applicable in this case is the approval procedure based on Article 352 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
On the side of the Member States, work on the reform of the ESM is ongoing at Eurogroup (see EUROPE 12177/3). However, the idea of incorporating this instrument into the EU’s legal framework is not currently in eurozone countries’ plans. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)