On Thursday 15 June in Luxembourg, the Italian Finance Minister, Giancarlo Giorgetti, informed his counterparts of the discussions underway in Italy, particularly in the national parliament, on the possible ratification of the treaty revising the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) (see EUROPE 13172/7).
There seems to be no solution in sight, with the Italian coalition government still refusing to ratify the reform of the ESM that would allow it to act as a backstop for the ‘Single Resolution Fund’, the financial arm of the ‘resolution’ strand of the euro area banking union.
At the end of the annual meeting of the ESM’s Board of Directors, its Managing Director, Pierre Gramegna, pointed out that the euro area countries had given the ESM a mandate to evaluate all its instruments (‘toolkit review’) with a view to a possible change in its role, as called for by Italy. But this can only happen once the ratification of the treaty revising the ESM has been finalised, he stressed.
On Thursday, the Board of Directors adopted the annual accounts of the euro area’s permanent rescue fund. Thanks to its prudent investment strategy, the ESM recorded “a limited loss of €60.2 million in 2022”, caused mainly by a sharp rise in interest rates, while its reserves remain “substantial”, it said in a statement.
To see the 2022 ESM report, go to https://aeur.eu/f/7jq (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)