The President of the Eurogroup, Paschal Donohoe, confirms the importance of the Capital Markets Union (CMU) project and the continued consolidation of public finances, in a letter sent on Tuesday 18 March to euro area leaders, who will meet in Brussels on Friday 22 March.
Mr Donohoe reiterated the “necessity” for Europe to strengthen the UMC, stressing that the statement by European Finance Ministers, which calls on the European Commission to rapidly propose legislative measures (see EUROPE 13368/3), constitutes a “solid foundation” for advancing the dossier.
The Eurogroup in inclusive format recommends thirteen measures to further integrate capital markets in the EU.
While Mr Donohoe acknowledges that some countries are keen to make faster progress than others, he believes that the joint statement sets out “a common vision [...] for the benefit of all”.
However, the Eurogroup is not losing sight of the importance of completing the Banking Union, with the establishment of a European bank deposit insurance scheme (EDIS). And he urges Italy, without naming it, to ratify the reform of the ‘European Stability Mechanism’, the euro area’s permanent rescue fund.
In the area of macroeconomic policy, the President of the Eurogroup confirms that a “restrictive” fiscal stance in 2024 (see EUROPE 13325/12) and a “slightly contractionary” stance in 2025 (see EUROPE 13368/4) is appropriate for the euro area. This positioning will allow the revised Stability Pact to enter into force smoothly in 2025, as the new budgetary rules advocate a balance between budgetary discipline and continued investment.
Referring to the forthcoming work of the Eurogroup, Mr Donohoe announced discussions on strengthening euro area competitiveness. And he is confident that Bulgaria will become the 21st euro area country in the near future, with January 2025 being the target.
See the Eurogroup letter: https://aeur.eu/f/bei (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion and Bernard Denuit)