In a working document presented to the Eurogroup on Monday 16 February, the European Commission calls for an updated strategy to strengthen the international role of the euro, against a backdrop of geopolitical fragmentation and changes in the global monetary system. The EU institution sees this objective as the cornerstone of a broader de-risking strategy designed to strengthen the EU’s economic security and its ability to defend its interests.
Three priorities have been highlighted:
- firstly, to consolidate the economic and institutional fundamentals. The Commission recommends deepening Economic and Monetary Union and mentions the possible integration of the ‘European Stability Mechanism’ into the EU legal framework and the rationalisation of debt issuance to support the supply of safe euro assets.
- secondly, it recommends speeding up financial integration and autonomous payments. EU Member States are called upon to rapidly implement the ‘Savings and Investment Union’, in particular by finalising the ‘single currency’ package, which includes the digital euro, and by assessing options for developing euro-denominated digital assets by reducing dependence on foreign payment infrastructures.
- finally, the Commission suggests strengthening the Union’s external dimension. The EU institution is proposing to encourage the use of the euro in strategic sectors, to support the financing of exports, and to step up outreach to third-party partners to foster the issuance of debt in euros and access to liquidity in the single currency.
See the document: https://aeur.eu/f/krz (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)