Brussels, 23/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - Jacques Santer, former President of the European Commission and presently a European parliamentarian, took a firm stance in the debate underway concerning the "Solbes memorandum" on the functioning of the Eurogroup. He feels in particular that:
The European Commission must play a part in the external representation of the Euro, in accordance with the proposal that had been presented by the former Commission and over which the Council never ruled. The problem presented itself once more during the recent meeting of the G7/Finance (last weekend in Palermo see EUROPE of 19/20 February, p.13), which was held with the full participation of the Commission. The EU must not allow itself to be imposed, by the G7 partners, the form of the Euro's external representation, as, if this is the case, it will draw no benefit from the Euro with regards to European monetary and financial interests;
The present Commission initiative aims to strengthen the Eurogroup (Solbes memorandum) is positive, even if it could have been taken previously. This is why Mr Santer does not share the opinion of the Eurogroup President, the Belgian Minister Mr Reynders, according to which the Commission's role is simply to supply the works of the Eurogroup with indicators and economic forecasts. The Commission plays a central and core role in the coordination between European monetary policies and economic policies in the Eurogroup countries; we must not forget, adds Mr Santer, that EMU stems from the first pillar, where the Community method is fully applied.
Mr Santer recalls in conclusion that the Commission is the guardian of the European common interest. It does not concern a simple question of protocol presence, but the fundamental question of the external representation of the Euro and, starting from the success of the of the political project for a single currency (see, for the parts of the debate underway, section "A look behind the news" in our bulletin of 21 February).