Brussels, 20/12/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Belgian Minister of the Economy and Finance and president of the ECOFIN Council Didier, Reynders, has called on the Convention preparing the next Inter Government Conference (ICG) to think about a larger and more definitive political formula than Eurogroup to counterbalance the European Central Bank (ECB). Mr Reynders said that if there were or were not new members joining the Euro-zone and the EU, the Convention would need to set itself an objective dealing with the political aspects of the Euro-zone. He also explained that it would be necessary to determine what the chief political factor would be within the entire "policy mix" with the ECB and the European Commission. According to Mr Reynders Eurogroup will continue to do this job for at least two years and then it should start the debate on putting into place another form of organisation, "more formal", within the Council and with a more or less strengthened role for the Commission.
Whilst waiting for this to happen, Mr Reynders suggested that Eurogroup develop its own political dynamic and reinforce its informal structure "at least for the two next Presidencies" and intensify the dialogue between the ECB, the co-ordination of economic policies, monitoring of budgetary issues and the follow-up on structural reforms.
According to Mr Reynders, the Convention should also tackle the issue of unanimous decision-making at the Council, especially on tax matters and the most suitable procedures for kick-starting greater co-operation. The procedure was important because of the way in which we are moving forward within the realms of the monetary zone, Mr Reynders said. He also stated that it was necessary, "perhaps stealthily", to make a number of conclusions on the subject of how the European institutions function