29/01/2003 (Agence Europe) - The "Gruppo dei 10", chaired by former European Commissioner Cesidio Guazzaroni and composed above all of Filippo Maria Pandolfi, also a former European Commissioner, former Secretary General of the European Parliament Enrico Vinci, Ambassadors Piero Calamia and Luigi Vittorio Ferraris, and the former representative of Confindustria with the EC, Flavio Mondello, published a contribution to the European Convention on the theme "Consolidating Economic and Monetary Union", in which he clearly takes a stance in favour of institutionalising the Ecofin Council allowing ministers of the euro zone to take decisions among themselves. Furthermore, it calls on the Commission to represent the Union at the international level, including for economic and monetary affairs, and for it to make "proposals" and not just simply "recommendations" on general guidelines of economic and employment policy. Finally, the "10" are hoping to clarify procedures sanctioning excessive deficit so that they do not only refer to public deficit but also, explicitly, to the public debt. (Istituto Luigi Sturzo, Palazzo Baldassini, via delle Coppelle 35, Roma 00186).