Brussels, 04/03/2009 (Agence Europe) - Presenting the Commission's contribution to the Spring European Summit to the press on Wednesday 4 March, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso picked up several points currently being debated in the euro area.
No change in criteria for joining euro area. The 1 March Summit was clear in its refusal to revise the criteria for joining the euro, Barroso said. Since any decisions on change have to be unanimous, it was very unlikely that there will be any changes to accession rules, he stated, those countries that want to join the euro area understanding the situation. It was “not in their interests that the euro area be destabilised” or lose credibility. “Becoming a member of the euro area is not a right, it is a duty, except for those who have negotiated an opt-out,” and every effort had to be made to meet the Maastricht criteria. The debate on the how appropriate is was to require those states wanting to join the euro to be part of the exchange rate mechanism (ERM II) for two years was premature, the spokeswoman for Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said the previous day (see EUROPE 9853).
Countries in the euro area can show solidarity with one another. Barroso said that options existed to support a euro area member state in severe difficulty, and this despite the “no bail-out clause” in the Treaty. When asked about the comments made by Commissioner Almunia the previous day, who suggested that there were such possibilities without going into detail (see EUROPE 9853), Barroso, too, indicated, “If there are problems in the euro area, we have ways to taking action”. Speaking of the need for caution, he contented himself with adding, “We are examining all possible options and I believe we have instruments that will allow us to meet such situations”.
Possibility of issuing Eurobonds or not. Rather than speculate about instruments which we already know will not lead to anything, it was better to concentrate on what could be done at a time of crisis, Barroso said. While the idea of Eurobonds was “interesting” from a European point of view, “it is very, very obvious that there is opposition from a large number of countries,” he confirmed, stating furthermore that there had been “no formal proposal on it”. He said the issue had been discussed, but “some member states reject it out of hand”. There would be no point, then, in bringing forward a proposal that had no chance of being adopted, he said, opining that it would be impossible at the moment to find any consensus on this issue. (A.B./transl.rt)