The European Parliament's special committee on the financial, economic and social crisis (CRIS) adopted today by large majority (33+, 2-) its interim report on the lessons learned, just as EU commissioner Olli REHN presents new proposals on strengthening economic governance.

ALDE member Wolf KLINZ (FDP, Germany), chairman of the CRIS committee, comments: "For Liberals, it was of upmost importance to reach the broadest consensus possible in the Parliament on this issue, therefore I am very satisfied with today's outcome. In such a crisis it is important for Parliament to be united".

Amongst the most important lessons of the crisis, KLINZ emphasizes: "A single currency and monetary policy require a strong coordination of the economic, financial and social policies of the member states. The European Union is at a critical juncture and must show a new direction and avoid slipping back into bad habits of the past."
"The second lesson is that the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) will need to be given more teeth. Sanctions should take effect more quickly and powerfully. We also need to arm the SGP to include a penalty fine in case of non-compliance. Finally, we need global answers to the crisis. Calling on the G20 was the right approach but the G20 failed to deliver credible long term answers. This is why we need a coherent EU response to the challenges of the crisis."

Olle SCHMIDT (Folkpartiet, Sweden), ALDE coordinator for the report, points out: "The text adopted today is very clear about the commitment to the Euro. The Euro must be a bastion of stability of the European economy rather than its Achilles heel."

In view of today's proposal from the Commission on stronger reinforcement of economic governance in the Euro area, SCHMIDT comments: "The penalties in the Commission proposal apply only to the Euro countries. EU countries outside EMU are not covered by them. But all the 27 EU member states should nevertheless follow the new rules and feel bound by them."

The report is now due to be adopted by the EP plenary on 20 October 2010.

For more information, please contact:
For more information please contact:
Neil Corlett: +32-2-284 20 77 or +32-478-78 22 84
e-mail: neil.corlett@europarl.europa.eu
Axel Heyer: +32-2-284 47 03 or +32-485-10 33 39