Following today's plenary vote on the two Regulations that make up the so-called 'Two Pack' which saw a majority of MEPs give their green light to this latest round of EU economic governance legislation, GUE/NGL MEPs Marisa Matias and Nikos Chountis described the vote as a further intensification of austerity measures that are detrimental to promoting growth, investment and employment.

Nikos Chountis, GUE/NGL Shadow rapporteur on the Gauzès dossier on enhanced surveillance of euro-area countries experiencing or threatened with severe financial difficulties, said: "Enhancing surveillance of Member States receiving financial assistance on a precautionary basis from one or several other Member States, the EFSM, the EFS or the ESM will only serve to worsen conditions for Europeans already hit hard by the effects of the austerity measures that these programmes impose."

Marisa Matias, GUE/NGL Shadow rapporteur on the Ferrreira dossier on monitoring and assessing budgetary plans and ensuring the correction of excessive deficits in euro-area countries with high, excessive government deficits, commented: "Binding Member States to more strict enhanced surveillance by making them submit to the Commission their budgetary plans, national issuance debt plans, and investment programmes for approval means that Member States will be left with no choice but to align their budgetary plans with the austerity doctrine."

The Gauzès text was approved by 528 votes to 81, with 71 abstentions. The Ferreira text was approved by 526 votes to 86, with 66 abstentions.