S&Ds urge heads of state and government to make progress on Eurozone reforms
Date
13 Dec 2018
Sections
Euro & Finance
Ahead of the Euro Summit on 14 December, the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament call for meaningful progress on the reform of the Eurozone. These demands are also echoed in a joint letter by the leaders of the S&D, ALDE, and Greens Groups in the European Parliament to Council president Donald Tusk, Eurogroup president Mário Centeno and Austrian Finance Minister Hartwig Löger.
Commenting on the letter, S&D Group president Udo Bullmann states:
“With the European elections only six months away, Eurozone leaders have to stop postponing important decisions on key issues and start delivering results.
“This Euro Summit is a unique opportunity to make a real difference for Europe’s future and to improve people’s lives. The agreement reached by the Eurozone finance ministers at their last meeting contains important elements for the deepening of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) - but it is not enough.
“Over the past years, we have made considerable progress on the reduction of financial risks in the Eurozone. The European Parliament has worked tirelessly and constructively to make this happen. Now the Council needs to overcome its internal quarrels and deliver tangible results on the side of risk sharing too. The times, in which blocking minorities in Council are so persistent and stable that they form clubs that give themselves names, must finally be over.
“In particular, we urge member states to reach an agreement on the establishment of a Eurozone fiscal capacity. The Eurozone needs a meaningful budget that has the financial firepower to stabilise and foster convergence for it to be viable in the long run. Whoever neglects this simple truth fails to understand the lessons of the recent past. Moreover, we remind leaders that the banking union remains incomplete as long as the European Deposit Insurance Scheme is not in place. We therefore call for its establishment to be unblocked.
“It is high time for the Eurozone to become more sustainable. Together with the leaders of ALDE and the Greens in the European Parliament, we have warned the Council not to miss another opportunity. We need to see concrete steps into the right direction right now.”