EPP Summit Declaration
Brussels, 13
th
December 2012
Completing and Stabilizing the Economic and Monetary Union
The Heads of State or Government and Party Leaders of the European People’s Party underline the
importance of the 13/14 December 2012 European Council in making a firm commitment to
strengthen the Economic and Monetary Union, and draw up a concrete road-map to reach this longterm objective. The Report “Towards a Genuine Economic and Monetary Union” set up by Herman
van Rompuy, in close collaboration with José Manuel Barroso, Jean-Claude Juncker and Mario Draghi
makes proposals in this regard. Moreover, consultations with the Member States and the European
Parliament are of crucial importance in the further process of strengthening the Economic and
Monetary Union.
A Genuine Economic and Monetary Union must be based on the guiding principles of the EU and
support the social market economy, fiscal stability and structural reforms by promoting sustainable
growth, competitiveness, employment, and by safeguarding the European social model. These
principles should be reinforced and implemented with a view to a clearer division of roles and
resources between the EU and the Member States while acknowledging their respective democratic
legitimacies.
Over the last two years, the EU, both on Member States and European levels, has undertaken
enormous efforts to overcome the crisis. Fiscal solidity has been re-enforced, measures to
strengthen competitiveness have been enacted and the regulation of the banking sector has been set
on track. More significant steps are still to be made. For these, the EU will make use of all options
available to strengthen stability, to complete the European financial sector regulation and to
enhance competitiveness.
Altogether these measures will strengthen the Euro, because the Euro is the currency of the
European Union. They will overcome the shortcomings in the creation of the Economic and Monetary
Union, and will prevent similar crises in the future. Our guiding principles for the development of the
Economic and Monetary Union are:
• Maintaining the unity of the EU:
With a view to maintain the unity of the EU it is the
objective to apply economic measures to all EU Member States, while limiting the measures
proposed for the Euro area to the extent required for the functioning of the Monetary Union.
• Linking solidarity and governance.
Linking solidarity and governance requires further
strengthening of sound public finances and structural reforms.
• The EU needs to promote competitiveness, growth and jobs.
• Full respect of the Community method:
The community method is the only viable way to
effective and democratically legitimated decision making at EU level. In detail this will mean:
The legislative initiatives strengthening Commission surveillance of national budgetary and economic
policy and further economic policy coordination (“Two-Pack”) should be swiftly adopted. In this
context, it has to be reminded that the Two-Pack was proposed in order to bring the acquis in line
with the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance. Moreover, we affirm that it is imperative
to break the vicious circle between banks and sovereigns.
The banking supervision should be completed and operational as soon as possible. The EPP
welcomes the agreement in the Ecofin Council this week. The Single Supervisory Mechanism, as a
first step towards a banking union, should be agreed between the Ecofin Council and the European
Parliament and be operative as soon as technically possible. It should be made possible for Member
States, which are not yet members of the Euro area to join the Single Supervisory Mechanism on
equal footing. The proposals on the harmonisation of national resolution and deposit guarantee
frameworks, as well as changes to the operational framework of the European Stability Mechanism,
need to be adopted rapidly and according to the decisions of the European Council in June 2012. The
EPP Heads of State or Government and Party Leaders of the European People’s Party call upon the
Council and the Parliament for a constructive legislative procedure.
Member States whose currency is the Euro should enter into contractual arrangements with the
European institutions, laying down their obligations, based on the Commission´s country-specific
recommendations. All other Member States may choose to act in the same way on a voluntary basis.
We call on the European Commission to explore the precise nature of such contractual arrangements
and put forward a proposal in this respect.
The commitments by Member States could on a case-by-case basis be supported with a temporary,
targeted and flexible financial support, which would fall under EU budgetary rules but would be in
addition to the multiannual financial framework.
Finally, other long-term measures need to be designed in the same spirit of consolidation and
deepened cooperation while at the same time securing democratic accountability. The paper by
Herman van Rompuy and the Commission’s “Blueprint” make a number of proposals in this regard.
The need for democratic legitimacy and accountability requires that national and European levels
take their responsibility and that National Parliaments ensure the accountability and legitimacy of
actions taken by their governments at Council and European Council level. To the same extent the
European Parliament has to ensure the accountability of decisions taken at EU level. Cooperation
between both levels will be based on the existing Treaty provisions of Protocol 1 of the Treaty on the
Functioning of the European Union.
Therefore, the EPP Heads of State or Government confirm their commitment to reaching an
agreement on a roadmap at the 13/14 December 2012 European Council meeting and call on all
Members of the European Council to adopt a constructive approach in order to secure a prosperous
future for the EU and all its Member States.
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