FEDERALIST QUESTION TIME
At the meeting of the European Council on 12 February 2015, the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker presented an Analytical Note – Preparing for next steps on better economic governance in the Euro area, a first step towards the report by Presidents of the European Commission, European Council, European Central Bank and Eurogroup to be presented to the European Council in June. The Note included a list of topical questions on the future of Europe. Here are the answers of the European Federalists to some of the key questions.
We ask members of the European Parliament and of the national parliaments, in particular those working on the future of EMU governance and the European Union institutions, to pledge their support.
| Juncker's Questions |
Federalist Answers |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Is the current governance framework sufficient to make the euro area shock resilient and prosperous in the long run? | The current governance framework is not sufficient to make the euro area shock resilient and prosperous in the long run. We need: - Stronger institutions with the powers to ensure that each Member State achieves a sustainable debt and a competitive economy. - More economic and political integration for a European economic policy that promotes economic growth. |
| 2 | To what extent can the framework of EMU mainly rely on strong rules as it does now and to what extent are strong common institutions also required? | Rules are essential to ensure coordination of national economic policies. However, rules can only really be credible if truly respected and enforced. We need: - A euro area which goes beyond coordination of national policies, towards a European economic policy. - Institutions able to enforce agreed rules and to directly intervene at national level when rules are not respected. |
| 3 | To what extent is the present sharing of sovereignty adequate to meet the economic, financial and fiscal challenges facing the Economic and Monetary Union? | The present sharing of sovereignty is not sufficient to meet the economic, financial and fiscal challenges facing the EMU. We need: - Deeper economic and fiscal integration. - Adequate forms of European taxation and new forms of European debt instruments to gather resources to promote a proactive European economic and social policy and jointly build solidarity and competitiveness. |
| 4 | Under which conditions and in which form could a stronger common governance over structural reforms be envisaged? | In the current EMU framework, many Member States struggle against or are unwilling to implement structural reforms that are required for the sustainable future of the EMU. We need: - Strong European institutions and powers to enforce agreed structural reforms at national level. |
| 5 | How can accountability and legitimacy be best achieved in a multilevel setup such as EMU? | The more European governance extends into economic and fiscal policies, the more we need: - Strong democratic participation and accountability. - A European Parliament truly involved in the development and monitoring of economic and fiscal measure related to the monetary union. |
