Draghi backs Eurozone commissioner idea
AFP PHOTO / JURE MAKOVEC
The President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi has backed the idea of the creation of a European commissioner to oversee Eurozone budgets.
The commissioner would have the power to veto national budgets, and make legally-binding decisions against member states determined to be in breach of deficit rules.
In an interview over the weekend with the German newspaper Der Spiegel, and re-published on the ECB website, Draghi said that he “was fully in favour” of the European Commission having a closer say in how member sates conducted their national budgets.
This follows calls by the German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaüble, to introduce a ‘currency commissioner’, which would have the power to inspect EU member state government’s budget plans.
At present, national governments still retain powers to control their own financial plans, although governments have signalled a willingness to concede certain powers to the commission regarding budgetary control.
“If you want to restore confidence in the euro area, you need rules”, he told the interviewer. “But that is only the first step. You also need to ensure that the rules are adhered to. This is what was lacking in the past and what governments need to work on.”
Speaking of the idea of a Eurozone commissioner floated by Schaüble, Draghi said that EU governments “would be wise to seriously consider it. I firmly believe that, in order to restore confidence in the euro area, countries need to transfer part of their sovereignty to the European level.”
So far, member states have stopped short of this kid of transfer of power to the European Commission. “A lot of governments have yet to realise that they lost their national sovereignty a long time ago,” said Draghi.
“Because, in the past, they have allowed their debt to pile up, they now need the goodwill of the financial markets. That sounds like a paradox, but it is nonetheless true: it is only once the euro area countries are willing to share sovereignty at the European level that they will gain sovereignty.” new europe
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