Parliament is to play a full role, alongside the Council, Commission, European Central Bank and Eurogroup, in the negotiations on deeper EU economic and monetary integration ahead of the October European Council. A delegation appointed on Thursday, 13 September by Parliament's group leaders, led by President Schulz and including Elmar Brok, Roberto Gualtieri, Guy Verhofstadt and Daniel Cohn-Bendit (substitute member), will start work next week.
The Parliament team will be helping to draft the report "Towards a genuine economic and monetary union" that will go to the EU's heads of state and government in October.
President Schulz will be working alongside the presidents of the other institutions, and his team - who have already served as Parliament's negotiators for the Fiscal Compact - will be attending meetings on the same basis as member state representatives.
The EP delegation, whose role is crucial for the democratic legitimacy of the negotiations, will be involved in drawing up a detailed roadmap of measures designed to pave the way for banking, economic, fiscal and political union, ready for adoption early in 2013. It could also help identify issues for a roadmap for 2014 and beyond.
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