George Sabin Cutaş (S&D). – (RO) Mr President, the Maastricht Treaty was a milestone in the history of the European Union, through the creation of a single currency, which was supported by both an economic pillar and a monetary one. However, as monetary policy has taken shape with the successive adoption of European Treaties, the macroeconomic dimension has been confined to mere coordination. The lack of a true economic policy has deprived the Union of an adequate response to the crisis, which has led to serious social costs.

To remedy these shortcomings, the European Commission proposes the creation of a banking union. I support this proposal. We need greater economic integration and the instruments necessary to deal with the current economic and social challenges. However, if we focus on the Single Supervisory Mechanism for banking without developing common rules to prevent banks from going bust and a single deposit guarantee scheme, we will repeat the mistakes that made the economic and monetary union fragile. At the same time, the exclusion of non-euro countries from the decision-making process in relation to the Single Supervisory Mechanism must be avoided.