Verbatim report of proceedings

Wednesday, 13 March 2019 - Strasbourg

Establishment of the European Monetary Fund (debate)

  Alfred Sant (S&D). – Mr President, progress on the establishment of the European Monetary Fund (EMF) will remain problematic unless the fundamental political divide that underpins the decision is faced and resolved.

Crucially, the eurozone needs to improve and enhance the institutions that oversee its operations and protect it from the effects of crisis. This will inevitably oblige some centralisation of institutions and their functions.

However, there remains a profound mistrust among Member States, not least the smaller ones – but not only they – that proposals being made go in the sense of federalisation, which they do not want or which they consider premature.

Insisting that the European Monetary Fund should be integrated as of now in the Community method exacerbates this tension and hampers forward movement. The report claims that an intergovernmental arrangement would slow down the European Monetary Fund. Perhaps it is better to have a slow EMF, initially, to one that remains work in progress.