Friday

29th Mar 2024

Trichet: EU treaty change needed to 'impose decisions' on states

  • Greek watching Trichet on a big screen earlier this year (Photo: dielinke_nrw)

The outgoing head of the European Central Bank (ECB) has called for a change to the European Union treaty to allow for the outside imposition of economic policy on a member state.

ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet told French broadcasters on Sunday (16 October) following a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Paris that such a step is necessary in the wake of the eurozone crisis to guard against any one member state endangering the single currency area.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"It is necessary to change the treaty to prevent one member state from straying and creating problems for all the others," he said. "To do this, one even needs to be able to impose decisions."

Trichet, who will soon be leaving the central bank after eight years at the top of the organisation, said that in the absence of a federal state, such external supervision is required.

"We don't have a federal budget, we don't have a political federation so we have to fully respect the constraints and the mutual supervision rules that exist in the euro zone," he said.

Ministers at the G20 meeting of national economy chiefs from the world's leading economic powers issued a joint statement expressing hope that an EU summit dedicated to the crisis next weekend (23 October) will draw a line under the eurozone's problems, saying they expect the bloc to "decisively address the current challenges through a comprehensive plan."

The summit - split into two parts between the wider EU bloc as a whole and the smaller 17 nations of the euro area - is to unveil a package of measures including a recapitalisation of Europe's banks, an expansion of the eurozone's rescue mechanisms to convince markets Spain and Italy are safe from contagion and a significant write-down of Greek public debt.

France and Germany, for some weeks now at loggerheads over the scale of such a Greek haircut for investors, appear to be closing in on a common position.

"We have points of agreement that are emerging and we'll have an agreement on this question," French finance chief François Baroin said following the G20 meeting. "Heads of state and government, in particular the chancellor and the president to put together the elements of the agreement on 23 October."

After months of strong criticism from across the Atlantic, Washington gave its imprimatur to the progress European powers are making in developing a comprehensive plan to put the crisis behind them.

"They clearly have more work to do on the strategy and the details, but when France and Germany agree on a plan together and decide to act, big things are possible," US treasury secretary Geithner said.

"I am encouraged by the speed and direction in which they are moving."

EU treaty change should be limited, says parliament president

Amid general weariness about the thought of changing the EU treaty once more, European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek has suggested an open-and-shut scenario where any tweaking be kept to the area of economic governance.

MEPs want 'convention' on EU treaty

The corridors of the European Parliament are alive with talk of possible EU treaty change, a multi-tentacled process that once opened is difficult to keep a lid on.

Cameron tries to save face on mooted treaty change

A 'limited treaty change' will allow Britain to 'advance its agenda', British PM Cameron said Sunday after failing to stop EU leaders from opening that perspective, one day ahead of a key vote in the British parliament.

Opinion

EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania

Among the largest sources of financing for energy transition of central and eastern European countries, the €60bn Modernisation Fund remains far from the public eye. And perhaps that's one reason it is often used for financing fossil gas projects.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us