Sandro GOZI: Agreement on Eurozone budget is a step forward but more is needed to safeguard the Eurozone

Today the European Council reached an agreement on the creation of a budget for the Eurozone. Sandro GOZI, President of the Union of European Federalists comments…

Today the European Council reached an agreement on the creation of a budget for the Eurozone. Sandro GOZI, President of the Union of European Federalists comments:

“After many months of blockage and inaction, today’s agreement on the creation of a budget for the Eurozone is a small but important symbolical step forward. While the size of the budget is likely to be very small, the agreement of national governments that a common currency needs a common budget is a major breakthrough for the future development of the Eurozone architecture. When the next economic crisis hits, we need a tool on the European level to fight back, and it has been time that all Member States agreed to this principle.”

“Unfortunately, President Macron’s proposals have been watered down in negotiations, leaving us with a less than ideal result. I fear that the current proposal risks not only being too small to counter a major crisis like in 2012 but also it duplicates parts of existing programmes instead of filling the gaps in the Eurozone architecture.”

“Building on this proposal the new Commission should propose an additional budgetary capacity that is not part of the general EU budget and can be scaled up quickly when it is needed. Such a budget also should give the flexibility to spend the funds where and when it is needed and not be allocated to Member States over seven years according to their contributions. Time is running out to fix the roof while the sun is shining. Negotiations on the Eurozone budget need to be decoupled from the general EU budget and start focusing on building a real monetary and fiscal union before it is too late”, continues Sandro GOZI.

EDITOR’S NOTE:

The Union of European Federalists (UEF) is a pan-European, non-governmental political organisation dedicated to the promotion of European political unity. For more than 70 years UEF has been a leading voice in the promotion of European unity and an early campaigner for key milestones in the development of the European Communities and then the European Union. With 25 national sections and over 400 local groups across Europe, UEF promotes a federal Europe among citizens and political representatives at all levels of government.

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