LUXEMBOURG (MNI) – EU leaders should agree on a deadline of five to
ten years to achieve the most ambitious goals set out in the roadmap for
greater European economic, fiscal and political integration presented to
EU governments today by EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy, the EU’s
Commissioner for Inter-institutional Relations and Administration, Maros
Sefcovic, said on Tuesday.

Speaking after a meeting of EU foreign ministers tasked with
preparing the EU leaders’ summit this Thursday and Friday, Sefcovic
urged European governments to “start work immediately” on the aspects of
the vision that don’t require significant changes to EU law.

The European Commission will present proposals “for the completion
of a banking union” in the autumn, he said.

Van Rompuy today presented a report calling for a powerful EU
banking supervisor with the authority to intervene in failing banks and
for the creation of a common bank resolution and deposit guarantee fund,
backed by the European Stability Mechanism.

The report also called for joint debt issuance by Eurozone member
states to be backed by strict national debt limits, and for Eurozone
governments to be able to demand changes in national budgets.

–Brussels newsroom: +324-9522-8374; pkoh@marketnews.com

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