BRUSSELS (MNI) – European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso
Wednesday threw his support behind the creation of bonds issued jointly
by the member states of the euro area, commonly referred to as
Eurobonds.
Eurobonds are “the next step towards deeper economic integration,”
he told the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
However, they “must be stability bonds,” he cautioned.
The Commission president, to applause from the assembled members of
parliament, argued that a common market and single currency require
decisions to be taken by common European institutions rather than in
side deals between individual governments.
The comment was a thinly veiled criticism of Germany and France,
the EU’s two largest members, which frequently stake out EU policy
positions in bilateral meetings and have done so repeatedly throughout
the financial crisis.
“This is not the message of the federalists but of the markets,
that we need a community approach,” Barroso said. “We need to complete
the monetary union with a real economic union.”
The head of the EU’s executive arm reiterated a commitment to
publish a study on options for Eurobonds “in the coming weeks.”
Some types of jointly issued bonds would require changes to the EU
treaty but for others, such changes might not be necessary, he said.
Barroso also reminded parliamentarians that the Commission would
soon be pushing for further economic integration measures for the euro
area.
–Brussels Newsroom, +324-9522-8374; pkoh@marketnews.com
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