— ECB Is Stability Oriented, Acting Within Its Mandate
FRANKFURT (MNI) – German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on
Wednesday again pushed his idea for a more centralized European budget
and dismissed the notion of a rift with France over Europe’s future.
“The French know that the currency union can only function properly
if responsibilities are being passed on to Brussels – even if for
historical reasons they are more hesitant than the Germans,” Schaeuble
told German weekly Die Zeit. “Nicolas Sarkozy had understood this and I
believe Francois Hollande has also understands.”
As Europe moves forward, national parliaments will lose their
influence, Schaeuble projected. “At some point, the European Parliament
will assume budgetary rights. But for that to happen, many conditions
must still be met – most importantly the people must accept it [the
European parliament] as their representation,” he said.
Schaeuble earlier this month called for a European Union-level
commissioner for the euro area with the power to reject national budgets
should they not be in line with Eurozone fiscal rules. “We must now make
bigger steps in the direction of a fiscal union,” said Schaeuble.
The German finance minister defended the European Central Bank on
the day that ECB President Mario Draghi is due to explain the
much-criticised plan for new bond market interventions to German
parliamentarians. “To claim the ECB is be is not stability-oriented
would mean to ignore reality. It is acting within its mandate,”
Schaeuble asserted.
On Greece, Schaeuble reiterated his long-standing positions that
he will not speculate before Troika of the IMF, the ECB and the European
Commission have presented their report.
— Frankfurt bureau: +49 69 720 142; email: jtreeck@mni-news.com —
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