Agreement for a permanent support mechanism in the EU

Their main agreement is the – limited – change of the Lisbon Treaty, to pave the way for member states of the Eurozone for a united rescue attempt of any country that faces liquidity problems and is incapable of refinancing its debt directly from the markets.

(In the current text of the Treaty it is explicitly stressed that the EU cannot intervene in national economies to rescue them from the spectre of bankruptcy).

The official part of the agreement means that the 16 countries under the euro will be able to adopt a kind of «permanent fund» by which they will «secure the euro’s stability», as it is expected to be on the final communiqué of the agreement.

Financial solidarity mechanism

The sources from Brussels, on which the international agencies rely, characterize this mechanism as a «mechanism of financial solidarity for Eurozone countries”…

In any case, this development meets the requirements of Germany, who came to Brussels looking forward to a permanent solution but still so worded as to avoid what Berlin calls «misuse of the mechanism by the European countries».

Regarding the final details of the new «official» support mechanism, they will be released soon, but the «intervention» of the German newspaper Die Welt is noteworthy which, citing statements by persons involved in the German delegation at the Summit in Brussels, talks about a «permanent European mechanism to deal with crises in Europe that will have no end to its size»!

At the same time the European Parliament resolution states that the permanent mechanism to support member states with financial difficulties, «should clarify how the private sector will be able to help, what would τhe participation of member states outside the Eurozone be and how it will affect the EU budget».

And the Euro MPs, reflecting their views on this resolution, insist on the need to create a single European market of bonds and on the issue of Eurobonds.

A resolution that comes only a few hours after the attack against the German policy – and Merkel personally – by European MPs from all factions for her «anti-European stance» and after the direct hits received by political leaders of the EU by members of the European Parliament for manipulation of any decision «behind closed doors».

By contrast, MPs call for decisions on the future of the European economy to be «negotiated between the European Parliament and the Council to ensure transparency and legitimacy of the mechanism against the markets and the society.»