MEPs confident of getting say on bail-out mechanism

Parliament backs limited change to treaty but backing is conditional on enhanced influence.

MEPs expressed optimism on Tuesday (8 March) that EU member states will accept their demands to link a permanent bail-out mechanism for the eurozone more closely to the EU institutions.

The European Parliament’s constitutional affairs committee on Monday (7 March) gave its backing to a limited EU treaty change to incorporate the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) into the EU treaty, only on condition that the new system is kept “as close as possible” to the EU system, with the involvement of the European Commission and the Parliament.

MEPs argue that the intergovernmental approach chosen by eurozone member states would sideline EU institutions, and would set back European integration. Corien Wortmann-Kool, a Dutch centre-right MEP, said that MEPs were “confident” that Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, and member states would agree to the Parliament’s demands.

Early redraft unlikely

But eurozone members and Van Rompuy are unlikely to redraft their proposed treaty change before the 24-25 March European Council at which the change is expected to be finalised. An official in Van Rompuy’s office said that the Parliament’s demands would be looked at only after the EU leaders themselves had agreed on their own treaty change proposal. “It is not yet the time to examine the Parliament

opinion,” said the official.

Diplomats see only a limited margin for manoeuvre for accepting the Parliament’s demands. The intergovernmental approach was agreed upon because markets would be more stable if the procedure did not involve lengthy national ratifications or legal challenge in Germany.

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Elmar Brok, a German centre-right MEP mandated by the Parliament’s political leaders to negotiate with Van Rompuy, recognised that there was less than a week to discuss Parliament’s demands, so the result could be “not totally satisfactory” for the Parliament.

MEPs are not expected to resort to delaying their opinion in a bid to squeeze concessions out of EU leaders, because they know that refusing to vote would delay a decision at the summit.

Martin Schulz, the leader of the Socialists and Democrats group, accepted that it was difficult for MEPs to push their demands for a greater EU institutional role in controlling the permanent bail-out fund because of the problems that might cause on financial markets. “I have to come down in favour of the change,” Schulz said. “We have to weigh the pros and the cons and I understand the position of the governments.”

Brok said the Parliament would take a final vote on the treaty change on 24 March, even if it fails to secure concessions from member states.