Francoski predsednik in nemška zvezna kanclerka sta v pismu predsednikoma Evropskega sveta in Evropske komisije napovedala spremembe na področju skupne monetarne in finančne politike. Od predsednikov vlad držav evrskega območja pričakujeta, da bodo pripravljeni
- uvesti strožji nadzor nad proračuni, vključno z učinkovitimi sankcijami za kršitelje in poenotenjem državnih proračunov v skladu s paktom stabilnosti in rasti;
- razširiti nadzor, da bo vključeval tiste zadeve, ki se tičejo stukture in konkurenčnosti, ter bodo okrepili učinkovitost priporočil EU glede gospodarstva;
- v prihodnjih letih preučiti možnosti za vzpostavitev trdnega okvirja za reševanje krize, ob spoštovanju načela odgovornosti držav članic za njihove proračune.
Merklova in Sarkozy pozivata k okrepitvi nadzora nad kakovostjo statističnih podatkov. Omenjata, da je eden od glavnih vzrokov za nezaupanje do Grčije ravno nezanesljivost njihovih statističnih podatkov.
Končno opozarjata še na potrebo po okrepitvi predpise in zakone, ki regulirajo delovanje finančnih trgov.
Celotno besedilo sporočila v angleščini:
Joint letter of Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Nicolas Sarkozy to the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission
Do, 06.05.2010
Mr President of the European Council
Mr President of the European Commission
on May 7th, the Heads of State or Government of the Euro area will seal the joint financial support package for Greece. This decision will allow Greece to take the necessary measures to put its public finances and its economy back on a sustainable path and ward off threats to the financial stability of the Euro area as a whole.
In the framework of the agreement reached with the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF, the Greek government has committed to taking courageous measures. We fully support its determination and we are convinced that it will allow Greece to address its fiscal and economic challenges and restore market confidence.
The Euro is a major achievement of the European Union. It has benefited greatly all member states. We are fully committed to preserve the strength, the stability and the unity of the Euro area.
This crisis has demonstrated that all euro area member states have a responsibility for the stability of the Euro area as a whole and the strength of the single currency. For Economic and Monetary Union to remain a success story, dealing with this crisis alone will not suffice. We need to go further in drawing all the lessons and in taking all necessary measures to avoid a repetition of a crisis of this kind.
We must first reinforce the economic governance of the euro area. At the European Council in March, we decided to establish a Task Force on the measures needed to strengthen and complement the existing framework, exploring all options to reinforce the legal framework. For this work to succeed, all contributions, including by the Commission and member states, need to be assessed jointly by the Task Force. At their upcoming meeting, Heads of States or Government of the Eurozone should send a clear signal that they are prepared to consider for the Eurozone
- reinforcing fiscal surveillance within the euro area, including by providing for more effective sanctions in the excessive Deficit procedure and by reinforcing consistency of national budgetary frameworks with the principles of the Stability and Growth Pact;
- broadening the surveillance to structural and competitiveness issues and imbalances and enhancing the effectiveness of EU economic policy recommendations
- for the future, exploring options to create a robust framework for crisis resolution respecting the principle of member states’ own budgetary responsibility;
We also need to reinforce the control of the quality of statistics. The lack of reliability of the Greek statistics explains to a large extent the markets’ distrust in this country. The European Commission has put forward proposals on the strengthening Eurostat’s investigation powers. These proposals must enter into force as soon as possible.
Beyond the reinforcement of the internal mechanism of the euro area to prevent comparable future crises, it is necessary to reinforce the regulation of financial markets. Market reactions during the last few days have amplified the crisis and provoked very large swings in the yields of some Euro area member states sovereign bonds not aligned with the development of fundamentals.
In our letter dated March 10th, co-signed with Mr Juncker and Mr Papandreou, we have called for further European initiatives on the transparency of derivative markets, in line with the decisions taken at the G20. First and foremost, it is necessary for central repositories to provide us with detailed information on the trading positions taken on European sovereign debts. Furthermore, the European Commission directive project on the European market infrastructures should be presented without delay. This project should promote the establishment and the use of European central clearing counterparties and trade repositories to increase transparency and security of derivative transactions. In addition, it is imperative to discourage speculation by introducing adequate capital or collateral requirement on nonstandardised derivative or similar transactions and to address the issue of destabilizing short sales.
The decision taken by a rating agency to downgrade the Greek sovereign debt before the announcement of the programme and the amount of the support package should lead us to reflect on the role of rating agencies in crisis propagation. The November 17 regulation established a recording and supervisory framework of rating agencies in Europe. Its provisions should be fully used and will need to be amended to take into account the creation of the European Supervisory Authorities.
We should aim for a timely review to assess whether the objective of improving the rating process has been achieved. In the light of last week events, such a review should explicitly refer to the rating process for sovereign debts, to communication methods and the publication of rating changes and taking into account the possible role of credit rating agencies in amplifying the crisis and their impact on financial stability. Potential actions should include stricter standards under European law. The European Commission should consider putting forward proposals to increase competition of rating activities. Moreover, the European Commission should critically review the justification of the use of ratings in the European laws and regulations and suggest ways to reduce their role in capital requirements.
We also must not forget the lessons from the previous turbulences in the banking sector: States should not be forced to rescue banks. It must be possible that banks fail without causing systemic risks to the financial system. Therefore, France and Germany will push for a strict regime for crisis management and resolution in the financial sector and commit to implement it. On the basis of the IMF proposals put forward in April, we will also work nationally and internationally on a regime for fair contributions of the financial sector.
It is our duty to preserve the benefits of the euro. This implies that we reinforce the coordination of our economic policies and the internal surveillance mechanism of the euro area so that each country shares responsibility for the stability of the euro. It is also our duty to advance the G20 agenda on financial markets regulation. We must prevent speculation from jeopardizing the adjustment efforts required by the economic and financial crisis that we have been through.
