17 April 2013

Plenary Session: Bolder and more accountable ECB needed to fight eurozone crisis

The resolution, Parliament's annual evaluation of the ECB's activities, addresses both the ECB's monetary policy responses to the eurozone crisis and its more political activities. It argues that the ECB should do more to promote growth and jobs. For example, the resolution calls on the ECB to take measures like those designed by the Bank of England to ensure that cheap central bank loans to banks are passed on to the real economy.

The resolution also outlines a future banking union and the ECB's role in it. Finally, it raises concerns concerning the limited democratic accountability and transparency of an ECB which has grown more politically prominent due to the eurozone crisis.

After the vote, rapporteur Marisa Matias (GUE/NGL, PT) felt that the resolution no longer reflected the same level of criticism of the ECB as her earlier draft and therefore dissociated herself from the final text. On Tuesday during the debate, Ms Matias raised the issue of how to change the ECB's job description. "The ECB's mandate must be revised and expanded so that it can help the economy and jobs", she said. This was a key element dropped from the final text.

A majority of MEPs taking the floor urged Mr Draghi to move away from what they saw as an austerity-based focus, arguing that this would not deliver growth and was even proving counterproductive as jobs and growth figures fall further in various countries. They also urged the ECB to take action to help SMEs more directly and the real economy more widely.  Various centre-right MEPs, by contrast, urged the ECB to stay its current course.

Mr Draghi replied that the ECB would remain "firmly committed to its price stability mandate". He added that the ECB alone could not resolve the crisis - EU Member States needed to do their work, too.

On EU banking union, Mr Draghi stressed the need to conclude talks as soon as possible, echoing the EP and Commission's intention to have legislative proposals on for single bank crisis resolution framework tabled by the summer.  

Press release

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