Commissioner Rehn: The Commission will work until the last minute to achieve a satisfactory solution on economic governance

22 June 2011

Speaking in ECON committee, Rehn stressed that he will be worried if the economic governance package is not soon agreed. He also said that neither the Council nor the Parliament should think that they can successfully shift the responsibility onto the other.

He said that only one issue remains open: the scope of reversed qualified majority voting. The Commission supports the RQMV. So does the ECB, and a number of Member States, but not all of them, or in all places.

But the Council has already agreed to RQMV in five out of six decisions where it is legally possible. On the remaining one, there is a disagreement between the Parliament and the Council.

He recalled that the Council is about to sign the Treaty on European Stability Mechanism, which focuses on correction. But the ESM will only complement the new framework for reinforced economic surveillance, which focuses on prevention and is of primary essence because it will substantially reduce the probability of crises emerging in the future.

Full speech

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