02 December 2013

EP President Schulz: "We will all have to bite the bullet"

What can be done to fix the EU? 

The repatriation of powers as advocated by Prime Minister Cameron is definitely not the answer. Because the repatriation of powers means treaty change. And treaty change means opening Pandora’s box. We really have more important things to do. There is no need to create new institutions and instruments; no need for treaty change to fix what’s wrong with the EU. The solution is as simple as this:

• The next Commission stops overstepping its powers.
• The next Commission President puts everything on hold.
• And evaluates what actually needs to be done by the EU and what should be left to Member States.
• It's about finding a more rational division of labour between the Member States and the EU. One that builds on the principles of proportionality and subsidiarity...

I have followed with great interest recent Dutch proposals to enhance the role of national parliaments in the EU. Together as national and European parliamentarians we have to fight to hold decision-makers accountable. We are called upon to fight the creeping de-parliamentarisation of Europe!

Banking Union/Resolution mechanism

I know, some people argue that it would be unfair if banks in one country have to stand in for banks in another country. But that's not really true. The Banking Union is simply an insurance system for banks. Banks save banks! - That's the fundamental idea. The European Parliament believes that it is only fair that the owners, creditors and major investors should be liable before the taxpayer has to step in. And we need a European insurance system because banks live internationally but die nationally - and the shock waves of a bank failure do not stop at the state borders. It's a European problem and we must find a European solution for it. I'm convinced that we have to stop looking at these issues through national lenses only and stop thinking about them in moralistic terms.

Another contentious issue is the question who will have the power to decide on the shutting down of a bank. Some see the Commission in this role, others the Council. Let me be frank: The Cyprus case has demonstrated once and for all that the current system is not working. We lost months because the eurozone governments did not admit that the country's banking system was no longer sustainable. In the end it cost a fortune to save what was left of the country's banking system. And the people in Cyprus were enraged because they were under the impression that politicians from northern EU-countries had seized their small savings.

We have to face the truth: We cannot afford long-winded negotiations in the Council when a bank failure is imminent. I know that this is not popular in some countries, other countries oppose the bail-in of investors, others the direct re-capitalisation of banks through the ESM. But if we want to have a Banking Union that works and achieves its objectives, we will all have to bite the bullet.

Full speech

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