Euro states should give up debt powers: Bini Smaghi
 	 		         
                      
        
                      POROS, Greece |          Fri Jul 8, 2011 1:47pm EDT         
     
 POROS, 
Greece  (Reuters) - Euro zone countries should hand over their debt-issuing  powers to Brussels while bailouts should not require unanimous support,  European Central Bank Executive Board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said on  Friday.
  The euro zone debt crisis continues to be the main source of worry for financial 
markets.  ECB heavyweight Bini Smaghi warned the bloc was struggling to bring the  problems under control and this was pushing up the cost of an eventual  solution.
"The longer a decision is  delayed, the more unpalatable it ultimately becomes, as the action  required to calm the markets and to restore stability has to be even  stronger," he told a seminar organized by the Hellenic Foundation for  European and Foreign Policy.
"Crises then drag out as one quick fix gives way to another."
International  bankers and European Union officials have made no progress this week in  securing a private sector contribution for a second bailout of Greece,  triggering further bond market tensions.
Bini  Smaghi said the current crisis was revealing the shortcomings of the  euro in its current form. "The crisis has shown that the euro is an  incomplete construct and needs to be completed," he said.
The  Italian, who is under pressure to quit the ECB to make way for incoming  president Mario Draghi, stressed he was not calling for a full  political union or for 
bonds to be issued and underwritten jointly by euro zone countries.
He said what was needed was tougher self-policing by the 
euro zone.  More controversially, however, he said euro zone members should hand  over their bond issuing powers to Brussels, which would ensure countries  did not go over set debt limits.
"Member states could transfer to a supra-national agency the right to issue their debt, up to levels agreed by the Council."
"Had  such a system been in place, Greece would neither have been able to  hide nor incur the higher deficits and debts in 2009 or the proceeding  years."
He also called for rules requiring unanimous approval for euro zone bailouts to be softened.
"Unanimity  is required for all (bailout) decisions, not only in the set-up of the  scheme, but also in its modification and activation. This is a clear  shortcoming."
"When taking  critical decisions that affect the stability of the euro area, the  European Council risks becoming like the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth  of several centuries ago, in which any member of the legislature could  block any decision. We know how it ended."
The  European Commission should be the one that takes on the role of  enforcer of debt limits, Bini Smaghi said, and added that the role of  Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner could be beefed up to handle  the responsibility.
The ECB raised  euro zone interest rates to 1.5 percent on Thursday, signaled further  rate hikes remain on the agenda and maintained its standoff with 
Germany over involving bond holders in a Greek debt relief plan.
Bini  Smaghi said the euro zone economy was continuing to recover but said  that Germany was fuelling tensions with its tactics and called for  policymakers to try and sell the benefits of a taxpayer-funded bailout  instead.