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.