On June 21, the new Communication forms the Commission’s contribution to the Euro Summit.
It takes stock of the progress made to deepen EMU since the publication of the Five Presidents’ Report: Completing Europe’s EMU on June 22, 2015.
The Five Presidents’ Report sets out a Roadmap towards achieving a fully functioning “deep and genuine” EMU in two stages:
- The first stage was launched in October 2015.
- The second stage was launched in December 2017.
In its Communication, the Commission notes that many issues revealed by the post-2007 economic, financial and social crisis have been addressed. In particular, the EU’s economy is growing for the seventh consecutive year, employment is at record high and unemployment at record low, and the economies of the member states are converging again.
However, the Commission feels that steps still need to be taken. As such, the Commission invites EU leaders to:
- Reach agreement on the main features of the Budgetary Instrument for Convergence and Competitiveness so that it can be formally adopted by the European Parliament and the Council.
- Finalize the changes to the Treaty establishing the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and to integrate the ESM into EU law over time.
- Increase efforts to complete the Banking Union, starting with negotiations on the European Deposit Insurance Scheme.
- Accelerate progress on the Capital Markets Union (CMU). The Commission states that there should be more convergence of supervisory practices, in particular to address money laundering. It notes the agreement between the Council of the EU and the European Parliament in March 2019 on reforms to the European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS), which includes a greater role for the EBA concerning money laundering. However, it suggests that there is a need to consider whether a more unified body would be more effective in addressing the cross-border aspects of money laundering.
- Step up work to strengthen the international role of the euro.
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