(Finance) – The ratification of the European Stability Mechanism Treaty. This is what emerges from the agenda of the meeting of Eurozone finance ministers to be held on Thursday, in which it is expected to “take stock of the progress made with ratification”. Among the countries adhering to the ESM Italy is the only one not to have completed ratification of the new treaty.
The finance ministers of the Eurozone will meet on Thursday afternoon before Ecofin and the expectation is that they will once again go to pressing on Italy for the European Stability Mechanism. At the end of the year, the transition will be concluded to combine the 80 billion of the Single Resolution Fund with a further emergency line of 68 billion in the event of a banking crisis, given as a parachute by the ESM, but which would be missing without ratification.
“The ratification of the ESM Treaty – underlined a month ago President of the Eurogroup, Paschal Donohoe at the Eurosummit – will establish common public support for the Single Resolution Fund for banking crises, which is our long-standing agreement and is in our interest, for everyone, both for the Eurozone as a whole and for individuals Member States, including Italy. The ratification of this treaty represents a further step towards a more resilient Banking Union and a more complete and deeper Economic and Monetary Union. After the ratification of the Treaty, we will also be able to collectively reflect on the role and future instruments of the ESM”. A point, the latter, which meets the requests of Italy, which is very critical of the way in which the State Rescue Fund was used to implement the controversial austerity policies, during the Eurozone crisis.
Also on Thursday the first point allagenda (provisional) concerns the evaluation of the budget plans presented by the countries, on which the European Commission has already published its opinions. Precisely in this context the second point concerns the discussion on the opinions of the community executive. Third chapter, the ministers will examine the functioning of the currency exchange mechanism together with the ministers of Bulgaria and Denmark. In the fourth chapter on the agenda, before the aforementioned examination of the ratification of the ESM, the priorities of the new Luxembourg government are expected to be examined.
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