BERLIN (MNI) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday that
proposals by EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn for a
strengthening of the budget supervision mechanism in the EU Stability
and Growth Pact “go in the right direction.”
It does not automatically mean that the budget authority of
national parliaments is curtailed when the EU Commission gets to see the
budget bills before parliaments vote on them, the Chancellor argued.
In that way the Commission can say at an early stage of the budget
process if the bill is in line with the requirements of the Growth and
Stability Pact, Merkel noted.
“It is not a bad thing if parliaments know what the opinion of the
Commission is,” the Chancellor said. This will lead to more
transparency, she reasoned.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
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