June 3, 2011
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet envisions a future in which Brussels can veto the budgets of debt-ridden euro-zone countries. It's not likely to happen anytime soon, but the ongoing problems in Greece demonstrate the perils of business as usual.
When the European common currency was first conceived, there were plenty of skeptics. Without further integration of budgetary policy among countries belonging to the currency union, they said, the euro was doomed.
The ongoing European debt crisis would appear to have lent credence to the naysayers -- and on Thursday, European Central Bank head Jean-Claude Trichet proposed the establishment of a European finance minister with veto power over the budgets of debt-stricken countries.
"Would it be too audacious to imagine a European Union that not only has a unified market, a common currency and a common central bank, but also a common Finance Ministry?" Trichet said during his acceptance speech of the prestigious International Charlemagne Prize for distinguished service on behalf of European integration.
In his talk, Trichet outlined an EU future in which a European Finance Ministry would have the power to veto the budgetary plans of euro-zone member states in certain situations. He emphasized that such a veto would only come after aid of the type received by Portugal, Greece and Ireland had failed.
"The basis for this idea is that of striking a balance between national sovereignty on the one hand and the interdependence of member-state actions on the other, particularly in exceptional situations," he said.
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