EC proposes strong euro zone integration. No separate budgets

The European Commission revealed its proposals for deep financial reforms in the EU. The bloc’s executive arm wants to transform the bailout fund ESM into a European Monetary Fund and give it more responsibilities. The EMF would still provide loans to member states in financial trouble but also develop new financial instruments that could be used to provide further support to states hit by financial shocks. The European Commission would also like to create a position of the European Minister of Economy and Finance. The minister would be at the same time a vice president of the commission, the chair of the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers and would oversee the work of the new European Monetary Fund. The minister would promote and support the coordination and implementation of reforms in EU countries and would also be responsible for identifying an appropriate fiscal policy for the euro area as a whole. The Commission did not go far into its proposals as to create two separate budgets for members and non-members of the euro zone and said that all their proposals are open to all EU members. The EMF, which the Commission hopes to get agreement on by mid-2019 from governments and the European Parliament, would also provide a €60 billion backstop for the bank-funded Single Resolution Fund.