Eurogroup President Mario Centeno hailed that the Franco-German proposal of a Eurozone budget is “breakthrough” on reforms to be discussed among finance ministers in December. Centeno said “the contribution of France and Germany on the euro zone budget is an important topic for today’s discussion,” and, “it can be a sort of a breakthrough toward December”.
Under the joint proposal, the objective of the Eurozone budget is to foster convergence and support reforms “in particular by co-financing growth-enhancing public expenditures such as investments, research and development, innovation and human capital”. The pool of funds from dedicated taxes and indiviual state contributions would be put under a system of shared management. Members would then be allowed to used the fund for short-term investment plans with approvals from the European Commission. However, the budget would only be available to member states which abide by EUR rules, including deficit and debt.
Italy appears to be unhappy with the proposal as Deputy Prime Minister Matt eo Slovenia warned that “If, as it seems, it (the plan) damages Italy, it will never have our support.”
