The ESM, national parliaments, and the European Parliament

Ralf Jansen

ESM General Counsel

Interparliamentary Conference on Stability, Economic Coordination and Governance in the EU

9 November 2015

Parliamentary control of the ESM

The ESM is not an EU institution

National parliaments scrutinise the ESM

European Parliament also has a role

What about the future?

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The ESM is not an EU institution

The ESM is an intergovernmental organisation

Established by the euro area Member States at height of crisis

At that stage, ESM could not be part of EU legally and politically

This has consequences for ESM governance

Parliamentary control by national parliaments

Informal relationship with European Parliament

German Constitutional Court ruling: democracy is in the ESM’s DNA

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National parliaments scrutinise the ESM

Euro Area Member States provide the ESM with capital. This is not used to lend to programme countries.

National Parliaments main actors for ensuring democratic scrutiny

ESM Board of Governors are finance ministers, accountable to parliaments

Parliaments of Member States are closely involved in ESM decision making, depending on national rules.

Documents supporting BoG decisions are prepared two weeks in advance

We cannot share directly with national parliaments

We are always willing to appear in national parliaments.

Board of Auditors

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European Parliament also has a role

Legally, we can engage with EP only informally.

Regular dialogue in past, will continue.

Klaus Regling addresses ECON in EP tomorrow (with Jeroen Dijsselbloem)

Jeroen Dijsselbloem is Chairman of our BoG and ‘political representative’

Commission can share information on the macroeconomic adjustment programmes with chairs and vice-chairs of relevant EP committees.

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What about the future?

Leaders are thinking about the future of the EU. Five Presidents’ Report.

This mentions integrating the ESM into the EU legal framework.

Were this to happen, the role of the EP could change.

Such involvement must not be detrimental to the role of national parliaments.

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Contacts

Ralf Jansen

Member of the Management Board,

General Counsel

www.esm.europa.eu

www.efsf.europa.eu