Poolse minister aanwezig bij buitengewone zitting Commissie Economische en Monetaire Zaken Europarlement (en)

On 29 August, Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski will represent the Presidency of the Council of the European Union at the extraordinary meeting of the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON).

Sharon Bowles, Chair of the ECON Committee, has decided to convene the meeting to address adverse developments in the financial markets of the EU Member States.

The meeting will be held as a plenary debate addressed, apart from the Presidency, also by:President of the Euro Group - Jean-Claude Juncker i, President of the European Central Bank - Jean-Claude Trichet i, European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs - Olli Rehn i, and Chairman of the Financial Stability Board - Mario Draghi i.The topics discussed by the members of the ECON Committee and invited guests will include the political issues related with the current monetary and economic challenges as well as the legislative and institutional proposals aimed to strengthen stability of the European financial market.

In the opinion of the Presidency, the current economic and financial challenges in the eurozone directly affect the rate of economic growth of the European Union as a whole.The Presidency considers economic growth as its priority and believes that the results of current initiatives will see a fast and permanent realisation in terms of concrete actions.The Presidency deems these actions to be fundamental to the success of the European project.

Overcoming the crisis requires concerted action on the part of the EU Member States and institutions.It is imperative now that the arrangements agreed upon in recent weeks should be implemented.Of these, the most important ones concern the changes in the powers granted to the European Financial Stability Facility (ESFS), as approved on 21 July at the summit of the eurozone leaders.As part of its extended mandate, the EFSF will be able to take precautionary measures, offer credit lines to governments in order to strengthen financial institutions, and have the right to intervene in the secondary markets.It was also agreed that interest rates on loans will be lowered, and this measure will be applied to loans offered to Greece as well as Ireland and Portugal.These solutions reflect the Presidency proposals submitted already at the beginning of July.

The Presidency supports all actions aimed at enhancing the economic credibility of the European Union.This will help both overcome the current crisis and prevent crises in the future.In this regard, the Presidency will act to achieve compromise with regard to the package of legislative reforms strengthening the Stability and Growth Pact (the so-called six-pack).

The Presidency also believes that fiscal consolidation leading to a permanent reduction of sovereign debt should be a priority for all EU Member States.In this context, the idea of introducing constitutional debt limits - analogous to the provisions already present in the Polish legal system - is a proposal that will be fully supported by Poland and concurs with the proposals presented by Poland from the beginning of the debate on the ways to strengthen economic governance in the EU.

Poland fully agrees that the eurozone Member States should undertake all possible actions to stimulate competitiveness and create new jobs.In that respect, it is advisable that inevitable - where necessary - fiscal measures, such as reduction of public spending, should be reconciled with actions stimulating growth or remedy actions undertaken by the Member States governments.

At the same time, the Presidency wishes to emphasise that these actions should not widen the differences between the eurozone and non-eurozone countries.All EU Member States and institutions should exercise their best professional efforts to participate in the decision-making process in a coordinated way.