From Chasing Game to Symbiotic Relationship
The Position of Eurozone and non-Eurozone countries within the EU institutional framework
This report examines the impact of the on-going reconstruction of the Eurozone on the non-Eurozone countries. It observes that during the crisis period, the relationship was shaped in an ad hoc fashion with no agreed master plan. The non-Eurozone countries focused on safeguarding their interests and emphasised the need to preserve broader EU cohesion. Their main objective was to protect the integrity of the EU single market. As economic stability was reinstated, a more mature discussion has begun with the non-Eurozone countries accepting the need for further integration in the common currency area and refl ecting on its implications.
In order to define the framework for the relationship, the report argues for a “Code of Conduct” to be agreed between the Eurozone and non-Eurozone countries. The document would confirm the existence of a community of interest across the currency divide and help to solve potential disagreements. It would envisage that further integration of the Eurozone could take place exclusively on the basis of the EU treaties while its impact would be closely monitored and assessed. The non-Eurozone countries would be engaged fully in the new fiscal policy system of the Eurozone as well as in the new set of measures to monitor and correct competitiveness gaps. Special safeguards would be agreed to guarantee the non-Eurozone countries’ sense of inclusion in the reform of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). As a result, trust would return and a symbiotic relationship could be built. Read more…
