Economic and monetary union EMU, 3rd stage: composition of the Economic and Financial Committee EFC

On 1 January next year, the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC) will be set up to take over the role currently played by the Monetary Committee in preparing the work of the Ecofin Council. In its report on the Composition of the EFC by Mrs Pervenche BER·S (PES, F), the Committee expresses its dismay over the fact that Parliament according to the Treaty does not even have a right to be consulted - only informed - about the setting up of the EFC. According to the proposal for a Council Decision, the Committee shall have 34 members, two each from the Commission and the ECB, and two appointed by each Member State, selected from among senior officials from the administration and the national central bank. The Committee expressed deep concern that this proposed membership of the EFC may lead to an over-representation of central bankers, which distorts the objective of a body which is supposed to create a balance between the monetary and the economic aspects of EMU. In particular, the Committee expresses its doubts whether the EFC as presently composed could serve as a forum for a dialogue on coordination of economic policies favourable to growth and employment. The Committee therefore invites the Council to amend the proposal so that eurozone countries appoint two members who are first chosen from the ministries responsible for formulating short- and medium-term economic policies. The Committee also proposes that members selected from national central banks should not be entitled to vote in the EFC. Finally, the Committee considers that the future Chairman of the EFC should appear before Parliament's competent committee on a quarterly basis. �