Meeting of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs on the Economic Dialogue, in the EP in Brussels. Statements by Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, President of the Eurogroup, and Markus FERBER (EPP, DE)

Brussels

exchange of views

meeting

Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

economic dialogue (T)

DIJSSELBLOEM, Jeroen

FERBER, Markus (EPP, DE)

Economic Dialogue and exchange of views with Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, President of the Eurogroup: extracts from the meeting of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

Atmosphere before the exchange of views, (3  shots)

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, President of the Eurogroup, Of course our recovery is profiting from temporary tilt winds and therefore our work is not done, growth rates needs to be improved, there is still unacceptably large pockets of unemployment and other large divergences in economic performance across the Euro area.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, President of the Eurogroup, We agreed with the Commission (meeting of the 22nd of January) that Portugal is also at risk of no compliance with the pact. We urged the authorities to deliver on their commitment and that they show compliance. The Portuguese authorities have assured us that they are committed to prepare as of now additional measures to be implemented when needed to ensure that the 2016 budget will remain compliant.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, President of the Eurogroup, My understanding from the institutions and authorities there is that the discussions had been quite constructive and although the quality of the reforms implemented is our main concern, the authorities should now shift to high gear so that negotiations can be finalised as soon as possible. The Greek government has expressed a sense of urgency which I very much share with them and it is foremost in Greece's interest that the first review is concluded swiftly.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, President of the Eurogroup, (on Cyprus) The country is in a much better position as it was 3 years ago and has recovered much faster than it was anticipated. It is therefore understandable that we have not received a request for a successor arrangement at this point. I'm confident that the country will stand on his own feet again. We will discuss the exist of Cyprus from their program in our Euro group meeting in March. We are all aware of the strong drive towards reunification in Cyprus and the Euro group stands ready to assess the implications of that process from the perspective of the economic and monetary union.

SOUNDBITE (German), Markus FERBER (EPP, DE), (on the public budget plan of Portugal -critic on the fact that the COM gave positive signal): The budget in Portugal was not only submitted far too late but it departed from the agreement, not because of particular burdens or because problems of policies but because electoral promises had to be kept to.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, President of the Eurogroup, (on Portugal ) I think that the COM took the right stance there and expressed their concerns and said you really must do more to ensure that you comply with the pact and at the same time which is even more a concern, remain and keep you access to the markets.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, President of the Eurogroup, (on the situation of the EU banks in the Eurozone) I think that we should continue to raise investments in Europe, we should continue with some of the structural issues we have in our economies in the functioning of governing, in the functioning of markets and I think we should continue in strengthening the Banking Union. And when people say 'banks are in a terrible state' I will fight that, that is not true, our banks are in a much better state, but individual banks there are legacy issues and in many banks there are large portfolios of NPL's which has to do with the real economic situation.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, President of the Eurogroup, (on the refugee situation and the economic impact) German refugee crisis is not just Germany by the way and I would hope that all countries in the EU considered it a joint problem, what the economic effect will be, some argue that the effect will be that Germany and other countries have to spend a lot more on influx on migrants. It will have short term economic effect, what the long term effect of that is I'm not sure, there many different opinions here.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, President of the Eurogroup, (on the European Council and the reform debates launched and requested by UK) I can't anticipate what is going to happen today at the European Council on the British settlement, but in any situation I feel that the process of integration of the Monetary Union must continue and that's what the five President's report had outlined.