EU's Moscovici adds voice to calls for joint euro zone finance minister
BERLIN (Reuters) - Euro zone countries should have a joint finance minister within the European Commission who would control any money available to the single currency area, the European Union's Economic Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said on Monday.
Speaking at the Bruegel think-tank in Berlin, Moscovici was backing up an idea set out in a report prepared by the EU's top officials and published in June.
The euro zone's economic decisions are now made by finance ministers from all 19 countries using the euro. They meet every month, informally, in what is called the Eurogroup.
The Commission, the EU's executive arm, takes part in those meetings but does not have a clearly defined role. The EU's founding treaty only says the Commission will take part in Eurogroup talks but not in what capacity.
"I believe that the executive role of the European Commission should be dramatically enhanced in the Eurogroup, and that the Commission should be represented by a Eurozone Finance Minister," Moscovici said.
"The Eurozone Finance Minister would be in the front line to handle crises on behalf of the euro area community, and he or she should be able in due time to draw on financial resources available for the euro area," he said.
He noted that such a powerful position could only be created if it was legitimised democratically.
(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Louise Ireland)
