The European Affairs Committee of the Saeima and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have made public the summary of Latvia’s position on strengthening the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The position was adopted on 28 September, and while discussing the report “Towards a Genuine Economic and Monetary Union” by Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, members of the committee, along with representatives of non-governmental organisations and experts, suggested making the position publicly available.
“We have held three committee meetings at the parliament to discuss the report, which includes options for closer integration of the European Union,” said Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Chairwoman of the European Affairs Committee. “In the first meeting, we heard from the experts who provided explanations on the essence of the report, specifically, on Van Rompuy’s proposal to establish the banking union. In the second meeting, we invited social partners, economists, political experts, and representatives of financial institutions to launch active discussions that were continued in the third meeting. The adoption of Latvia’s national position was preceded by MPs’ submitting numerous proposals and engaging in active discussions; that is a clear sign of Latvia’s preparedness to voice its opinion on closer integration of the European Union,” said Kalniņa-Lukaševica.
“Following the decision made in the committee meetings, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has drafted a summary of Latvia’s position on strengthening the EMU. Today we made the document publicly available,” said Kalniņa-Lukaševica.
According to the position on the EMU, Latvia is committed to joining the euro area and becoming a full-fledged member of the EMU on 1 January 2014. Latvia wants to ensure that the European Union (EU) is economically strong, politically stable and capable of protecting its member states’ interests in all areas in the global arena. Therefore, Latvia supports closer EU integration and wishes to be among the member states that form the core of closer integration. Latvia believes that the EU should remain a union of nation states in which Latvia, along with other states, can retain its national foundations.
Furthermore, in the medium and long term, Latvia supports amendments to the founding treaties of the EU aimed at closer integration of the EMU member states. It is also indicated in the position that Latvia is in favour of creating a banking union that would include the following three elements – a single supervisory mechanism, a European deposit guarantee fund and a uniform resolution mechanism. Latvia also hopes that it will be possible for non-members of the euro area to join the banking union.
It is also highlighted in the position that in ensuring democratic legitimacy, national parliaments should continue to have a central role in a more integrated EU and that cooperation between the European Parliament and the national parliaments of the member states is essential to achieve these goals, especially when addressing issues that affect national budgets.
The summary of the position on strengthening the EMU is available at: http://titania.saeima.lv/LIVS/SaeimasNotikumi.nsf/webSNbyDate?OpenView&count=1000&restrictToCategory=28.09.2012
Saeima Press Service