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Eurozone Finance Minister

Introduction
Following the Greek debt crisis, Italian bank rescues and the UK’s Brexit vote a number of EU political figures publically called for the introduction of Eurozone common budget and finance minister. The position and its powers are still unclear, but the reform is considered key for the future of the Eurozone.

Juncker’s proposal
The Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in his State of the Union speech on 13/09/2017 suggested the creation of a new Commission Vice-President portfolio of “EU minister of economy and finance”. The post is envisioned to be coordinating all “EU’s financial instruments”.

Emanuel Macron’s vision
On 26/09/2017 the French President gave a major speech on the future of Europe and called for the creation of Eurozone Finance Minister. Though the speech was low on details about the exact role of the new ministerial portfolio few details were sketched out. The new finance minister is envisioned to have his/her own budget that is likely to be have its own revenue sources. Further according to Mr. Macron the new minister would be responsible to a Euro-zone parliament. The minister is also supposed to play a role in tax convergence policies in the Eurozone.

Merkel’s approach
Following Mr. Macron’s speech the German Chancellor signaled once again her support to the idea; however her view on the new finance minister is that the position should master considerably less resources that envisioned by Mr. Macron. She supports a budget made by “small contributions” by member states that would support structural reform throughout the block.

Powers and responsibilities of the post
Possible future responsibilities of the new finance minister may include: Separate budget preparation and execution; Banking supervision (including common deposit guarantee scheme); European stability mechanism; Bail-outs (bail-ins) of financially distressed governments; European Stability and Growth Pact; Fiscal policy coordination; Competitive factors harmonization; Structural reforms coordination.

Criticism
Some Eurosceptic politicians and press have already condemned the plans for reform in the Eurozone as too federalist.