Eurogroup

The Eurogroup is the recognised collective term for the informal meetings of the finance ministers of the eurozone—those member states of the European Union (EU) which have adopted the euro as their official currency.

It exercises political control over the currency and related aspects of the EU's monetary union such as the Stability and Growth Pact.

The Eurogroup, formerly known as the Euro-X and Euro-XI in relation to the number of states adopting the euro, was established at the request of France as a policy co-ordination and consultation forum on eurozone matters.

[8] The presidency has helped strengthen the group, since before Juncker's appointment the Eurogroup was only present at meetings in the European Parliament.

However, although France and Spain support such plans, Germany fears that strengthening the group might undermine the independence of the European Central Bank.

[14] The ECB President, Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner and Chairman of the Eurogroup Working Group also attend the meetings.

Such meetings shall take place, when necessary, to discuss questions related to the specific responsibilities they share with regard to the single currency.

The European Central Bank shall be invited to take part in such meetings, which shall be prepared by the representatives of the Ministers with responsibility for finance of the Member States whose currency is the euro and of the Commission.Article 2: The Ministers of the Member States whose currency is the euro shall elect a president for two and a half years, by a majority of those Member States.Furthermore, the treaty amended the Council of the EU's rules so that when the full Ecofin council votes on matters only affecting the eurozone, only those states using the euro (the Eurogroup countries) are permitted to vote on it.

[17] This vastly informal nature has led to a number of controversies, criticisms and debates on the governance of the monetary union.

[24] Among all those critics, here are concrete examples of democratic shortcomings of the Eurogroup: In 2008, in light of the 2008 financial crisis, French President Nicolas Sarkozy (speaking at the European Parliament as the outgoing president of the European Council) called the Eurogroup to be replaced by a "clearly identified economic government" for the eurozone, stating it was not possible for the eurozone to go on without it.

[5] This is in contrast to an early proposal from former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt who saw the European Commission taking a leading role in a new economic government, something that would be opposed by the less integrationist states.

In 2017, a number of voices including Pierre Moscovici,[29] Emmanuel Macron,[30] Angela Merkel[31] and Jean-Claude Juncker[32] have called for the Eurogroup to formally be chaired by a dedicated Eurozone finance minister, which could in practice be the European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Euro.

He would also have under his authority a General Secretariat of the Treasury of the euro area, whose tasks would be determined by the objectives of the budgetary union currently being set up.

[38] On 15 April 2008 in Brussels, Juncker suggested that the eurozone should be represented at the International Monetary Fund as a bloc, rather than each member state separately: "It is absurd for those 15 countries not to agree to have a single representation at the IMF.

[41] In March 2017, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the president of the Eurogroup at the time, told the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung "As a Social Democrat, I attribute exceptional importance to solidarity.

[43] Manfred Weber, leader of the European People's Party group, tweeted "Eurozone is about responsibility, solidarity but also respect.

[44] The Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa, said his words were "racist, xenophobic and sexist" and that "Europe will only be credible as a common project on the day when Mr. Dijsselbloem stops being Head of the Eurogroup and apologises clearly to all the countries and peoples that were profoundly offended by his remarks".

[45] Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi also called on Dijsselbloem to quit, saying that "If he wants to offend Italy, he should do it in a sports bar back home, not in his institutional role".

It's not for nothing that the aid programs of the European emergency fund are accompanied by strict conditions: You get very cheap loans provided you take action to restore order.