REPEAT: MNI: Italy Wants Any EU FinMin Under Parliament Watch

Repeats Story Initially Transmitted at 12:40 GMT Dec 19/07:40 EST Dec 19

--New Eurozone Finance Minister Must Be Accountable to EU Parliament, EuCo

--Candidate Should Be EC Member, Chair Eurogroup

--If No EU Budget, Then No EU Finance Minister 

By Silvia Marchetti

     ROME (MNI) - Italy is in favour of appointing a formal Eurozone Finance

Minister but several conditions must be met, Market News understands.

     According to Italian officials close to discussions, anyone appointed to

the role must be accountable to the European institutions and be provided with

an adequate budget. 

     "There are two fundamental criteria. First, this new role is possible only

if the eurozone adopts a single budget to fund its policies. Second: the

eurozone minister must be politically accountable to the European Parliament,"

Marco Piantini, European Affairs Adviser to Italian Prime Minister Paolo

Gentiloni, told Market News.

     Piantini argued that creating a "real, solid European budget with adequate

resources" and giving birth to a finance minister were two sides of the same

coin -- inseparable -- and their creation needed go hand in hand. 

     Rome has made it clear it does not want the new finance minister to be a

"rigorous pro-austerity watchdog good at scolding just indebted southern peers,

but also have a friendly pro-growth and investment face," explained Giorgio

Tonini, Democrat president of the Senate's budget committee. 

     In a recent parliament hearing, Prime Minister Gentiloni warned that the

finance minister role should focus on furthering the union's convergence and

boosting growth, and that he must not turn into a "fiscal controller" overseeing

the Mediterranean countries. 

     -MISTER BUDGET

     Rome wants the finance minister, known as 'Mr Budget' in Italian talks, to

be equipped with a genuine fiscal capacity tailored to promote investments and

to smooth the economic cycle, alongside funding Europe's common challenges such

as immigration and defence. 

     The Eurozone minister should ensure that a coherent and internally balanced

fiscal stance is pursued, taking into account both fiscal targets and growth

needs of single member states, added Tonini. 

     According to Democrat deputy Giampaolo Galli, member of the Lower House

budget committee, the best way for such a minister to be "politically

accountable" is for him or her to be a member of the European Commission, along

the lines of the High Representative for foreign affairs.

     "If the eurozone minister is enshrined within the EC, it must account for

his actions and constantly brief the European Parliament. He would have a strong

link with both the EP and the European Council. This would be a good compromise

between having a brand new, potentially scary figure and one that is the

expression of the confederation of member states," argued Galli.

     Rome aims to give 'Mr. Budget' another chair, too; that of the Eurogroup.

This, they argue would be in order to boost monetary and fiscal coordination

between the European Commission and member states. 

     However, the road ahead might be a steep and rough one, warned Giovanni

Orsina, director at the Rome-based LUISS University. 

     --GERMAN ROADBLOCK

     "We're still in a very premature phase. A Eurozone finance minister is part

of a wider roadmap to reform the eurozone governance and all 27 member states do

not share the same views on many aspects," he said.

     Above all, in Orsina's view, Germany is the greatest obstacle towards an

integrated EU budget and Eurozone minister, which would inevitably lead to "risk

and burden-sharing". 

     "Before taking any steps forward, I'm afraid we must wait and see what

happens in Berlin. The stalemate in forming a new government puts the breaks on

furthering union reform talks right now," argued Orsina. 

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com