OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK (EBC).
On 19 July 2012,
the ECB received a request from the Council of the European Union
for an opinion on a proposal for a Council regulation establishing
a facility for providing financial assistance for Member States
whose currency is not the euro.
The ECB made the
following observations :
- Access to
credit lines : the ECB takes note of the introduction of
credit lines allowing for assistance for non-euro area Member
States whose economic and financial situation is fundamentally
sound. It considers that the granting of the credit lines is
compatible with Article 143 of the Treaty, which envisages the
Union’s possibility of intervening not only when a non-euro
area Member State is in difficulties, but also when it is
‘seriously threatened with difficulties’ as regards its
balance of payments, where such potential difficulties are liable
in particular to jeopardise the functioning of the internal market.
At the same time, the ECB considers very important a close
interpretation of the eligibility criteria when assessing access to
the credit lines, and strict compliance with them over time.
- Role of the ECB
and the Eurosystem : the proposed regulation contains
similar provisions regarding the administration of financial
assistance, respectively the opening and use of accounts with the
national central bank (NCB) of the relevant Member State and of the
respective NCB with the ECB. In this respect, the ECB understands
that under the proposed regulation it would act as fiscal agent and
that no financing from the European System of Central Banks would
be expected, in compliance with the monetary financing prohibition
set out in the Treaty. Therefore, the ECB reiterates that the
accounts to be used for the management of this financial assistance
at the NCBs and at the ECB will not provide for the possibility of
an overdraft.
- ECB’s
participation : the proposed regulation establishes, in
addition to the administration of the loans and credit lines, a
broader participation by the ECB in cases of European Union
financial assistance to non-euro area Member States than is
currently the case under Regulation (EC) No 332/2002. Given that
the ECB is not the monetary authority of the non-euro area Member
States, the ECB would like to distinguish between its involvement
in respect of non-euro area Member States and its involvement in
respect of euro area Member States, and notes that its role in the
proposed cooperation with the Commission will have to be organised
within its mandate and with respect for its independence.