Yesterday evening Parliament's constitutional affairs committee adopted a recommendation on changes to article 136 of the Treaty to enable the creation of a permanent financial stability mechanism.

Guy VERHOFSTADT, President of the ALDE group said: "The creation of a permanent European fund for financial stability is urgently needed for the Eurozone but Council must not use this pretext to undermine the general principles of the Treaty. That is why Parliament is proposing to re-establish the Commission's right, at every stage of the new mechanism's implementation, as well as mandatory consultation of Parliament. The Community Method that we envisage is the guarantee of equal treatment between all Member States in access, under strict conditions, to this safeguard fund."

Andrew DUFF (LibDem, UK), ALDE spokesperson on AFCO added: "The stability mechanism is the first step in a series of measures which taken together will constitute a serious economic government for the Union. The decision of the Constitutional Affairs Committee to insist on a regulation of the Council and Parliament to establish the operational rules of the mechanism, including the criteria of strict conditionality, makes a vital contribution to this process. The European Council and Commission would be wise to follow Parliament's lead."
 
Parliament will formally adopt its opinion at its session on March 24th ahead of the Spring summit of EU leaders.