A Central Eurozone Budget Is on the Table

A consensus has begun to emerge that there be one budget for the entire eurozone. The region's finance ministers will meet shortly. However, it is difficult to imagine why Germany, the strongest economy in the region, would agree to tying it fortunes to the balance of the region in any way. And leaders among the eurozone nations have been unable to agree on most other initiatives to help the financial plight of many countries in the alliance. So, why should something as complex as a budget among so many nations work?

According to Reuters:

The single budget proposal was first sketched out by Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, in a paper circulated in September as part of an effort to stimulate debate about how Europe's monetary union should be improved.

In the paper, Van Rompuy said a "fully fledged fiscal union" among the 17 countries that share the euro could involve the creation of a single treasury office and "a central budget whose role and functions would need to be defined".

Douglas A. McIntyre