Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 166: To ask the Minister for Finance the extent to which he and his EU colleagues have discussed the issue of a consistent economic policy throughout the European Union by way of adherence to incentivised guidelines while at the same time retaining national sovereignty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34823/11]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 167: To ask the Minister for Finance the extent he and his EU colleagues have examined and analysed the factors which have been the economic strength of the EU since its foundation; the degree and extent to which it is expected and or intended to rediscover such strategies and recommit to the original economic vision for Europe; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34824/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 166 and 167 together.

Since the onset of the economic and financial crisis in 2008, all the European Union's governments and the European Commission have been working to limit the damage being done to the EU's economy, repair the damage that has been done and to put in place measures that will help the EU to avoid a similar crisis in the future. If follows from the nature of the crisis that Europe's Finance Ministers have been at the forefront in this work and, since becoming Minister for Finance a considerable part of my work in Europe has been focussed on this area.

The economic and financial crisis has led Member States to realise that they must co-ordinate their economic policies more closely in order to be able to cope with severe global crises that may arise in the future. The goal for the EU is to put in place reforms that will help to ensure that it leaves the crisis behind and enters a period of sustainable growth and jobs, while ensuring that the lessons from the crisis are taken on board and measures put in place to help avoid a repetition of the failures that contributed to it.

The results of this work can be seen in the EU2020 strategy, the European Semester process, the so called six-pack of economic governance reforms and the Euro-plus pact, all of which are, or will shortly be, in operation.

Work is continuing to bring further appropriate measures to the table for consideration. The recent Commission communication "A Roadmap to Stability and Growth" (October 2011) included a number of commitments for the further enhancement of existing measures and the introduction of new ones. These were further built on at the October 26th Euro Summit, where the euro area's Heads of State or Government agreed on a series of measures designed to improve the economic governance of the euro area. President Van Rompuy is also expected to present an interim report on strengthening the economic union within the euro area in December 2011.

Not surprisingly, some have suggested that greater surveillance and enhanced governance somehow implies an unacceptable loss of national sovereignty. I do not agree.

The Government's view is clear, we are in a monetary union with other Member States and so more coordination of policies is essential. In fact, it must be recognised that the lack of coordination among Member States in the past is one of the main reasons we find ourselves in the current predicament. So it is important to tackle the root causes of the problem - we simply cannot have a currency union without further integration and greater coordination. In these circumstances, putting in place - albeit retrospectively - the appropriate institutional architecture is crucial.

Of course, enhanced policy surveillance and governance must be sufficiently balanced, and in this regard, the Government sees an important role for the Community-based method as it balances the interests of smaller Member States. The Government also takes the view that as much as possible should be achieved at the level of the EU27, however, it also recognises that the level of integration and coordination will be necessarily higher for countries participating in a monetary union than for those outside it.