The ESM, national parliaments, and the European
Parliament
Ralf Jansen
ESM General Counsel
Interparliamentary Conference on Stability, Economic Coordination and
Governance in the EU
9 November 2015
Parliamentary control of the ESM

The ESM is not an EU institution

National parliaments scrutinise the ESM

European Parliament also has a role

What about the future?
1
The ESM is not an EU institution

The ESM is an intergovernmental organisation

Established by the euro area Member States at height of crisis

At that stage, ESM could not be part of EU legally and politically

This has consequences for ESM governance

Parliamentary control by national parliaments

Informal relationship with European Parliament

German Constitutional Court ruling: democracy is in the ESM’s DNA
2
National parliaments scrutinise the ESM

Euro Area Member States provide the ESM with capital. This is not used to
lend to programme countries.

National Parliaments main actors for ensuring democratic scrutiny

ESM Board of Governors are finance ministers, accountable to parliaments

Parliaments of Member States are closely involved in ESM decision
making, depending on national rules.

Documents supporting BoG decisions are prepared two weeks in advance

We cannot share directly with national parliaments

We are always willing to appear in national parliaments.

Board of Auditors
3
European Parliament also has a role

Legally, we can engage with EP only informally.

Regular dialogue in past, will continue.

Klaus Regling addresses ECON in EP tomorrow (with Jeroen
Dijsselbloem)

Jeroen Dijsselbloem is Chairman of our BoG and ‘political representative’

Commission can share information on the macroeconomic adjustment
programmes with chairs and vice-chairs of relevant EP committees.
4
What about the future?

Leaders are thinking about the future of the EU. Five Presidents’ Report.

This mentions integrating the ESM into the EU legal framework.

Were this to happen, the role of the EP could change.

Such involvement must not be detrimental to the role of national
parliaments.
5
Contacts
Ralf Jansen
Member of the Management Board,
General Counsel
www.esm.europa.eu
www.efsf.europa.eu
6