【英语财经】意大利财长呼吁加深欧元区一体化 Italian finance minister says political union needed to ensure euro’s survival

Italy’s finance minister has called for deeper eurozone integration in the aftermath of the Greek crisis, saying a move “straight towards political union” is the only way to ensure the survival of the common currency.

Pier Carlo Padoan’s comments reflect how the negotiations that led to this month’s deal on a third bailout of Greece have triggered soul-searching about the future of monetary union.

“The exit and therefore the end of irreversibility is now an option on the table. Let’s not fool ourselves,” he said in an interview. “If we want to take that risk away, then we have to have a different euro — a stronger euro.”

Italy and France have traditionally been among the most forceful backers of deeper European integration but other countries are sceptical about supporting a greater degree of political convergence.

“Some believe that the way it works is more or less fine with minor adjustments. I think this is not enough,” Mr Padoan said.

Italy is calling for the swift completion of banking union, the establishment of a common eurozone budget and the launch of a common unemployment insurance scheme to reinforce the common currency. Mr Padoan said an elected eurozone parliament alongside the existing European parliament and a European finance minister should also be considered.

“To have a full-fledged economic and monetary union, you need a fiscal union and you need a fiscal policy,” Mr Padoan said. “And this fiscal policy must respond to a parliament, and this parliament must be elected. Otherwise there is no accountability.”

Mr Padoan, who served as former chief economist of the OECD, is confident that this is the right path for the eurozone, but he is not certain it is a winning battle.

Many eurozone governments, including Italy, are facing pressure from sceptics about the merits of existing European economic integration, let alone the possibility of more to come.

Mr Padoan said that a debate over further eurozone integration had already begun in recent meetings of finance ministers, although the vast majority of their time was spent debating the Greek bailout. But he said the talks would pick up in September.

意大利财长呼吁在希腊危机结束后推进更深层次的欧元区一体化，并称“直接向政治联盟”迈进是保障欧元生存的唯一途径。

皮耶?卡洛?帕多安(Pier Carlo Padoan)的言论反映出，推动本月第三轮希腊纾困协议达成的谈判已经引发对欧元区未来的深刻反思。

“退出欧元区以及由此带来的不可逆的终结如今成了一种公开的选择。我们不要自欺欺人了，”他在采访中说，“如果我们要消除这种风险，那么我们必须拥有一种不同的欧元——更强势的欧元。”

意大利和法国历来都属于加深欧洲一体化的最有力支持者，但有些国家对更高程度的政治融合持怀疑态度。

“有人认为，欧元区的运转方式只要进行微调就差不多可以了。我认为，这并不够，”帕多安说。

意大利呼吁快速建成银行业联盟、建立欧元区共同预算以及出台共同的失业保险制度以加强欧元。帕多安说，与现有欧洲议会并存的经过选举产生的欧元区议会以及一名欧元区财长也应该被考虑。

“要建设一个成熟的经济和货币联盟，你需要一个财政联盟和统一的财政政策，”帕多安说，“这种财政政策必须对议会负责，而该议会必须由选举产生。否则何谈责任。”

曾担任经合组织(OECD)首席经济学家的帕多安，相信这是欧元区的正确道路，但他并不确定这是否是一场胜利之战。

许多欧元区政府（包括意大利）正面临来自对现有欧洲经济一体化成果——更不用说进一步一体化的可能性——持怀疑态度的人士的压力。

帕多安说，围绕加深欧元区一体化的争论在最近几次财长会议上就已经展开了，尽管财长们绝大多数时间都在讨论希腊纾困计划。但他表示，争论在9月还会继续。

译者/陈隆祥