The European People’s Party (EPP) welcomes the European Commission’s proposals on the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) as presented today by Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue. With this occasion, EPP President Joseph Daul made the following statement: “Since the beginning, Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, has promised to have a political Commission. As he always keeps his word, I am delighted to see that today’s EMU proposals follow the EPP priorities we put forward already one year ago. We went through challenging times during the economic and financial crisis, but thanks to the EPP leadership in the EU institutions, we have succeeded to put in place the right rules to bring the recovery back to the European citizens. But more remains to be done. We must continue with economic reforms across Europe so that never again is the taxpayers’ money used to save banks or bailout irresponsible financial institutions. For this, I welcome the Commission’s initiative which strengthens the Banking Union by turning the European Stability Mechanism into a European Monetary Fund. I am especially pleased that the Commission is putting forward more resources and support for countries to implement necessary structural reforms and reward successfully completed projects. These initiatives will not only make the Eurozone economies strong but they will also extend stability and resilience to the countries outside the Eurozone. EPP particularly welcomes the incorporation of a Fiscal Compact Treaty into the EU’s legislation as it will ensure that the rules on spending and deficits will protect our people from future crises. We insist that these mutually agreed rules cannot be watered down by the Socialists during the process, as they defend citizens and economic stability of their countries from disastrous budgets of socialist governments. Finally, I would like to congratulate Vice-President Dombrovskis for his efforts to ensure that EMU proposals represent the interest of the people and will make the EU’s economies resilient and strong in the future.”