Lords to scrutinise implications of economic and monetary union for UK

The Lords Committee will take the Five Presidents' Report, as well as the recent European Commission Communication outlining the plans within the Report, as the basis of their investigation.

The Committee will assess visions to establish an economic union in the euro area including the recommendation to set up National Competitive Boards to track performance.

Issues such as the reality of forming a fiscal union, bolstering the crisis management framework (with specific reference to the recent instability in Greece), and the potential representation of the euro area within the IMF will all be examined throughout the inquiry.

Specific questions that the inquiry will aim to address include:

• How effective will the new National Competitive Boards be?
• Should the UK and other non-euro area Member States participate and establish a Board? What would be the consequence of not doing so?
• Are plans to introduce a European deposit insurance scheme achievable?
  What mechanism and tools are needed to progress towards a credible and functioning fiscal union?
• How will the UK and other non-euro area countries be affected by the proposals in the Five Presidents' Report and the European Commission's Communication?
• What will the implications be for the City of London?

Baroness Falkner of Margravine, Chair of the Committee, said:

"Over the next two years we can expect to see the Commission roll out the early stages of its latest plans for economic and monetary union, as laid out in the Five Presidents' Report. These will be concrete measures addressing issues such as governance, competitiveness, and a path towards a fiscal union, among other things.

While the implementation of the Commission's plans to deepen EMU will naturally have an impact on the euro area, we are well aware that it will also, inevitably, have a bearing on us here in the UK, and on others in the wider EU. Will the UK benefit? What effect will the proposals have on the City of London? How involved should we be in the roll out of the plans?

What we aim to do with this inquiry is to examine how well the Five Presidents Report sets out its roadmap for completing EMU, and to analyse the mechanisms it proposes to use to get there.

We are now calling for evidence to be submitted to this inquiry, and we would encourage anyone with appropriate expertise or experience in these issues to get involved with our inquiry.

We aim to report by May of next year.”