On Thursday 25 February, the European Parliament will vote on the European Central Bank annual report for 2014 during its Brussels Plenary. Supported by the European Movement International, a cross-party coalition of more than 40 pro-European MEPs has put forward an amendment to this report that would transform the profit of the European Central Bank into an own resource of the EU.

The yearly profit of the ECB, which amounts to an average of 1 billion euros annually, can be transferred to the EU to constitute a genuine own resource. The European Movement International advocates the constitution of genuine own resources in order to create a fairer and more transparent system, gradually replacing the national contributions that accentuate the net-payer debate and at the same time contradict the principle of EU solidarity. The European Parliament also has repeatedly called for EU own resources in previous resolutions.

Jo Leinen MEP, President, European Movement International, stated:

“The ECB profits are generated by a European institution but cannot be used to make an impact on the European level. By transforming the ECB’s profits into an own resource of the EU, we would – without making treaty-change necessary – create the nucleus of a Eurozone budget within the EU’s general budget, that is much needed to counter asymmetric economic shocks and to support structural reforms within the single currency. Before asking Member States for additional national contributions we should first and foremost use the funds already available on the European level. This is not a question of being left or right, social-democratic or conservative, but of doing the necessary to advance the European project and its single currency. I call on all pro-European Members of the European Parliament to support that idea in the plenary-vote.”
[ENDS]

Notes to the Editors
1. The European Movement International (EMI) is one of the largest pan and pro-European civil society organisations with currently more than 70 Member Organisations, bringing together representatives from European associations, political parties, enterprises and trade unions. www.europeanmovement.eu