French president’s eurozone government proposal ‘just an idea’, Lithuanian foreign minister says

“The idea cannot be rejected or approved immediately. It is just an idea, which has not been made more specific. If we will need to revise European agreements, this has to be done in a cautious and responsible manner in order to keep the EU unity. Furthermore, we have to take account of the existing mechanisms and make use of what we have now to make it efficient. Then we will see how much we need something extra,” Linkevičius told BNS.

In his words, officials of the eurozone countries have not yet given their opinions about the proposal, which is “viewed as preliminary ideas without very specific propositions”.

Two weeks ago, Hollande presented his vision of the eurozone in the wake of the Greek crisis, saying that the 19-member euro area should set up its parliament and government and have a shared budget. Currently, issues of the eurozone are addressed by finance ministers of the member-states. In the French president’s words, the eurozone needs a new governance model, as national parliaments are too removed from decision-making, which makes ordinary citizens feel like they have little say.