As the debt crisis exposes economic and budgetary weaknesses, does the EU need a Mr Euro?

The News: Looking for Mr Right

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/15757365/n001-111123-001-en_mf.srt

Europe’s economic growth has  ground to a halt, according to a key survey.

Eurobonds and stricter budget discipline are  the best way ahead, the Commission says.

Commission Vice-President Olli Rehn  has just been promoted.

He is favourite to impose that discipline

as Brussels seeks more powers to  supervise national budgets and fiscal policy

to ensure that such crises  don’t happen again.

Olli Rehn, all through this very severe crisis,  has done an extraordinary job.

To me, the policies and the profile  are more important than the person.

Another Mr Euro candidate is  Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker,

Herman Van Rompuy is another possibility,

but some say he has too many other duties  as President of the European Council.

An outsider might be European  Central Bank chief Mario Draghi.

Above all though, the Commission  appears to be the institution of choice.

I think we should differentiate  between the person and the function.

If a choice must be made,  we should choose the institution

that we would like to provide support to this  Mr Euro - for the moment that's Mr Rehn.

Perhaps in the future  it will be someone else.

The fallout from the Greek crisis exposed  flaws in the way the eurozone is managed.

Rehn is best placed to be the first Mr Euro,

but he'll need all the help he can get  from Europe’s other institutions.