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MEPs today broadly welcomed EU's latest package of measures to contain the eurozone crisis as a step in the right direction.
However, the parliamentary debate in Strasbourg, held just hours after the conclusion of two emergency summits in Brussels, made clear that MEPs feel that the measures - the EU's most comprehensive response yet presented - need to be followed by further, significant steps to stabilise the euro and forge a closer economic union.
Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, and José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, spent much of the debate on the defensive.
'More fiscal integration'
Joseph Daul, the leader of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), the largest bloc in the Parliament, urged Van Rompuy and Barroso to push for more fiscal and economic integration to address shortcomings in the current system of economic governance.
Martin Schulz, the leader of the centre-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group, said while some progress had been made, the decisions taken at the European Council and the eurozone summit, which ended in the early hours of Thursday, had "not brought any solution to the crisis". He called on EU leaders to move fast to reach an agreement on a financial transaction tax, to reduce tax evasion and to improve the situation of Europe's unemployed.
Guy Verhofstadt, who leads the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) and who is a champion of a federal Europe, expressed relief that decisions had been taken. He added, though, that "much work remains to be completed to ensure more effective governance in the longer term, namely the measures to set in place a real economic and fiscal union". He urged Barroso to move quickly to present plans for Eurobonds - sovereign bonds guaranteed by multiple governments - and to draft plans to create a European Monetary Fund capable to stepping in to provide support for troubled economies.
All three leaders dwelt on the slow pace of decision-making over the course of the crisis. "If these measures had been taken a year ago we would not be where we are today," said Schulz, who criticised Van Rompuy and Barroso for not pushing EU leaders to take decisions earlier. Similarly, Verhofstadt said the length of deliberation and negotiation had worsened Europe's economic situation. Daul said the EU treaty needed to be adjusted swiftly to reflect the plans. "We don't have time to wait ten years to change the treaty," said Daul.
'Temporary solution'
Jan Zahradil, the leader of a Eurosceptic grouping, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), said the deal was "only a temporary solution" and did not solve the core problems facing the eurozone or the EU as a whole.
"We must not let markets fail while we attempt to save the single currency," he said.
Barroso said the decisions taken on Wednesday and Thursday "were important," but acknowledged that there was "still a lot of work to do". He said that the Commission would next month present a package of proposals to bolster the economic governance within the EU and the eurozone.
Those proposals include plans for member states to be able to carry out deeper surveillance of each other's finances as well as a green paper on Eurobonds.
He reiterated that the Commission was also fast-tracking plans on reforms to the EU's internal market as well as further legislation on financial regulation.
Van Rompuy said the lack of detail in the decisions taken by the EU leaders did not mean that a breakthrough did not occur.
"We have made greater progress than might appear," he said. He added the EU's decision-making process was naturally slow because it had to take into account of national parliaments and debate.
"Political decision-making is always going to lag behind the markets," he said.
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