European Parliament: Conference of Presidents discussion on Single Resolution Mechanism

The Conference of Presidents (i.e. the President of the European Parliament plus the chairmen of the different political groups) decided to write to President Barroso emphasising the Parliament's readiness to negotiate with the Council of the EU on the basis of the ECON position on SRM (which, in turn, built on the original Commission proposal). On the other hand, “if the negotiations do not move forward in a constructive manner”, the Parliament threatens to put the ECON position directly to a plenary vote. The Parliament considers that “the current state of play in the negotiations is not promising”, and there is a “distinct possibility” that no agreement will be achieved on the SRM before the European elections in May 2014. In particular, the Conference of Presidents “firmly rejects” the Council’s proposed intra-governmental agreement on the SRM.