EU prepares for eurozone 2.0

The EU has approved a roadmap for further reforms, though concrete decisions are not expected this week. The way toward a renewed eurozone has been prepared, but a key question remains: who will pay in the end? 

Over dinner, the leaders of the European Union discussed the lessons they have learned from the eurozone's debt crisis, and how they want to shape the EU in the future. A clear outcome has yet to present itself, though the presidents of the European Council, the eurozone, the EU Commission and the European Central Bank have been working on a 15-page paper outlining their plans for months.

Under the heading, "Towards a Genuine Economic and Monetary Union," European Council President Herman Van Rompuy has collected reform ideas and divided them into three phases. Van Rompuy wants to achieve a full and complete banking union and a better coordination of economic policies, and contractually oblige member states to structural reform. In the end, he expects common borrowing and repayment of public debt in the eurozone.

In addition, a "fiscal capacity" would be launched, also known as a sort of eurozone budget. All eurozone states would be obliged to contribute to this common pot, which would help them deal with economic shocks and downturns.

Olli Rehn, the EU commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, told DW in Brussels that a "monetary union 2.0," that is, a new version of the current eurozone, should be created.

Read more: EU prepares for eurozone 2.0 | Europe | DW.DE | 14.12.2012