Editing European Central Bank (section)

===== The arguments in favour of a counter power =====
In the aftermath of the euro area crisis, several proposals for a countervailing power were put forward, to deal with criticisms of a democratic deficit. For the German economist German Issing (2001) the ECB as a democratic responsibility and should be more transparent. According to him, this transparency could bring several advantages as the improvement of efficiency and credibility by giving the public adequate information. Others think that the ECB should have a closer relationship with the European Parliament which could play a major role in the evaluation of the democratic responsibility of the ECB.<ref name="Barbier-Gauchard, Amélie 1978-....">{{Cite book|last=Barbier-Gauchard, Amélie (1978–....).|title=La gouvernance économique de la zone euro : réalités et perspectives|date=15 May 2018|others=Sidiropoulos, Moïse., Varoudakis, Aristomène (1958–....)., De Grauwe, Paul (1946–....).|isbn=978-2-8073-2010-9|location=Louvain-la-Neuve|oclc=1041143371}}</ref> The development of new institutions or the creation of a minister is another solution proposed:

'''Towards democratic institutions ?'''

The absence of democratic institutions such as a Parliament or a real government is a regular criticism of the ECB in its management of the euro area, and many proposals have been made in this respect, particularly after the economic crisis, which would have shown the need to improve the governance of the euro area. For Moïse Sidiropoulos, a professor in economy: "The crisis in the euro zone came as no surprise, because the euro remains an unfinished currency, a stateless currency with a fragile political legitimacy".<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019|title=L'euro reste une monnaie inachevée|url=http://www.recherche.unistra.fr/index.php?id=30096|website=Université de Strasbourg}}</ref>

French economist [[Thomas Piketty]] wrote on his blog in 2017 that it was essential to equip the eurozone with democratic institutions. An economic government could for example enable it to have a common budget, common taxes and borrowing and investment capacities. Such a government would then make the euro area more democratic and transparent by avoiding the opacity of a council such as the Eurogroup.

Nevertheless, according to him "there is no point in talking about a government of the eurozone if we do not say to which democratic body this government will be accountable", a real parliament of the eurozone to which a finance minister would be accountable seems to be the real priority for the economist, who also denounces the lack of action in this area.<ref>{{Cite news|last=PIKETTY|first=Thomas|date=1 February 2017|title=Pour un gouvernement enfin démocratique de la zone euro|work=Le Monde|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/blog/piketty/2017/02/01/pour-un-vrai-gouvernement-de-la-zone-euro/|access-date=28 March 2020}}</ref>

The creation of a sub-committee within the current European Parliament was also mentioned, in the model of the Eurogroup, which is currently an under-formation of the ECOFIN Committee. This would require a simple amendment to the rules of procedure and would avoid a competitive situation between two separate parliamentary assemblies. The former President of the European Commission had, moreover, stated on this subject that he had "no sympathy for the idea of a specific Eurozone Parliament".<ref>{{Cite web|date=September 2014|title=RÉFORMER LA " GOUVERNANCE " EUROPÉENNE POUR UNE FÉDÉRATION D'ÉTATS NATIONS PLUS LÉGITIME ET PLUS EFFICACE|url=https://institutdelors.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/reformergouvernanceue-bertoncini-vitorino-ne-ijd-sept14.pdf|website=Institut Jacques Delors}}</ref>