Through Commissioner Pedro Solbes de Mira, responsible for economic and financial affairs within the EU Executive, the Commission plays a fundamental role in administering the Single Currency. In particular, it is responsible for the economic surveillance of the Euro area and of the EU, through the definition of key indicators. It publishes two six-monthly reports of economic forecasts and controls how the criteria of convergence of the economic and monetary Union are being respected by the member states. The Commission is also given the task of monitoring national budgetary and public finance policies, of ensuring the coordination of the economic policies of member states, of protecting the Euro from forgery and of promoting the integration of the Community’s financial markets in Europe and at the international level. In conformity with the Treaty , the Commission exercises its own right to take the initiative in terms of formulating major guidelines for the Union’s economic policy.
