6  BIS central bankers’ speeches  What is more, the Commission has dropped the comply-or-explain approach outlined in the Five Presidents’ report, under which the Commission would have to explain itself whenever it deviated from the recommendations set out by the fiscal council. This does not bode well for the objective of a more depoliticised application of the rules.
For that, a fiscal council needs to be truly independent, and its recommendations need to carry weight. And please let me emphasise again: fiscal rules are neither needless nor damaging for the euro area. This holds, even in these times of the extraordinary high influx of refugees or the struggle against terrorism.