Brussels, 31/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - French Socialist MEP Liêm Hoang-Ngoc (S&D) believes that the intervention of the troika (European Commission, European Central Bank and international Monetary Fund) in the financial bailout of Greece was opaque, lacking in democratic deliberation and “a disaster”, he said in Athens on Thursday 30 January during a European Parliament (EP) assessment mission as part of the EP's investigation into the troika in countries in receipt of financial aid, for which he is co-rapporteur along with Othmar Karas (EPP, Austria).
Karas said that MEPs recognise that the troika's intervention was not perfect and citizens have the right to be informed, but there was no alternative when the crisis hit the eurozone in 2010. Philippe Lamberts (Greens/EFA, Belgium) refused to conclude that all this was done by the troika. He pointed out that the sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone had been caused by the global financial crisis, which in turn had been caused by the reckless attitude of the banks, to which was added budget irresponsibility in Greece. Jürgen Klute (GUE/NGL/Germany) apologised for the media bashing of Greece in Germany.
There are no plans to set up an investigative committee (Hoang-Ngoc said that the EPP opposes the idea), a number of errors in management of the Greek crisis should nevertheless be remedied. He mentioned restructuring the Greek debt, for example, which will be discussed by the Eurogroup in the spring. He said the ECB could absorb some losses itself and restructuring of the Greek debt would make it possible to ease the budget consolidation process.
What the MEPs want above all, said Hoang-Ngoc, is to fill the legal gaps in the troika's work. He said it had done its work and should now be dismantled and replaced by a democratically controllable mechanism. Karas said that the troika was still active in Portugal, Greece and Cyprus and it needed to complete its work but, in the future, a long-term solution was needed.
Community method must come first. The MEPs are examining a number of ideas including turning the European stability mechanism (ESM), the eurozone's permanent bailout fund) into a European monetary fund (along the lines of the IMF) or combining the Commission's experience with the ESM's power of intervention. Karas said the important thing was for the solution to be based on the Community method. He said it was the EP's duty to ensure that lenders' money is used correctly and that those in receipt of aid are better informed.
In Athens, the MEPs met the chairs of various committees at the Greek parliament, the governor of the Greek central bank, Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras and social partners (employers and trade unions). The EP's report on the troika is expected to be adopted in plenary in March. (EL/transl.fl)