Brussels, 24/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Monday evening, the European Parliament's economic and monetary affairs committee voted through a report on the EP's investigation into the work of the troika of lenders (European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund) in countries in receipt of financial aid. They seem to agree on the recommendations to be made, but have left the job of assessing the policies implemented to the troika institutions themselves.
In an interview with this newsletter, co-rapporteur Liêm Hoang-Ngoc (S&P, France) said that, for the analysis of the crisis, the listing of facts overcame people's ideological considerations but there had been clear divergences on the political impact of the troika's economic policies. The draft report simply lists the questions raised by said policies without making any value judgements. The MEPs have therefore left it to the European Commission and ECB to draw up their own balance sheets. Compromise amendments due to be voted through on Monday evening strongly encourage the Commission to carry out a detailed study of the economic and social impact of the structural adjustment programmes in the four member states in receipt of troika aid. The Commission promised to draw up such a report in June 2013 but has not yet followed through. The ECB is urged to consider the impact of the EP's recommendations and its involvement in the troika.
In the medium- and long-term recommendations, the MEPs call for the creation of a European Monetary Fund (EMF) combining the financial resources of the European stability mechanism (ESM) and the human resources available at the European Commission. The Liberals are calling for a separate vote on the idea of the EMF taking over Commission's role at the troika.
MEPs say the ECB should be a silent observer throughout aid programme negotiations, although able to raise any concerns it might have. The IMF would remain a marginal lender, if strictly necessary, and could leave the programme in the event of disagreement.
In the short term, the MEPs note the need for clear and transparent rules on the work and interaction of the bodies in the troika.
The EP wants the right to quiz Commission representatives on the troika before they take up office and also to hold regular hearings of them later on. The MEPs' recommendations suggest that a Commission vice-president could be appointed to the permanent chair of the Eurogroup, and that the ESM should have more of a “Community” nature.
Hoang-Ngoc hoped that the report would lead on to legislation, adding that the debate about macroeconomic criteria went beyond the troika's work to wider issues. He said there was a real debate because the troika was the first experiment in this type of intergovernmental macroeconomics that Germany wants to force on the whole of Europe, whereby the EU Council of Ministers and European Commission arrange things with member states in return for financial aid.
The question of “contractual arrangements” (see EUROPE 10987) that was raised at the European summit in December (contracts between Brussels and a member state) has been postponed until after the European elections. (EL/transl.fl)