08/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - Chairman of the European Parliament international trade committee Helmuth Markov (GUE, Germany) has said that the appointment of Robert Zoellick to succeed Paul Wolfowitz as president of the World Bank was “more continuity than a new start”. “For there to be a lasting resolution of the current crisis, the World Bank would have needed a new face and a new approach at its head. Thus, a more open procedure involving a wider range of candidates for the post of president of the bank might have been better,” Mr Markov said. He also said that he doubted “Mr Zoellick's commitment to a fair multilateral system where negotiations are carried out within international bodies and in an open and transparent atmosphere”. “I believe nonetheless that Mr Zoellick is aware that good cooperation between governments, the EU and international organisations goes without saying in the context of global policy,” he said. (eh)