Dijsselbloem must be replaced as president of the Eurogroup by a socialist, say S&Ds
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Brussels, 27 November 2017
The Socialists and Democrats in European Parliament want a social-democrat finance minister to replace Jeroen Dijsselbloem as president of the Eurogroup.
S&D Group vice-president Udo Bullmann and S&D Group spokesperson for economic and monetary affairs Pervenche Berès today stated:
"The successor to Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the president of the Eurogroup until end of January who previously served as Dutch finance minister for four years, will be elected by the Eurogroup on the 4 December.
"We believe that the top job at the Eurozone finance ministers’ meetings must remain in the socialist and democrat family. It is dangerous that all the EU institutions' top jobs - the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament - are allocated to the conservative European People’s Party (EPP) family. This does not reflect the political balance across Europe, which is essential if we want to be successful in the next steps on completing the EMU in the coming years.
"This is why the Eurogroup needs to support the candidate that the socialist family designates.
"The Socialists and Democrats Group remains committed to the idea that in the end the Eurozone finance ministers' meetings must be chaired by the commissioner responsible for the economic and monetary affairs, who should become a vice-president of the Commission. This double-hat position, based on the model of the High Representative for the common foreign and security policy, presents many advantages. It is a lasting solution which would increase the democratic accountability of the Eurogroup."
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