23/02/2010

"It is important, for the credibility of the Eurozone, that we fully understand the origins of the current Greek debt crisis and learn the lessons for the future management of the Stability and Growth Pact," said Guy Verhofstadt in a statement today. "Tomorrow, during Parliament's plenary, I shall be recommending that Parliament's relevant committees invite all parties involved in the current crisis (ECB, Euro group, European Commission, Eurostat, the Greek authorities and representatives of the investment banks) to give evidence at a public hearing. 

"Part of the problem lies also in the fact that the EMU project remains incomplete in that we achieved monetary union but not genuine economic union. They are two sides of the same coin; the one will always be weak without the other."

Member States of the euro area are obliged by the Treaties to strengthen coordination and surveillance of their budgetary policies but closer monitoring by Eurostat was rejected by Council in 2005. "The Commission's recent proposal to strengthen the monitoring capacity of Eurostat, and the obligation of Member States to cooperate, should be supported", added Verhofstadt.

"The European Commission must now examine all initiatives to strengthen the tools for the management of the eurozone, whether that be a Euro bond market or a European style monetary fund with powers to intervene more pro-actively as suggested recently by some academics, investors and senior bankers."

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