Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs adopted late on Monday evening proposals to organise differently the work of the so called Troika in the European crisis countries. 31 MEPs voted in favour of the proposals by Parliament's Vice President Othmar Karas, 10 voted against, 2 abstained.

 

"In the short-term the Troika needs internal rules of procedure to increase the transparency of decision making. In the long-term Troika's work should be carried out by a new European Monetary Fund on the basis of EU law. This ensures that European decisions on the reform and aid programs are democratically legitimized and are subject to parliamentarian scrutiny", Karas explains the vote.

Tax payers in the donor countries must be sure, that their money is treated with care. And the citizens in the crisis countries have a right to be better informed and involved.

Othmar Karas, Vice President of the European Parliament

 

At the same time, the proposals negotiated by Parliament's Vice President defend the need for the Troika: "The financial assistance succeeded in avoiding a disorderly default on sovereign debt that would have had extremely severe economic and social consequences which would have, arguably, been worse than the current economic and social problems", says the report adopted. "We faced the biggest economic crisis since the Second World War. Without the Troika some countries would be completely broke. It is out of the question to abolish the Troika now", Karas stresses.

 

But more transparency, more participation and more control was necessary, "to make solidarity within the EU function better in the future", says the MEP. "Tax payers in the donor countries must be sure, that their money is treated with care. And the citizens in the crisis countries have a right to be better informed and involved. Only in this way the acceptance of the giant saving measures rises", Karas emphasises.

 

He also points out, that the crisis revealed, in which areas the EU was not sufficiently capable of acting. "Every Member State has got clear rules on how to deal for instance with ailing municipalities, which face insolvency. The EU too, needs clear rules on how to deal with states in crisis. I called for a European 'State Bankruptcy Prevention Law' and I am glad, that the Committee supported the idea. The Troika was a necessary interim solution. But in the long run we need rules on the basis of EU law", Karas stresses.

 

 

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Email: othmar.karas@europarl.europa.eu

 

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