News

On 13 March 2014, the European Parliament approved two reports which paint a very bleak picture of the role of the Troikas (the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund) in Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Cyprus – the four EU countries under financial assistance.

These reports are the result of in-depth investigations led by the European Parliament and two S&D MEPs: Liêm Hoang Ngoc from the economic and monetary affairs committee and Alejandro Cercas from the employment and social affairs committee.

The reports set out a number of proposals such as the gradual phasing out of the Troikas and their replacement with proper European institutional structures like a European Monetary Fund. The reports also recommend the implementation of recovery programmes to repair the social damages caused by the Troikas' ill-judged and flawed austerity measures.

The Reports question the damaging policies of the Troikas as it became apparent that the Troikas actually worsened the effects of the crisis.

In line with UNI Europa’s messaging, the implemented Troika measures are identified as having failed in achieving their targets. The Reports question the legitimacy of the Troika operations as they operate outside the EU institutions and disregard the traditional community-method.

UNI Europa welcomes the adoption of the two reports which were annexed in their consolidated form. However, UNI Europa points out the methodological flaws in the parliamentary investigations, the need for the investigations to cover the role of the European Parliament and its lack of involvement in the imposition of austerity measures to the bailout countries. The European Parliament Reports fail to assign responsibilities onto Troika officials and do not question the institutional illegitimacy of Troika operational units. It is important that the European Parliament follows up its adopted recommendations and poses the larger question of democratic accountability in relation to the Troikas, their instigation, and the total lack of involvement of the institution.

The implementation of a European Monetary Fund will not suffice to build a truly solidary Europe that questions why we reached this situation and how can it be stopped from happening again. The suffering of ordinary people is not addressed in the Reports other than the identified dramatic economic and social consequences of the Troika operations. The European Parliament has come in far too late and fails to address a tangible way forward towards recovery.