Access Investments-European Union- ROMANIA

The troika of lenders - the EU, European Central Bank and IMF - helped four countries through the financial crisis but had a flawed structure and a negative impact on employment, according to the European Parliament. After a vote on two resolutions on the troika, a European Parliament statement said: [The troika] helped four EU countries through the crisis and prevented it from getting worse. But its flawed structure and working methods hindered national “ownership” and compromised transparency and accountability, says a resolution on the EP inquiry findings. A second resolution deplores the widespread negative impacts that Troika-inspired reforms had on employment and advocates revising the measures put in place. Both resolutions were voted on Thursday. The one on the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee’s inquiry into the workings of the Troika, drafted by Othmar Karas (EPP, AT) and Liem Hoang-Ngoc (S&D, FR), was approved by 448 votes to 140, with 27 abstentions. The Employment and Social Affairs Committee’s resolution, authored by Alejandro Cercas (S&D, ES) was approved by 408 votes to 135, with 63 abstentions. The Troika system is... criticised for taking a “one-size fits all” approach from which it was often reluctant to depart. EU finance ministers, particularly in the Eurogroup, are blamed for failing to give clear and consistent political pointers to the Commission and for failing to shoulder their share of responsibility in their capacity as final decision-taker.  As a first step, there should be clear, transparent and binding rules of procedure for the interaction of the Troika institutions which regulate the allocation of tasks between them. An improved communication strategy is also an “utmost priority”, says the Economic Affairs Committee text. For the medium term, the inquiry resolution recommends a radical overhaul of the troika, in which IMF involvement would become “optional”, the ECB would be present only as a “silent observer”, and the European Commission’s role would be taken over by a “European Monetary Fund” (EMF). The second resolution calls on the Commission and the Council to give the same attention to social imbalances as to macroeconomic ones. Member states and the EU should put in place a job recovery plan once the worst of the financial crisis has passed, taking particular account of the need to create favourable conditions for small firms, for instance by repairing the credit system.