ANA -MPA — The European Parliament was added on Thursday in the group of institutions that will monitor the implementation of Greece’s economic program, following a decision by the leaders of the parliament’s political parties.
The issue was discussed after an initiative by Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe who wrote to European Parliament President Martin Schulz last July, to find a way to give the European Parliament an oversight role.
According to the decision, the Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee will be tasked with the democratic oversight role. It will be assisted by a Financial Assistance Working Group (FAWG) comprising 30 MEPs, which will follow up on the implementation of the financial assistance programs in more detail.
The working group will hold regular meetings with the four involved institutions (Commission, ECB, IMF, ESM) and the Greek Government. The focus of the working group will be the parliamentary scrutiny of the decision-making process.
“I am delighted we have today reached agreement on a role for the European Parliament in scrutinizing the implementation of the financial assistance program for Greece. This will strengthen the monitoring of Greek reforms. It also represents a welcome injection of democratic oversight into what is often viewed as an opaque process,” Verhofstadt commented.
