Austrian MEP Othmar Karas and French MEP Liêm Hoang Ngoc are in charge of the European Parliament’s transparency investigation of the troika in countries receiving European financial assistance, which is expected to commence on the 5th of November and be complete before the upcoming European elections.
Mr. Karas, who is a member of the Austrian People’s Party and vice-chair of the European People’s Party group, explained in an interview on Austrian radio that the purpose of his investigation is to examine the troika representatives, to evaluate their operations and to make proposals to support accountability to the European Parliament. The Austrian politician noted that if the European Parliament had a greater role, then the minimum wage in Greece would not have been reduced.
The MEP was critical of the troika’s “lack of transparency” and “lack of democratic legitimacy”, arguing that it was set up to support the EU and as such is not an EU institution in itself. Mr. Karas was hopeful that from the evaluation of the troika’s weaknesses a new body would be created, based on European institutions.
