EUROZONE : BROAD CONSENSUS EMERGING ON TROIKA REPORT.

Work on the highly sensitive report on the Troika's (European Commission, ECB and IMF) past actions and its future within the EU legal framework is making progress. Against the backdrop of the pre-election ideological battle and facing a very tight deadline, the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) welcomed the consensus already reached on half of the text. However, MEPs have a "great deal of work to do," said co-rapporteur Liem Hoang-Ngoc (S&D, France) on 12 February during the discussion of the 915 amendments. ECON held a vote on 24 February and the plenary on 13 March.

Lead rapporteur Othmar Karas (EPP, Austria) underlined the importance of reaching a broad consensus on the final version in order for the document to have an impact on the future assistance programmes. However, certain MEPs have warned that strong majority support should not come at the price of watering down the report.

MEPs broadly agree on their recommendations for future programmes. The Troika, or its successor, should be firmly anchored in Community law in order to increase its accountability and the democratic legitimacy of its decisions. But the legislators still need to narrow their differences when assessing the decisions taken by the Troika in the past, the most toxic part of the report.

"SOLID LEGAL GROUNDS"

Since drafting began in 2013, Karas believes that the document should not put excessive emphasis on past developments, as he does not want to turn the report into a judgement. "We must set out the facts," he said on 12 February. But some groups like the Greens and the...