Dijsselbloem faces further calls to resign as Eurogroup chief

Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem's rejection of invitations to speak to Parliament and his recent remarks in the press, have been severely criticised by political groups.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem | Photo credit: Press Association

By Martin Banks

Martin Banks is a senior reporter at the Parliament Magazine

06 Apr 2017


European Parliament President Antonio Tajani told MEPs in Strasbourg this week that he would send Dijsselbloem a formal letter of protest regarding his recent reported remarks about the economic plight of countries like Greece to the media.

In a resolution, MEPs stressed that a Eurogroup president "must be accountable to representatives of the people affected by Eurogroup measures."

Several MEPs, including Belgian Marc Tarabella, have since called on Dijsselbloem to resign and suggested that he be declared a "persona non grata in Parliament."

Tarabella, head of delegation for Belgian Socialist Party in Parliament, said, "First, he should apologise to those people he deeply humiliated and he should then resign."

GUE/NGL group MEPs demanded greater accountability from the Council following the recent "unjust and unacceptable" comments made by Dijsselbloem.

His remarks, which were published in a German newspaper, appeared to compare the desperate economic situation of southern eurozone countries to someone wasting money on "alcohol and women" and then asking for help.

Following the announcement that he will not attend the Strasbourg plenary session this week, the GUE/NGL group requested a Council statement on the controversy.

It also tabled an oral question calling on the Council to consider whether Dijsselbloem's position is still tenable after his comments.

German MEP Fabio De Masi, who drafted the question on behalf of GUE/NGL, said, "Dijsselbloem has been the adjutant of Wolfgang Schäuble for years - enforcing economically wrong and socially unjust austerity policies.

"As the finance minister of a shadow banking paradise, Dijsselbloem and his party paid the price for this in the recent Dutch elections. For most decent people, that in itself is enough of a reason to quit. The informal structures of the Eurogroup therefore need to be discussed."

De Masi said, "On top of his economic failure, Dijsselbloem disqualified himself from being eligible for his role by making some unacceptable comparisons in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He also refused to appear in front of the Strasbourg plenary - that is cowardice.

"The Council must clarify in plenary whether they consider Dijsselbloem's comparison appropriate when looking at the economic problems of southern Europe. And if not, they must elaborate on what actually caused the economic problems.”"

Further comment came from Dutch MEP Dennis De Jong who said, "The latest statement made by Dijsselbloem in his capacity as President of the Eurogroup makes it abundantly clear that he has no compassion for the people suffering from the austerity measures imposed by the EU.

"Although Dijsselbloem has tried to clarify his statement, I demand not only a formal corrective statement but, even more importantly, an end to the inhuman measures which have been imposed upon the economically weaker countries in the eurozone," says De Jong.

 

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