European Parliament to seek more active involvement in Greek bailout programmes, Schulz says
European Parliament President Martin Schulz on Thursday announced that he expected to have a discussion with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on raising the European Parliament's level of involvement in the new Greek rescue programme and loan agreement.
He made the statement after a EuroParliament Conference of Presidents' meeting that discussed a request for a more active role for the EU Parliament made by Greece's former premier Alexis Tsipras, who asked that it be involved as a "5th player" in the so-called 'creditors' quartet' that is reviewing the Greek programme, following the addition of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to the so-called 'troika'.
Schulz said that Tsipras' request will likely be granted, given that the European Parliament had repeatedly pushed for a more active role in the member-state bailouts, with an overwhelming majority of presidents agreeing to the start of talks with Juncker on this issue.
