Three members of the Economics and Finance Committee of the European Parliament sent a letter this Wednesday to Christine Lagarde asking the president of the European Central Bank to rule on the independence of Mário Centeno as governor of the Bank of Portugal.
These MEPs consider that “there can be no doubt about the independence of the institution.” And, although the ethics committee of the Bank of Portugal has already ruled on the case, they want to “better understand the bases on which this evaluation was made” and now hope that the European Central Bank will also make its evaluation on Mário Centeno.
TO TSF heard in Brussels one of the subscribers of the letter sent to Christine Lagarde. MEP Siegfried Mureșan, vice-president of the EPP, asks Christine Lagarde to comment on the case.
“We wrote a letter to the president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, about the events surrounding the governor of the Portuguese National Bank, Mr. Centeno, because we are concerned about the independence of the national bank, of the central bank in Portugal,” he stated.
The MEP affirms that there are doubts among some deputies of the Economy and Finance Committee of the European Parliament about Centeno’s conditions as governor of the Bank of Portugal.
“We raise questions about Mr. Centeno’s ability to perform his duties independently, given his political affiliations and interference and possible implications in the near future,” it states.
The MEP affirms that the three signatories of the letter – a Spaniard, a German and himself of Romanian nationality – give European scope to a case that he wants to be dealt with not only in the ethics committee of the Bank of Portugal, but also in the highest level of the ECB.
“We expect any ethics committee to make a serious and objective evaluation, and I understand that this evaluation was made. We will now try to better understand on what basis it was made and we expect an evaluation from the European Central Bank based on the powers that the ECB has and we hope that this evaluation is exhaustive,” demands Siegfried Mureșan, hoping “that Parliament will be informed immediately.”
“This assessment must be of the greatest credibility, so that the ECB can continue to exercise its responsibilities without any doubt about the independence of the ECB or of any of the members who, in their capacity as presidents of the national banks, take decisions at the level of the ECB,” he considered.
The MEPs, all members of the European People’s Party, the PSD and CDS political family, expect a response from the European Central Bank within “a few weeks,” said Siegfried Mureșan.
Source: TSF
