Demanding a hearing on the circumstances leading to Greece's economic crash, Liberal MEP Guy Verhofstadt hopes to get to the bottom of the issue. The hearings are essential in his opinion, to avoid history repeating itself.

The Interview: We have a duty to uncover the truth - Guy Verhofstadt

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/14961421/N003-0046-EN.srt

Greece managed to keep a big chunk of   its huge public debt out of the statistics.

Its debt is so big that it can only borrow   against very high interest rates.

Did the European Commission and the   European Central Bank react too slowly?

ALDE party leader in the EP   and former Belgian Prime Minister.

He is demanding an inquiry into   what caused Greece's debt mountain.

A public debt of 113.4%   and a budget deficit of 12.7%.

How can this happen   to a country like Greece?

We've had much more severe cases   in the past...

But without everyone knowing about it.   -Yes, of course.

The problem is that   the economic and financial crisis

has created havoc very quickly   in a number of countries,

Now it's important that we urgently   find out who didn't do their job.

a hearing at the Economic Committee   of the European Parliament,

during which all those involved   will be questioned,

in order to determine   who neglected to do what.

We have therefore asked for hearings   involving the Greek authorities,

the ECB, the European Commission,   Eurostat and investment banks.

Goldman Sachs and the foreign exchange   swaps, etc. How did it work?

No idea. All I know is we've received very   contradictory signals these past weeks.

In other words, Deutsche Bank,   Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs

have been named   as contributors to the situation.

Again, the parties involved are   contradicting one other.

The Greeks say they made all information   available to the EU institutions,

and that their practices   were legitimate.

But the EU institutions, headed by   the European Commission and Eurostat,

claim they haven't been sufficiently   informed about those practices.

When confronted with such contradictory   information, as is the case here,

we as European Parliament   have a duty to uncover the truth.

We have to find out   who is speaking the truth.

Who's to say that the exact same thing   isn't happening in other Member States?

The European institutions and Eurostat   have to tell us who's doing what

and if there are indications   that other countries are in the same boat.

One evident solution is   to increase the powers of Eurostat.

Eurostat is quite powerful.   It dictates the accountancy rules

in the various Member States   of the European Union.

Those rules are revisited and actually   made stricter every three to four years.

But Eurostat should be entitled to go   look for information within each country.

Eurostat still depends on information   supplied by the Member States.

In 2005 the European Commission   proposed that it and Eurostat

would be authorised to go get information   in the Member States.

But the Member States and the   European Council opposed the proposal.

Greece has promised to reduce   its public deficit from 12.7% to 8.7%.

It's a major task to reduce the deficit   from 12.7% to the standard 3%.

When I started as Budget Minister   in Belgium, in 1985,

the Belgian public deficit was also 12.7%,   exactly as in Greece today.

It took a very long time and far-reaching   measures to get back to the 3%.

No no. The biggest effort of all   will have to be made by Greece.

By cutting down.   We've just seen some images.

Is the Greek population   willing to go along with that?

Because, if Greece as a country   goes bankrupt in the end,

it will be the Greeks   who will be suffering the consequences.

Should Europe help?   Germany feels little inclined.

Failing that, we would   undermine the system of the euro.

That's a second point   raised by the European Parliament.

We have a monetary union,   we have the euro.

It has withstood the economic   and financial crisis.

But the situation in Greece   has made it evident

that we need a common   economic and social policy.

We cannot maintain the eurozone   when its economies are growing apart.

The gap between the German and Greek   economies is bigger than 10 years ago.

That's the second conclusion   we have to draw from the Greece issue.

We need a more severe and stringent   common economic policy

with the ability to impose reforms   on Member States.

I want your honest and blunt opinion.   Mr Verhofstadt, what angers you?

The rain and the storm   of the last few days.

Can something like Greece   happen again?

We have to prevent it   from happening again.

That's why we want   those hearings to take place.

I hope that the other political parties   will support us in that.

So that this situation cannot repeat itself.

How long before a conclusion   will be reached?

This week we should be able to agree   on the principles of the hearings.

In the next week or so   we should be able to start organising.