The chair of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee in the European Parliament talks about the current crisis, and how Europe must remain vigilant if it wants to avoid other countries falling into the financial mire.

Interview: Greece may be the tip of the iceberg - MEP Sharon Bowles

Sharon Bowles, Chair of   the Economic Affairs Committee,

you're at the heart   of the most interesting work

now going on in the EP, given the crisis.

Perhaps it's not the attention   you would like.

There's plenty of work,   certainly no shortage.

We've got the financial markets,   the macroeconomic and euro stuff,

competition policy and the results   of banks being combined,

and tax policy and how poor people   can get all the money in the coffers.

You could say that all four departments   are working on overdrive at the moment.

We are in a crisis obviously   over the Greek debt.

Greece is not the only country.   It may just be the tip of the iceberg.

Historically, if you go back   to the launch of the euro,

I'm told that every Member State   used some amount

of, if you like, investment-bank treatment   to clean things up.

But there was   a collective political will so to do

because the launch of the euro   and making it work was more important.

Eurostat was criticised at the time   for not gathering accurate information,

They have to rely on information   supplied by Member State governments.

They all account in different ways -   some rather old-fashioned.

Yes, that's the case. In 2005 they tried   to get more audit powers for Eurostat

It's always a problem   when you require unanimity.

Following on from that, the code   of conduct of statistics was set up

and, after that, the Statistics   Advisory Governance Board,

or something named like that, was set up

to try to have outside eyes,   expert statistical eyes,

on how the code of conduct   was being applied,

and then the peer-review process   where Eurostat plus one Member State

go to check over another Member State   in a round-robin way.

I was the rapporteur for setting that up

and at the time I tried to press   for more intrusive powers

both for Eurostat   and during this peer review,

so that the expert statisticians   on the board could delve below.

because I couldn't get unanimity   in Council.

Indeed, Germany again   was very much to the fore -

it was under the German Presidency -   in saying, "No, you can't do that."

A Eurostat representative has said that   there is more securitised debt out there

Can you ever be certain   they can track it all down?

You can never be certain that   there isn't somebody being fraudulent.

But I think the fact is that we are onto it.

There are connections,   there are links into banks.

People move round   and there will certainly be rumours.

but there weren't the powers   to investigate it.

The question is, are all aspects   of securitisation bad?

If you're looking forward to other areas   in which Europe is very interested,

like building   the new energy infrastructure,

that necessarily depend upon   a securitisation process

where you get the money   up front to build it

in return for the income stream   further along the track.

So there are capital projects that could   have a bearing upon a balance sheet

So just because there was   some bad securitisation

that went on to do with   mortgages and toxic assets,

just because there has been   some securitisation going on

where people really weren't sure whether   it was a good thing or a bad thing,

For example, I'm told that some   Italian cities have got money up front

in return for selling   future car-park receipts,

But is that necessarily completely wrong?

and selling the car park to somebody   and getting the money?

It's just that it's done   without transfer of the asset.

I'm not sure if that's   the package that has been used.

you've got all the public private   finance initiatives

You get something done   in return for a future cash flow.

But it enables you to do things quicker.

Do you feel lessons have been learnt   from the Greek crisis?

Will the aid that the Eurozone countries   and the IMF have offered

Greece will take a long time to recover.

But have we learnt the lessons?   Will there be no more?

You can never say never.   I think we've learnt lessons.

We've learnt that   through the pressure of the crisis,

which is what brought things to a head...

Not only do we have a large debt situation   in Greece made worse by the crisis,

everybody else's debt situation is worse,

so we feel a bit less generous   about helping out.

So we've had to negotiate these things   in very difficult circumstances

The fact that it's been negotiated   under such circumstances

shows the strength of the commitment   to the project of European unity

and it can only stand us in good stead   going forward.

As we do battle to get all our recovery   plans through in different countries

and to rebuild our fiscal base   and our economies,

but I think there is the basic family unity   to stick together through those glitches.

Sharon Bowles, thank you very much.   - Thank you.