the honourable member seems to suggest that having an independent monetary policy in greece would be a way of alleviating the crisis affecting the country
this is not correct the high interest rates from the greek government are not due to monetary policy factors but rather to high risk premiums related to market concerns about debt sustainability
ecb interest rates are at a historical low and the central european bank has been providing very ample liquidity to the euro area financial system including the greek institutions
of course participation in the euro requires that economic adjustment of course via channels other than the exchange rate as shown in many commission documents for example the comprehensive two thousand and eight report on emu ten
adjustment in the euro area has not been sufficiently smooth in the past
this is why the commission has highlighted the need to reinforce eu multilateral surveillance procedures based on intensified peer pressure to identify and tackle vulnerabilities in member states at an early stage
the commission is currently preparing proposals to this end as i already mentioned in reply to a previous question
