Commissievoorzitter Barroso wil dat onduidelijkheid voorzitterschap IMF snel wordt opgelost (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - An end to the current uncertainty surrounding the future leadership of the International Monetary Fund must be found "as soon as possible", European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso i has said.
Speaking at the European Business Summit in Brussels on Wednesday (18 May), the commission chief added that European and American officials have traditionally run the Bretton Woods institutions in a successful manner, with no need to give emerging powers a look-in at the present juncture.
"In terms of leadership we don't like deadlock, so I think it will be important as soon as possible to have this matter solved," Barroso told delegates, four days after US police boarded an Air France jet at Kennedy International Airport and hauled IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn i into custody.
The Frenchman, widely tipped to be the Socialist contender in next year's presidential elections, is alleged to have sexually attacked a housekeeper at a Manhattan hotel just hours earlier.
"My opinion is that if there is a problem with the current leadership then we should find a replacement," Barroso said. "I think that it is reasonable ... an instititution like the IMF cannot be without a leader."
Luxembourg's prime minister, Jean-Claude Juncker i, on Monday said discussions on who should replace his long-time friend at the IMF were "indecent" at this early stage.
But a trio of evolving EU-IMF bail-outs for eurozone peripheral states Greece, Ireland and Portugal have resulted in calls for a quick solution to be found, with Europe keen to maintain its authority over the international lender currently propping up several members states.
"I think it should be a European," Barroso said of a future IMF leader, citing Europe as "the biggest stakeholder, the biggest contributor" to the organisation.
Despite criticism over the IMF's failure to spot the beginnings of the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US, the Portuguese politician also said he felt the Washington-based fund and its sister organisation, the World Bank, had been carrying out successful work.
Top posts in the two organisations have traditionally been shared between Europe and the US.
"If they [Europe and US] are doing a good job why should we replace them. I think they should go on," Barroso told business executives, gathered for the annual summit which suffered from a late start due to protests by environmental group Greenpeace.
Belgian police were forced to remove some 170 activists blocking the access to the venue, with others still suspended from the conference hall by late afternoon.
The protest was organised to highlight companies which Greenpeace has singled out as environmental "laggards" due to their opposition to a unilateral EU pledge to cut carbon emissions by 30 percent over the coming decade, based on 1990 levels.
Instead, Greenpeace urged the European business community to follow the lead of "progressive" companies like Google, Unilever, Danone, Phillips and Allianz which support the 30 percent move.
"It's important for consumers to pick companies that make a credible effort to fight climate change," Greenpeace activist David told EUobserver.