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Talking to thomas wieser harald schumann on the trail the complete interview
Thomas Wieser (born 1954 in Bethesda, Maryland, United States) is an American and Austrian economist and a politician in the European Union. He is the president of Economic and Financial Committee (EFC) of the EU as well as the president of the Eurogroup Working Group (EWG), both advisory bodies of the Eurogroup.
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Thomas wieser completing the banking union the challenges ahead
Political career
Between 2005 and 2009, Wieser chaired the OECD Committee on Financial Markets. Wieser became Vice-President of Economic and Financial Committee of the European Union (EFC) in November 2005. He went on to serve his first term as the President of the committee from March 2009 to March 2011.
Prior to October 2011, Wieser was Director General for Economic Policy and Financial Markets in the Ministry of Finance, Austria. In October 2011, Wieser became the full time president of the Eurogroup Working Group (EWG), an advisory body to the Eurogroup. In January 2012, Wieser started his second term as the president of the EFC of the European Union, he retain presidency of the EWG.
Explaining his negotiating role Wieaser has stated:
I am something like a marriage counsellor who tries – between two or several partners, if one accepts polygamy – to achieve a common understanding of things and seeks to make sure that perational implementation gets underway
The EFC pre-agrees Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) decisions on eurozone affairs. In 2014, Wieser stated that Europe was having an economic recovery but competitiveness should be strengthened, bank balance sheets should be improved and fiscal deficits reduced.
Notable commentary
Former Greek minister of finance Yanis Varoufakis has claimed that Wieser holds considerable power within the Eurogroup, stating he "has been part of every policy and every coup that resulted in Greece’s immolation and Europe’s ignominy." Sven Giegold, MEP of the German Green Party, has stated in his correspondence with Varoufakis that Wieser "is acting under the auspices of representatives of all finance ministries in the Eurozone which form the Eurozone Working Group. [sic]"