By Matthew Saltmarsh
BRUSSELS (MktNews) - ECB President Wim Duisenberg will appear at the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament here on Monday and can expect at least a one question on why the central bank has not yet moved to an easier monetary bias.
The appearance is due to begin at 14:00 GMT and is a regular quarterly appearance by the central bank chief at Parliament as part of the ongoing process of monetary dialogue between the ECB and the European Parliament.
The main macro issues likely to be raised include economic prospects for the eurozone economies, the impact of the downturn in the US economy on EU economic and monetary policy decision making, and the extent to which the impact of the new economy is factored into the EU and ECB staff projections.
MEPs are likely to question Duisenberg most closely about the impact of the projections, requested by Parliament, on the ECB's thinking with regards to interest rates.
The ECB has stated several times before that it does not make its decisions on interest rates on the basis of the staff projections.
Many of the key members of the Committee -- such as German Karl Von Wogau, who collates the annual report -- are pro-euro and are not expected to press Duisenberg too hard on the current monetary stance Christa Randzio-Plath, chair of the Committee, is less likely to push Duisenberg hard on these issues and is expected to push him more on the effects of the slowing US economy. She tends to be sensitive to upsetting German government opinion, according to an insider.
However, it is expected by Committee members that either Theresa Villiers, Conservative MEP for London, or Giorgos Katifores, Socialist Greek MEP, will grill the central banker on why the ECB has not moved to an easier monetary bias when there is now less evidence of upward price pressure and a robust growth outlook.
An official from the Committee said the current level of the euro is not expected to be discussed at any length.
He added there will probably be a discussion of the new economy and its impact on productivity in Europe as compared to the US.
Other issues that might be raised -- time permitting -- are the recent censure of Ireland by the Commission for its budgetary policy, and studies on whether the UK economy is converging with Euroland.