NNA - Head of the Finance and Budget Parliamentary Committee, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, met today at his Bayada residence with a delegation from the European Parliament representing the French national rally bloc, with whom he conducted an in-depth discussion of the current reality, the political, financial and economic crisis that Lebanon is going through and the European parliamentary and political role in this regard.

According to an issued statement following the visit, the delegation described the meeting with Kanaan as important, during which they tackled the Syrian displacement crisis, its repercussions and its high cost on Lebanon, and the need for the international and European communities to take initiative to secure the return of the displaced to their homeland through practical steps.

At the financial level, the role of the Finance and Budget Committee over the years was presented during the meeting, particularly the absence of audited financial accounts and the need to work on reconfiguring them, as well as checking the random employment file, and the need for financial plans to include the rights of depositors, which has not happened until today. Additionally, the need for a basket of reform laws from illegal enrichment to recovering looted funds, to lifting banking secrecy in the public sector, leading to amending the banking secrecy law, also featured high during the meeting's talks.

Kanaan considered that "these steps are essential and give a signal of life to Lebanon and its institutions, but they need a greater involvement of the French and European roles in terms of solutions, especially in terms of returning the displaced and advancing the reform process and reaching a just solution with the International Monetary Fund."

The MP also stressed that the election of a President of the Republic is at the core of what is required in the next stage and the agenda of priorities that Lebanon needs at the structural, political, economic and financial levels.

The delegation, in turn, expressed great interest in Lebanon and affirmed working within the French and European parliaments, in cooperation with the Lebanese, to address the crisis of Syrian displacement in Lebanon, to take steps to address its financial and economic crises, and to preserve the Christian role in Lebanon and the East.

========R.Sh.