Olli Rehn, EU's top economics official, has vehemently opposed proposals for disbanding the “troika" of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"The troika was set up on the initiative of the euro area member states in 2010 as a key element of our response to the crisis facing Greece," he said.

"None of these situations are easy," he said, referring to the programmes in Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Cyprus that the troika is now overseeing. "But that makes it all the more important that we can draw on the combined and complementary expertise of three institutions."

The comment came days after EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding called for disbanding the “troika" of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), saying its time is over.

"The time of the troika is over," Reding said on Tuesday in a text of the main messages she gave at a citizens' dialogue in Heidelberg in south-western Germany, as cited by Stuttgarter Zeitung.

"Getting the IMF on board in recent years was an emergency solution. In future, we Europeans have to be able to resolve our problems on our own," Reding, who is also vice-president of the European Commission, added.

The Troika has managed the emergency bailouts of European states during the financial crisis and the IMF plays a key role in reviewing the progress made by bailed out countries.

The commissioner suggested that the IMF, which is based in the US, could leave the Troika in a few months, leaving the Commission and central bank to manage the bail-outs of crisis-hit countries.

"The Commission is the economic government of Europe. Together with the ECB and the member states, we can make sure that, in return for solidarity, countries hit hardest by the crisis implement reform."

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