At the Eurgorup meeting on Monday, Germany won. There will be no program review for Greece this year. Athens has to wait until it could be able to sell bonds to the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing scheme and return to the markets. The stalemate allegedly left Greece’s allies among its EU partners annoyed.
“We could have got this done by the end of the year but the Germans are not moving,” one EU source told Reuters. “Greece has done a lot … We haven’t been so strict in other programmes.”
A senior EU official involved in Monday’s talks described them as “useless” in terms of furthering agreement, according to another EU source. Ministers were at odds too on budget targets to set Greece after the bailout regime ends in 2018 — conditions important in persuading the IMF to join in lending.
Government: Greece can’t take any more austerity
Government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos called that a “significant success”. But he said Athens still wanted Schaeuble and the IMF to scale back demands for more belt-tightening.
“They must stop insisting on continuing a policy of extreme austerity which has been proven destructive for society and also economically ineffective,” he said.
The International Monetary Fund demands austerity measures 4.5billion euros for after 2018, if the high target of primary surplus of 3.5% is to remain for several years as Germany wants. A new package of austerity in this height will mean nothing else than: more taxes, less pensions and less salaries.
Schaeuble insists: Reforms or go
Schaeuble insists that structural reforms are for Greece’s own good. And he is convinced he has a mission to save Greece.
“The mission that we bring Greece to a sustainable competitive course under the condition of participation in monetary union is – I admit – long and politically ambitious,” Schaeuble said after the Eurogroup meeting on Monday and added “but for as long as those responsible in Greece wish; we discussed alternatives, there is not a third way.”
The “alternative ways” a la Schaeuble are no others than this one: structural reforms or Grexit as he repeatedly said in summer 2011, in 2012 and in 2015…
No matter what EU sources dare think, they will always follow Schaeuble’s directives as there is no EU, EZ country without debt and the German Finance Minister will be swinging the austerity till death threat over their heads.
So the question is: Why do EU and Eurozone partners allow Schaeuble to prevail? Are they afraid of him or do they hide behind him?
Because the Germans rule Europe now. After more than a century they have their ‘European Empire’. I hope they will now pay for it.
In my opinion, this blind obedience we see of politicians in the Eurozone towards Wolfie is the result of two factors: (1) blackmail via the ECB, which is under full German control, and (2) extended corruption of key officials in various states via bribes so as to follow the Wolfie line. There is no sane politician or economist who will believe or apply Wolfie’s mad doctrines – a 12 year old child can see this. Therefore it has to be blackmail and corruption!
Of course, Wolfie is not alone in this. He has higher powers supporting him; there is a dark plan for Europe somewhere in somebody’s agenda.
I agree about the ECB but I’m not sure about corruption – unless ones takes a very broad definition of corruption (i.e. I don’t think envelops of money are changing hands under the cover of darkness). What I see happening is an effort by the ruling elites and their political cronies to implement social engineering across Europe; undo the social model in place; and replace it with a new social construct that benefits them directly. The benefits are at least fourfold for them: get the state to foot the bill for their historic losses (privatize benefits, socialize costs is their mantra); displace the blame for the economic and financial ills from themselves onto the state and by extension the average citizen (“it’s not because we got greedy that the financial markets crashed. It’s because the state squanders your money.”); Argue against all evidence that what we need is trickle-down economics even though this type of voodoo economics will directly benefit them at the expense of the rest of the citizenry (“Cut taxes on the rich. Reign in state expenses. Subsidize the so-called “motors” of the economy – in other words themselves); Get the state to privatize assets and services at fire sale prices so that they can buy them up and.
Tintin you come round to my thoughts. What you state is the obvious. I cannot believe that all European politicians are that stupid not to see the obvious as you describe it. I cannot believe that those politicians cannot realise what the consequences are for their people. Therefore, it has to be money exchanges under the tables in the dark. It is the only rational conclusion I can come up with…