Secret documents revealing the extent of the European Central Bank’s knowledge of Greece’s concealed debt issues prior to its €240bn (£195bn) tax-payer funded rescue have been withheld in a “disturbing” EU court ruling.
Internal papers, which detail Greece’s use of complex financial trades to hide its level of debt, were kept from media organisation Bloomberg amid concerns their publication could heighten Europe’s financial crisis.
The three judges presiding over the case at the EU General Court in Luxembourg, in upholding the Bank’s refusal to release the reports, said: “The ECB must be recognized as enjoying a wide discretion for the purpose of determining whether the disclosure of the documents relating to the fields covered by that exception could undermine the public interest.”
Their decision, made on Thursday, has been decried as a sign the European Central Bank (ECB) is becoming less transparent just as it prepares to expand its powers.
Thursday’s ruling came amid calls for increased transparency at the Bank from its own senior members, which take on supervision of all 6,000 euro-area banks from January.
ECB governing council member Erkki Liikanen said in September the Bank should publish minutes from meetings on interest rates and so-called ‘non-standard measures’ including bond purchases, following the lead of its US equivalent, the Federal Reserve.
Nonetheless, Mario Draghi, ECB President, has defended the bank’s transparency, pointing to his monthly press conferences following interest rate decisions and the institution’s communications with lawmakers and the public (Full story Telegraph)
the big euro countries knew greece were going to borrow and could not wait to get their paws on the money they would make out of the deal
buy at less than 1% in some cases and lend to the greeks at 4-5-6%
what our young people call this a no-brainer
I used to feel sorry for the European people and struggles they are going through, however when I continue to read articles like this one, I no longer feel sorry. Disgusted is one of the words that come to mind, you let this man “Mario Draghi” pull the wool over your eyes on a daily basis.
What is it that he doesn’t want the rest of the world to see, when there is no transparency, that is when the cards will fall. He should be afraid, not the people of Europe.
Oh but wait, the EU citizens DO enjoy transparency when it comes to, say, ECB’s minutes of meetings. We just have to wait for 30 (thirty) years for the information to be published.
In the mean time, we are free to enjoy the continent-wide success story, on a daily basis.