The decision of the European Central Bank to freeze the emergency liquidity in summer 2015 and force the Greek government to close the countries bank was possibly not legal. This is stated in the Italian daily Il Manifesto that quotes Fabio de Masi, member of German Die Linke in the European Parliament.
According to de Masi, before taking the decision to freeze liquidity to Greece, ECB head Mario Draghi commissioned a legal opinion from a private consulting company. Purpose of the company was to research about the legality of the imposition of capital controls in Greece
Draghi wanted to know whether the ECB had to right to freeze liquidity to the banks of a sovereign country given the statute of the bank.
Il Manifesto* notes that the European Central Bank has so far “declined to reveal the content of report of the consulting company, claiming an odd excuse: respect for the company’s confidentiality.”
“Revealing the report may contain many surprises that might be able to jolt the European Central Bank itself,” the daily notes.
The Italian daily adds that Fabio de Masi and former finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis keep on struggling to have the ECB publish the report.
In February, Varoufakis and French Socialist Party candidate for the Presidency Benoît Hamon launched a campaign and a petition to force Draghi to publish this legal report. For this purpose they have launched a petition.
Il Manifesto article Draghi non aveva il potere di chiudere le banche greche (Draghi did not have the power to close the Greek banks) via AthensnewsAgency
Varoufakis is right in organising this campaign to force this high class (paid handsomely by all of us idiots) employee of the 4th Reich to publicise the report.
Of course, Super (but little and low) Mario will fight to the end. He knows what he has done, he knows who ordered him to do so and he also knows whose interests he serves. He knows he is guilty too.
But crime against 10 million people comes with no penalty and many rewards these days…. Not a far cry from the rewards for killing Jews in Adolph’s land.
A case of shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted methinks. In other words, it’s too late to do anything about it now.
What? No, this is about how the eurozone has been managed, and how it should be managed in the future. there is no bolted horse: all of Greece and much of the eurozone is living through this crisis still. There is every reason to do everything about it.