Main focus of Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Criticism of Greek rescue package

Lagarde is willing to pay at most ten percent of the 130 billion euros. (© AP/dapd)

Criticism is growing over the second rescue package for Greece passed on Tuesday. IMF head Christine Lagarde wants to see reforms before she allocates more money, and several national parliaments have yet to agree to the plan. Immediate insolvency would spare Greece and the Eurozone much suffering, some commentators write, while for others the greatest danger lies in the total control being exerted over Athens.

Agreement like the Treaty of Versailles

With the terms it has stipulated for the bailout package Europe has de facto colonised Greece, the liberal daily NRC Handelsblad warns. "The Treaty of Versailles of 1919, the peace treaty with which the allies foisted unbearable reparations on Germany, the opposite of peace was achieved. So it would make better sense if the countries now regarded as the colonial masters were to adopt a more unobtrusive stance rather than rubbing salt into the wounds. The [Dutch] finance minister Jan Kees de Jager has failed to understand this. Even before the negotiations on the 130 billion euro bailout he called for the 'permanent presence of the troika in Athens'. This was uncalled for. Greece is already under supervision. … Moreover he said would be 'unwise' for elections to take place in April. … It is not just a matter of bad style to kick a man when he's down. It's also in one's own interest to depict the humiliation as a compromise. Adopting an excessively harsh stance only breeds a desire for revenge." (22/02/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Greece, » Netherlands, » Europe
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

Athens loses its sovereignty

In return for the billions in aid money Greece must fulfil strict requirements and relinquish control over the economy to foreign auditors. The country has renounced its statehood unnecessarily, the conservative daily Rzeczpospolita admonishes: "This means surrendering a key part of its national sovereignty - and doing so beyond the scope of the European treaties. ... Better results would certainly be obtained with a structured reorganisation of the country. But neither the Greek politicians nor the people had the courage for such a step. Instead of getting down to work they opted either for partial slavery or insurgency. The Union has forced Greece to agree to permanent external control of its budget. ... You can say what you want about this requirement but one thing is certain: no sovereign country would accept such a situation, no matter how committed it is to the construction of a common Europe." (22/02/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Greece
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Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

Greece lies in coma

At best, the 130-billion-euro EU bailout package will put insolvent Greece in an induced coma, the online portal euinside writes: "Imagine a patient who needs a lifesaving surgery. Everyone is aware that even if the operation is successful the best the patient can hope for is to remain on mechanical ventilation. However, still alive. Something like that has happened to Greece in the last 24 hours. After a 14-hour 'operation' the machine is turned on and the patient is breathing, though entirely dependent on another's will. The optimistic scenario is that the patient will start breathing on his own in two years and in eight years he will be able to walk. Nobody was ready to discuss the pessimistic scenario after the exhausting night. EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn looked tired but relieved, and made the best description of the situation: "In the past two years and again this night I have learned that marathon is indeed a Greek word.'" (21/02/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » Greece, » Europe
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Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

Greek bailout just a ruse

The second so-called bailout package for Athens can't be taken seriously, the conservative daily Lidové noviny complains: "The official goal of the bailout is to revive the economy, increase competitiveness and lower public debt. What we have now is the opposite. Who is going to invest in a country that is collapsing? … Fears are justified that Greece won't be able to keep its promises. The two traditional major parties that have been taking turns in power for generations and were the only ones willing to sign the bailout deal can garner no more than a third of the votes. It's almost as if the package had been deliberately designed to put Athens in a hopeless situation that leaves it no alternative but to say goodbye to the Eurozone." (22/02/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Greece, » Europe
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Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

State bankruptcy simply postponed

Going bankrupt now rather than later would have been better for both Greece and the Eurozone, writes the liberal-conservative Neue Zürcher Zeitung, considering it likely "that the country will become insolvent and have to leave the Eurozone anyway in the not too distant future, but will only suffer unnecessarily in the meantime. Or that the Greek bailout will transform the Eurozone into a transfer union the survival of which will have to be guaranteed by increasingly large support payments without the disadvantaged regions finding a way out of their plight. Neither prospect is edifying. A solution which released Athens into insolvency, gave it the chance of genuine debt restructuring negotiations and led at least to the suspension of Greece's Eurozone membership would have been braver and more promising. But as things stand now the hope of Greece recovering is so tiny that it would be tantamount to a miracle if it did." (22/02/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Greece, » Europe
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Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

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