It is especially important that a top European institution, the European Parliament, is expressing coherent objections to the role of the troika in the countries that are receiving aid.
The relevant committee’s report on the role of the troika is even more important now because the criticism is not coming from countries that are under pressure, but from MEPs of the two biggest European countries, Germany and France and from different political groups no less.
Even though everyone recognizes that the Eurozone was under a lot of pressure to avoid the collapse of the euro and therefore the desperate need to create an auditing mechanism, the lack of transparency in its formation is prominent and there is much to be said about the choices made.
One of these choices is that the impact of the fiscal measures enforced in Greece and the other countries were not taken into consideration. They point out the increase of the income gap, the huge unemployment problem and the painful interventions in healthcare systems, as well as the fact that rather than restricting the recession, they managed to expand it.
These observations may act as arguments for countries such as Greece, who are trying to get some breathing space in their fiscal reform, but it is doubtful if they will be able to influence the dominant logic of the hegemonic countries in Europe these days. However, in light of the upcoming European elections, they have the potential of leading to a change of European balances, under certain conditions.
All that is needed though is for the affected countries, such as ours, to have a coherent and thought-out plan of claims that will be based on the greatest possible political and social consensus. Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be the case in Greece.
TO VIMA
