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, not just the biggest ones. The Commission was on the sidelines when, on 16 March 2013, the fateful decision was taken to confiscate a proportion of the savings of depositors in Cypriot banks in order to raise funds to rescue Cyprus. Early in the eurozone crisis, bank deposits had been guaranteed across the eurozone so that citizens would not be compelled to move funds from country to country. Outrage in Cyprus and incredulity across much of the world led to the raid on savings below €100,000 being annulled. But it was now clear that there was influential backing
a massive 20.18%, reached a staggering 30.8% by the end of May. Europe’s political elite were no less impatient. Angela Merkel underlined the need to continue strictly implementing the agreed reform programme. The German Minister of Finance stated that the Memorandum ‘is not negotiable’. No one ‘wants Greece to exit the Eurozone’, but ‘the choice between the parties is a choice between staying in the Eurozone or leaving it’.16 The President of the Eurogroup, Claude Juncker, appeared mildly more conciliatory in the meeting of the ministers of finance in Brussels on
Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg, September 2014) France occupies an intermediate position in the Eurozone. Trade unions in the country are weak and divided, which raises the question of the manner in which unions in inauspicious structural positions respond to Europeanization. After the introduction of EMU, such incapacity meant that unions tended not to participate in wage moderation. Challenges associated with the single currency were partly resolved by a state incomes policy which limited potential loss of
Since 2010, five Eurozone governments have received financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union (EU), on the condition that a long list of policies were implemented. This is often described as a period in which powerless bailed out governments had no choice but to follow the lenders’ prescriptions; and it was contested whether these were in the former's best interest (see for example Capelos and Exadaktylos, 2015 on media representation). The effectiveness and fairness of conditionality have also
countries within the Eurozone benefits workers in these countries to the degree that strategies for European solidarity are weakly prioritized and consequently unsuccessful. I end the chapter by arguing that such partitions evoke Marxist-Leninist theories of imperialism, though I stress differences between formal imperialism and contemporary Europe. Conceptualizing the European insider–outsider regime As emphasized in chapter 2 , literature on dualization is relevant because it conceptualizes the relationship between
152 Part III: Debt restructuring and power games In Cannes, the Greek delegation met a hostile reception. President Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel expressed their surprise and anger as to why they had not been informed on 26 October of the Prime Minister’s intentions. They demanded that the question of the referendum be one and only one: yes or no to Greece remaining in the Eurozone. Both underlined that the matter of a referendum must be settled by 4 December, and not in January, as the Greek government had indicated. The next instalment of the bailout would be
Introduction The future of the EU is in question, and not just because of Brexit, which is only one of the many crises that have hit the Union in recent years. The Eurozone crisis, the refugee crisis, and the ongoing security crisis are equally problematic. But how Brexit occurs, whether very hard or somewhat ‘soft’, may have a significant impact on future European integration. At the same time, future integration – its form and content – will also have an impact on how the UK engages with the EU going forward. This chapter discusses the various options for the
% haircut. The report’s conclusion was that Greece needed extensive, long-term and generous international support. The provisions agreed during the July summit would not suffice. The claims of creditors would have to be cut by at least 60% if debt were to become sustainable. A further reduction in the rate of interest would be required, along with additional support from the EFSF, ‘in accordance with the promise made by the leaders of the Eurozone to help Greece throughout the whole time it will need to acquire the capacity to borrow from the markets again’. The analysis
28 Provisional solutions, October–June 2013 The initial efforts of the new coalition government to re-establish positive relations with the governments of the Eurozone were bearing fruit. Samaras’s focus on the implementation of outstanding reforms was helping improve the climate for a return to the negotiating table. At a meeting of the Eurogroup on 14 September, held in Nicosia, the ministers around the table registered the concerns of the Greek minister, but also reiterated their calls for sustained adherence to the adjustment programme and indicated that
-term investment and development programme for Europe. (DGB, 2012) Voluntaristic nonsense. (IG Metall leader Bertold Huber on the 14 November 2012 European Day of Action and Solidarity) Germany is the archetypal core Eurozone country. After the launch of the euro, wage moderation helped guarantee competitive advantage for the country within EMU. A number of authorities have associated this outcome with the efficacy of German sectoral bargaining (Hancké, 2013 ; Hassel, 2014 ; Johnston