(Hosted by the BBA and organised by the CSFI – with Graham Bishop and Hans Hack of FTI Consulting)

 

Greece: Unsurprisingly, the Greek crisis was a major focus of attention! We were treated to an eloquent, Greek exposition of the basic `market economy’ reforms that Greek governments have promised for the last five years – and failed to implement. The results have tested the economic 

governance system of the euro area as never before…. But it was Greece 2010 that created it in the first place and Greece 2015 is likely to force a further revision. The EMU edifice was built on the 

foundation stone of sound public finance – epitomised by the key entry requirement of a budget 

deficit below 3% of GDP, and a small surplus in normal times. If states compiled and reported their 

data accurately and then kept this simple rule, debt ratios would fall over time and states would 

have pooled minimal sovereignty. 

 

I recommend you to watch the sparring match between former Belgian PM Verhofstadt and Tsipras 

at the European Parliament: Parliament at its best - holding Greece to public account! Verhofstadt 

speech.

 

One of the `prior conditions’ for Greece to get  its funds is to transpose the Bank Recovery and 

Resolution Directive (BRRD) and that will have the unmistakeable effect of putting “Europe” in total 

control of the future of the Greek banks – as if the hand on the flow of liquidity were not enough. 

EBA has just published a series of Standards about how BRRD will be put into practice for any bank - if the need arises. 

 

Full article available for consultancy clients here.