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    Greece and The Eu

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    Greece joined the EU and adopted the euro, gaining access to European markets but losing some sovereignty. After the 2008 financial crisis, Greece faced severe debt issues but could not devalue its currency. It received multiple bailouts from 2010-2015 with harsh austerity terms including pension cuts and privatization. While governments control budgets and taxes, Greece's hands were tied as it implemented austerity to receive funds. The bailouts mainly pay loans, not stimulating the economy, and Greece's debt remains high at over 175% of GDP.

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    Greece and The Eu

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    api-255541628
    72 views1 page
    Greece joined the EU and adopted the euro, gaining access to European markets but losing some sovereignty. After the 2008 financial crisis, Greece faced severe debt issues but could not devalue its currency. It received multiple bailouts from 2010-2015 with harsh austerity terms including pension cuts and privatization. While governments control budgets and taxes, Greece's hands were tied as it implemented austerity to receive funds. The bailouts mainly pay loans, not stimulating the economy, and Greece's debt remains high at over 175% of GDP.

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    Greece joined the EU and adopted the euro, gaining access to European markets but losing some sovereignty. After the 2008 financial crisis, Greece faced severe debt issues but could not devalue its currency. It received multiple bailouts from 2010-2015 with harsh austerity terms including pension cuts and privatization. While governments control budgets and taxes, Greece's hands were tied as it implemented austerity to receive funds. The bailouts mainly pay loans, not stimulating the economy, and Greece's debt remains high at over 175% of GDP.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    72 views1 page

    Greece and The Eu

    Uploaded by

    api-255541628
    Greece joined the EU and adopted the euro, gaining access to European markets but losing some sovereignty. After the 2008 financial crisis, Greece faced severe debt issues but could not devalue its currency. It received multiple bailouts from 2010-2015 with harsh austerity terms including pension cuts and privatization. While governments control budgets and taxes, Greece's hands were tied as it implemented austerity to receive funds. The bailouts mainly pay loans, not stimulating the economy, and Greece's debt remains high at over 175% of GDP.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
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    Greece and the EU.

    (Regional Groupings and sovereignty)


    On the one hand we see a state (Greece) trying to enhance its sovereignty, by transferring
    some of its sovereign powers upwards to a supranational organisation (EU). As a result of
    its membership of this regional grouping, Greece benefits from the single currency of the
    Euro, has more liberal access to European markets and freedom of movement for its
    citizens throughout the region. (Globalisation/Trade liberalisation).
    In the wake of the Global Financial Crises of 2007 (globalisation), Greece found itself in
    severe economic difficulties and it appeared that the government may be unable to service
    its debts.
    A country in Greeces position would typically allow its currency to depreciate, so that it
    became more attractive to investors, but this is not an option for countries that have adopted
    the single European currency. (Loss of sovereignty).
    What followed was a series of bailouts from the International Monetary Fund, (institution
    of global governance) the European Central Bank and the European Commission in 2010,
    2012 AND 2015. The bailouts came with conditions which included harsh austerity terms,
    requiring deep budget cuts and steep tax increases. They also required Greece to overhaul
    its economy by streamlining the government and ending tax evasion. Some of the austerity
    measures included raising the retirement age, cutting pensions and privatising state assets.
    While governments of EU countries retain control of their budget and tax policy, the Greek
    Government has found its hands were tied in this area (loss of sovereignty) as it had to
    adopt the austerity measures in order to access the relief funds from the bailouts.
    One of the frequent criticisms of this approach by the IMF has been that the severe
    austerity measures have caused the Greek economy to shrink rather than grow and, as a
    result, many believe Greece will never be in a position to improve its economic position.
    The bailout money mainly goes toward paying off Greeces international loans, rather than
    making its way into the economy and the government still has a staggering debt load that it
    cannot begin to pay down unless a recovery takes hold.
    Some stats from the New York Times :
    1. In 2015 unemployment in Greece was over 25% as opposed to the EU average of
    less than 9.8%
    2. The economy has shrunk by a quarter in the past 5 years.
    3. By the end of 2014, Greeces Gross Government Debt was in excess of 175% of
    GDP as opposed to the EU average of 90% (nearly double!!)
    Conclusion: In the name of preserving the European project and European solidarity,
    the ultimatum put to Greece required something close to the surrender of the nations
    sovereignty. NYT
    In a bid to express their resentment at the harsh economic measures imposed on them, the
    Greek people elected the left wing Syriza party led by Alexis Tsipras elected in January 2015
    on anti- austerity campaign, but to date Tsiparas has had little success in changing the
    ecomomic conditions of the IMF and E.U.
    As recently as mid-October 2015, the government had little option but passed to approve
    further austerity measures.

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