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The hopelessly corrupt structure of the Eurozone & the Eurogroup

by Ramin Mazaheri

Part 2 - The Eurogroup: The banker cabal hidden in plain sight

I reviewed the fake-leftist book “And the Weak Suffer What They Must?” by former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis. The analysis and proffered solutions from this self-declared “erratic Marxist” are not Marxist at all, but his eyewitness unveiling of the cartelized capitalist structure that is the Eurogroup has truly been an enormous contribution to European democracy.

The Eurogroup is, at face value, an informal monthly meeting of the finance ministers of the member countries. Ah, government representatives getting together for discussions and planning – sounds democratic, right? Hardly….

I will quote Varoufakis often, because his matter-of-fact condemnations will carry more weight than my own:

Moreover, the Eurogroup, where all the important economic decisions are taken, is a body that does not even exist in European law, that operates on the basis that the ‘strong do as they please while the weak suffer what they must’, that keeps no minutes of its proceedings, and whose only rule is that its deliberations are confidential – that is, not to be shared with Europe’s citizenry. It is a set-up designed to preclude any sovereignty traceable back to the people of Europe.

So there are no rules, no records, no democratic process and no democratic accountability…and this is what is in charge of the world’s largest economic engine.

These are appalling realities. They cannot be diffused widely enough or often enough.

Thanks to the whistle-blowing of Varoufakis, we also know that there is also essentially no discussion at Eurogroup meetings: The Troika (the IMF, European Central Bank and European Commission) initiates, dominates and outlines the terms…and then the finance minister-members vote. In short, the overwhelming majority of participants in the group which governs economic policy (and thus social policy) are bankers, former bankers or intimately tied to high finance. When bankers run economic policy, one shouldn’t be surprised if the resulting social policy is for the benefit of bankers.

As Varoufakis relates, maybe the finance ministers will speak, or maybe they won’t even be allowed to speak. Maybe finance ministers will be allowed to disseminate documents which support the positions taken by their democratically-elected governments, or maybe they won’t even be allowed to champion a differing position. Many will justifiably ask: What’s the point of voting in any politician if they have little to no chance of influencing policy at the highest level – the Eurogroup?

The Eurogroup is not an EU institution and cannot declare any legally-binding decisions. It can never be blamed for a bad decision, nor held accountable, because it is not answerable to any parliament or body politic whatsoever.

In short: it is the perfect cabal.

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