mr president the greek state is technically bankrupt
the relevant question is no longer whether it needs debt forgiveness but when
the sooner the better
european institutions are failing spectacularly to understand the nature of the problem
it is not a liquidity crisis but a deep solvency crisis reflecting the lack of international competitiveness of the greek economy
piling more debt upon the greek taxpayer is not only useless but completely counterproductive
for greece to start to grow out of the fiscal crisis part of the debt burden should be forgiven and absorbed by creditors public and private alike
french german and especially greek banks will have to be recapitalised
having purchased a huge amount of greek government bonds and also having accepted much as collateral the ecb is now trapped
twenty years ago when transition started in the former communist countries one of the most important structural reforms was the establishment of an independent central bank with strict legal prohibition of the monetisation of public debt
the ecb has basically been following the practice of communist countries
there is clearly a conflict of interest in its mandate and now the euro zone is suffering the consequences
it is in exactly this context that we have to look at the budget for twenty twelve
it is an illusion to expect any growth in member state contributions for the next year in the light of the enormous burden that taxpayers are likely to assume either way
the letter from the presidents and prime ministers of the five solid and solvent countries should not be forgotten and pushed aside
the experience of the painful negotiations and the frustrating failure of parliament at the end of last year should likewise be remembered as a warning
the mandate of the ep delegation for the trilogue should be much more modest and at the same time more realistic if parliament wishes to remain relevant in the light of the huge challenges the eu faces for the future
