Greece is the future of Europe [Interview with Costas Douzinas]

2012

Is there any way for Greece to solve its crisis? Dimitris Venieris argues that the rescue packages imposed by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund have broken down social protection, job opportunities and labor rights in Greece. He concludes that the future of the country is 'heart-breaking', and that the vision for a 'European Europe' is dying.

2021

The Future of Europe is a theme that is at the forefront of pan-European debates, both in the European Parliament and in national parliaments. The discussions concerning the Future of Europe in Greece are reflected in activities of parliamentary control, such as the parliamentary discussions of legislation in plenary session or in committees, questions of opposition MPs to the government, and Prime Minister’s question time, among others. The multiple crises that Greece was facing were the main vectors to discuss FoE through the policy sectors. Parliamentary representatives and political parties advance views, ideas and disagreements about the future of Europe mostly in the context of discussions that take place on various other issues that concern the European Union. This policy brief aims to present a general overview of the findings from the Greek Parliament on the Future of Europe between 2015 and 2019.

In the first part of the present paper we shortly review the current situation in Greece, revealing the internal causes -recent and long-standing -as well as the origins relating to the global systemic crisis of our time. Subsequently, we discuss EU's recent transformation, from the new-Keynesian co-operation to the neo-liberal monetary Union. How did a period of convergence result into a period of diverging per capita income and deepening inequality in the member states? Why "price equalization" occurred prior to the equalization of income? How did the "European Acquis" for democratic legitimation convert into decisions taken by the majority of the participating funds (for instance in case of ESM)? Based on that, in the third part, we take a closer look into the positive/negative, direct/indirect effects on Greece, given the country's inconsistencies. Finally, conclude and we discuss specific policy alternatives, as well as proposals for further relevant research. (5.501 words)

Pôle Sud

Society & Space, 2015

Syriza may well be the last chance for the salvation of Europe as a political project. Whereas most mainstream leaders within the EU have solidly backed the idea of financial markets as the best and final judges of political policy (the need to be ‘competitive’ from the standpoint of transnational capital) and most adversaries to this liberal dogma rely on nationalist fantasies as a response (to go back to a time before national purity was corrupted by EU attacks on sovereignty and by cosmopolitan values), it is Syriza that points to democratic European political efforts as the only response that can allow us to overcome the current political and economic impasses.

The failure of the austerity policies in Greece calls for radically different approaches to the Greek crisis and for the implementation of alternatives to austerity policies. Otherwise, the possibility of a prolonged period of economic, social and political instability in Greece is extremely high. The implications of such instability for the European Union, indeed for Europe more generally, should not be underestimated. The lessons of the Greek case are of a more general applicability particularly because austerity policies are now applied in many countries in Europe and beyond. These are the reasons which led to the organization of the present conference.

In late 2009, Greece found itself in the global spotlight as the country struggled to remain solvent and in the Eurozone. The Greek debt crisis became the subject of world summits, international news headlines and intense market activity. In the four years that followed, the Greek government implemented a series of radical austerity measures, while receiving bailouts and loans of unprecedented magnitude. The situation in Greece revealed structural deficiencies in the European integration project and threatened the existence of the Eurozone itself. This volume investigates the framing, policies and politics of extreme austerity during those crucial four years. It also puts the Greek case into a global context by comparing it to the situation in countries that have faced similar challenges, such as Spain, Ireland, Argentina and Turkey. Featuring multidisciplinary contributions from leading social scientists and an exclusive interview with George Papandreou – the former Greek Prime Minister who handled the crisis from 2009 to 2011 – this is the first comprehensive account of the economic crisis at the heart of Europe.