Financial Times
December 15, 2011
From his armchair at home in Athens, former Greek prime minister George Papandreou must have allowed himself a wry smile at the sight of David Cameron’s total isolation after his veto of a European Union treaty last week in Brussels.
The scorn poured on Mr Cameron, ostentatiously fronted by French president Nicolas Sarkozy, will have reminded Mr Papandreou of the drubbing he received from the euro fraternity at the recent Cannes summit. Having dared to propose that Greek people be allowed their say on the increasingly severe austerity measures imposed on them by the EU, Mr Papandreou was humiliatingly scolded and sent home to withdraw his offer of a referendum and resign.
The British can console themselves that the UK still has the choice – right or wrong – to stand up to the rule by diktat that seems to have become the norm the more the eurozone crisis has ballooned, alongside the ever increasing desperation of its leaders. They might cast an eye over the “victor’s justice” that Mr Sarkozy and Angela Merkel, German chancellor, have meted out to Greece when considering the merits of Mr Cameron’s stand in Brussels.
Take as an example the fate of Greek banks. These institutions were not the cause of “the Greek problem”. Indeed the severe difficulties they face is as a direct result of their government’s fiscal waywardness, tolerated for too long by a negligent Brussels, that eventually excluded the Greek government and by association Greek banks from the international markets. To add insult to injury the banks have been punished again for their risk aversion and investments in Greek government bonds that as late as the beginning of this year were still regarded as relatively “safe” given what at the time was considered the low risk of a Greek, let alone European, default.
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