According to the European Union Ambassador to Canada, Greece’s woes are “a very sad story.”
Matthias Brinkmann, who heads the delegation of the European Union in Ottawa, noted that Greece had joined the union in 1981 after
According to the European Union Ambassador to Canada, Greece’s woes are “a very sad story.”
Matthias Brinkmann, who heads the delegation of the European Union in Ottawa, noted that Greece had joined the union in 1981 after it had overthrown a military dictatorship.
“At the time, they were admitted as members almost automatically,” he explained. “(Admitting Greece into the union) was an ethical decision to stabilize democracy. But at the time, we didn’t have a program to prepare them for that, like we have done with the Eastern countries, so the reforms — a functioning market economy, opening up protected sectors and so on — weren’t done.”
Brinkmann, who spoke to a group of diplomats, academics and students at Carleton University as part of the Ambassadors Speaker Series, said when Greece was admitted, it was the poorest country in the EU and, similar to Canada’s system of transfer payments, the poorest EU members get money from more endowed member states.
“When Greece came in, it was the poorest, and we have these equalization or structural funds where money flows to the poorest countries so they received lots of money.”
He said other countries, such as his own Germany, realized their systems weren’t sustainable and undertook reforms, but Greece did not. Then, when an influx of 10 Eastern European countries joined in 2004, followed by two more in 2007, there were many member states poorer than Greece, so the equalization funds started flowing away from Greece to them.
“It’s a sad story. Now they have to do the reforms. It’s very unfortunate for the population, but you have to have a functioning tax system and open up protected sectors and so on.
“Greece cannot devaluate the whole of Europe. Unfortunately, the standard of living is going down. But they have the sunshine, tourism, and so on. If Greece becomes cheaper, people will go there. We see this trend already. It will be tough times for them. Conditions are tough, but they’re necessary.”
Asked about energy policy in Europe, Brinkmann said the EU is working toward a common energy policy but it doesn’t have one yet.
“Member states get energy from wherever they can get it,” he said. “It’s true Russia