The newly appointed Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has named a government entirely composed of unelected figures, just days after a technocratic government was installed in Greece, where the presence of far-right figures linked to the military junta are raising hackles. Monti, an ex-EU-commissioner, was appointed officially on Wednesday by the president of the republic. The new Prime minister has in turn also appointed himself finance minister and, in a move likely to amplify criticisms that a regime of bankers has been imposed on Europe’s southern flank, Corrado Passero, the CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo, the country’s largest bank, has been awarded the industry and infrastructure job.All ministerial posts will be held by technocrats, soldiers and diplomats. Along these lines, the Italian ambassador in Washington, Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata, has been made foreign minister while an admiral in the navy, Giampaolo Di Paola is now defence minister, eliminating civilian command of the armed forces. "The process of forming a government has taken a radically unorthodox and rushed route after Silvio Berlusconi - under pressure from markets and other EU leaders, resigned as the country’s economic position grew ever more precarious and threatened to pull the entire eurozone down." writes the EUobserver. Meanwhile in Greece - Far-right MPs with links to the Greek Junta appointed ministers. The imposition of the technocrats in Rome comes just days after former vice-president of the European Central Bank, Lucas Papademos, was placed in the top office in Greece, where he too has appointed an administration of technocrats, complimented by members of the far right - the first time Athens has seen such figures in government since the fall of the military junta in 1974.
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Thursday, November 17, 2011
The newly appointed Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has named a government entirely composed of unelected figures, just days after a technocratic government was installed in Greece, where the presence of far-right figures linked to the military junta are raising hackles. Monti, an ex-EU-commissioner, was appointed officially on Wednesday by the president of the republic. The new Prime minister has in turn also appointed himself finance minister and, in a move likely to amplify criticisms that a regime of bankers has been imposed on Europe’s southern flank, Corrado Passero, the CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo, the country’s largest bank, has been awarded the industry and infrastructure job.All ministerial posts will be held by technocrats, soldiers and diplomats. Along these lines, the Italian ambassador in Washington, Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata, has been made foreign minister while an admiral in the navy, Giampaolo Di Paola is now defence minister, eliminating civilian command of the armed forces. "The process of forming a government has taken a radically unorthodox and rushed route after Silvio Berlusconi - under pressure from markets and other EU leaders, resigned as the country’s economic position grew ever more precarious and threatened to pull the entire eurozone down." writes the EUobserver. Meanwhile in Greece - Far-right MPs with links to the Greek Junta appointed ministers. The imposition of the technocrats in Rome comes just days after former vice-president of the European Central Bank, Lucas Papademos, was placed in the top office in Greece, where he too has appointed an administration of technocrats, complimented by members of the far right - the first time Athens has seen such figures in government since the fall of the military junta in 1974.
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EU commission to present eurobonds plans next week - 17/11/2011 09:18:39
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In a bid to stem the tide of the debt crisis engulfing the eurozone, the
twin leaders of the European Union, Herman van Rompuy and Jose Manuel
Barroso, have announced plans for further integration.
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16.10 The IMF will send a monitoring team to Italy this month at the invitation of the Italian authorities, says spokesman David Hawley.
Hawley told reporters it would arrive in "late November" and that the discussions would not include the EC or the ECB.
Greece's new Government faces an extremely difficult situation. The IMF says this afternoon that it won't make the next bail-out payment until it has "broad political support" for austerity measures.
That could mean some kind of signed assurance from the new cabinet that they'll push through painful spending cuts and tax hikes - but two out of three party leaders that make up the coalition have already refused to do exactly that.
Meanwhile, huge protests continue to rumble on in Athens against those same austerity measures that the Government is being asked to promise to the IMF.
"We will throw all of them out," promised a banner held aloft by students, while another carried by anarchists read: "In the face of tyranny, one must choose between chains and arms."
15.35 The EU is helping Greece to claw back some of the €60 billion in unpaid taxes hidden away in Swiss bank accounts. That's a huge amount when you consider that the entire bail-out package for Greece totals €110 billion.
A team of EC experts have been sent to Athens to help negotiate with Switzerland, and their first feedback claims "concrete steps". Horst Reinchenbach, the German head of the task force = the greece's new german governor, said:
Solutions are being explored to provide Greece with an adequate way to increase tax revenue, taking into account the vast amounts channeled to Switzerland by Greek nationals.
But the good news only stretches so far - an EU official on condition of anonymity said that of the missing €60 billion, just half is "theoretically collectible" and only €8 billion are likely to be recovered "sooner or later
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