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http://www.publicser...obal-government
Frankfurt Group could lead to 'global government'
09 November 2011 | by Dean Carroll
In Greece, Prime Minister George Papandreou has fallen on his sword. Meanwhile, in Italy, Silvio Berlusconi is close to a forced retirement. Two eurozone heads of state announcing they are stepping down in the course of just a few days is enough to make you sit up and take notice. But, even more interesting is who decided their fate. Of course, national parliaments and pressure from citizens will be highlighted as the key catalysts. But the truth is that the shadowy "Frankfurt Group" – named after an emergency meeting of eight people at the city's opera house last month - was also a key driver of change. The members are reportedly Angela Merkel, Christine Lagarde, Nicolas Sarkozy, Mario Draghi, José Manuel Barroso, Jean-Claude Juncker, Herman van Rompuy and Olli Rehn – with external powerhouses like US President Barack Obama occasionally permitted to attend.
Some may say the growing strength of this group will lead to more effective and efficient decision-making at a time when the world needs it most. Others will take a different view, deeming it to be a European politburo and, even, a step towards global government or "cosmopolitan democracy" as academics like Daniele Archibugi prefer to call it. There is no doubt that we are entering the sort of dangerous economic territory where extreme measures are needed. We know that the eurozone unemployment rate of 10.2 per cent is the highest it has been since 1998 – with the mighty Germany even seeing growth in the number of jobless people, for the first time in two years. You can understand the desire to create a real leadership forum following the failure of eurozone and G20 summits to create anything larger than a sticking plaster, with a lifespan of just a few days before markets attack once again.
But democracy is too important for those in elite collectives like the Frankfurt Group to ride roughshod over the voting rights of citizens. Especially, when it is being done behind closed doors without any transparency at all. Such dark arts maneuvering will simply lead to conspiracy accusations. The Bilderberg Group may well just be a meeting of the brightest political and business minds in the world, who are trying to do the right thing for humanity, but because of the secrecy surrounding the annual meeting – it is just too easy for those outside the gates to see it as another tool of the oligarchs; ensuring wealth is shared between only the chosen, and connected, few.
The fact that polls in Greece show 60 per cent of people are against the strict terms of the bail-out is more to do with politicians targeting the working man when it comes to new taxes and cuts to jobs and pensions - instead of the more affluent in the country, who can afford it - rather than a hatred of all things Europe. This is borne out by the same polls showing that 70 per cent want the country to remain in the eurozone. A whiff of corruption still hangs in the air – as rich individuals and powerful industry lobby groups have so far made sure they are not hardest hit by austerity measures. For too long, pork barrel politics has been the mainstay of electoral success in Greece – it is a hard habit to kick.
At this juncture, the European Union's often-criticised "democratic deficit" comes into play. Initiatives like the Frankfurt Group only damage the already fragile legitimacy of Brussels' institutions further. Politicians like Merkel and Sarkozy should be brave enough to say what they really mean before us all on the world stage. The knowing glance between the two leaders when asked about Berlusconi recently spoke volumes. Their eyes said so much, but they refused to share any of it with the rest of us. It is high time politicians were honest with those who put them in the positions of power in the first place. Moving the debate behind closed doors will only alienate electorates further - leading to increased civil disorder on the streets, a growing disregard for political parties and a weakening of electoral accountability chains. In an age of Wikileaks and the internet, the truth will out eventually. The question for politicians is – why wait?
http://www.guardian....ni-bailout-debt
The emergence of the Frankfurt Group has turned back the democratic clock
Electorates are being bypassed as increasing austerity pushes Europe's weaker countries into an economic death spiral
Protesters in front the headquarters of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. Photograph: Ralph Orlowski/Reuters
Financial markets rallied last week when the Greek prime minister, George Papandreou, announced he was dropping plans for a referendum on the terms of his country's bailout. Bond dealers liked the idea that the government in Athens could soon be headed by Lucas Papademos, a former vice-president of the European Central Bank. Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy think Papademos is the sort of hard-line technocrat with whom they can do business.
Silvio Berlusconi's long-predicted departure as Italy's prime minister will no doubt be greeted in the same way, particularly if he is replaced by a government of national unity headed by another technocrat, Mario Monti. A former Brussels commissioner, he is seen as someone who could be relied upon to push through the European Union's austerity programme during the next 12 months, watched over by Christine Lagarde's team of officials from the International Monetary Fund.
From the perspective of the financial markets, this makes perfect sense. Papandreou could no longer be relied upon, and his decision to hold a plebiscite threw Europe into turmoil last week, blighting the Cannes G20 summit. He had to go.
In Italy, Berlusconi is seen as entirely the wrong man to cope with his country's deepening crisis; bond yields are above 6.5%, a level that eventually resulted in bailouts for Greece, Ireland and Portugal. He, too, has to go in the interests not just of financial and political stability but to prevent the eurozone from imploding.
The European Union has always had problems with democracy, a messy process that can interfere with the grand designs of people at the top who know best. When Ireland voted no to the Nice Treaty, it was told to come up with the right result in a second ballot. The European Central Bank wields immense power, but nobody knows how the unelected members of its governing council vote because no minutes of meetings are published. That said, the latest phase of Europe's sovereign debt crisis has exposed the quite flagrant contempt for voters, the people who are going to bear the full weight of the austerity programmes being cooked up by the political elites.
Here's how things work.
The real decisions in Europe are now taken by the Frankfurt Group, an unelected cabal made of up eight people: Lagarde; Merkel; Sarkozy; Mario Draghi, the new president of the ECB; José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission; Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the Eurogroup; Herman van Rompuy, the president of the European Council; and Olli Rehn, Europe's economic and monetary affairs commissioner.
This group, which is accountable to no one, calls the shots in Europe. The cabal decides whether Greece should be allowed to hold a referendum and if and when Athens should get the next tranche of its bailout cash. What matters to this group is what the financial markets think not what voters might want. To the extent that governments had any power, it has been removed and placed in the hands of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF. It is as if the democratic clock has been turned back to the days when France was ruled by the Bourbons.
In the circumstances, it is hardly surprising that electorates have resorted to general strikes and street protests to have their say. Governments come and go but the policies remain the same, creating a glaring democratic deficit. This would be deeply troubling even if it could be shown that the Frankfurt Group's economic remedies were working, which they are not. Instead, the insistence on ever more austerity is pushing Europe's weaker countries into an economic death spiral while their voters are being bypassed. That is a dangerous mixture.
