Abstract
EU policies promoting markets and competition were institutionally imposed on Greece by the EC in the 1980s and 1990s. The sovereign debt crisis which first emerged in 2010 has changed the rules of the game. External players, that is, the European Commission (EC), the European Central Bank (ECB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) have now a clearer plan that goes beyond the general promotion of competitive rules and modernization of central and local administrations. Under the specific conditions of the sovereign debt crisis, the transfer of austerity policies and the reforms that complement them, takes place within a specific context, insofar as national and local resistance is weakened by the country’s dependence on foreign funding. What ultimately result are reform policies of varying shapes and sizes, which are thus of restricted consistency and, consequently, of limited effectiveness.
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Notes
- 1.
Following the bailout agreements, a tripartite (EU, European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund) Troika is scrutinizing implementation of bailout agreements and assessing stabilization performance step by step, prior to each installment (“conditionality principle”).
- 2.
Data provided by the Central Union of Municipalities and Communes In.gr 26/6/2012 -http://news.in.gr/economy/article/?Aid=1231202207, accessed 30/5/2017.
- 3.
Data from the Hellenic Republic Human Resources Registry, http://apografi.yap.gov.gr/apografi/2017/View2017, accessed 30/5/2017.
- 4.
Tharros Daily Kalamata, https://goo.gl/nTBFOL, accessed 5/6/2107.
- 5.
According to Eurostat data, CNN.gr, 2/5/2017 http://www.cnn.gr/oikonomia/story/78998/statheri-i-anergia-stin-ellada-ton-ianoyario-toy-2017, accessed 30/5/17.
- 6.
According to data released by the Hellenic Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen & Merchants (GSEVEE), Νewmoney.gr 31/5/2016 http://www.newmoney.gr/palmos-oikonomias/286432-gsebee-%C2%ABlouketo%C2%BB-se-250-000-mikromesaies-epixeiriseis-logo-krisis, accessed 30/5/17.
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Tsekos, T.N., Hlepas, N.K. (2019). Greek Municipalities Before and During the Austerity Era: Imposed Policies, Local Resistance and Unsuccessful Reforms. In: Lippi, A., Tsekos, T. (eds) Local Public Services in Times of Austerity across Mediterranean Europe. Governance and Public Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76225-8_3
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