We the undersigned believe that there is a pressing need for an Audit Commission to examine Greek public debt. Current EU and IMF policy to deal with public debt has entailed major social costs for Greece. Consequently, the Greek people have a democratic right to demand full information on public and publicly-guaranteed debt.
The aim of the Commission will be to ascertain why public debt was incurred, the terms on which it was contracted, and the uses to which borrowed funds were put. On the basis of these considerations, the Commission will make appropriate recommendations to deal with debt, including debt that is shown to be illegal, illegitimate or odious. The purpose of the Commission will be to help Greece take all necessary measures to confront the burden of debt. The Commission will also seek to find who was responsible for problematic debt agreements.
Public and private debt is at the heart of the Eurozone crisis. The global crisis that began in 2007 took the form of a debt crisis of the periphery of the Eurozone. According to the latest government budget, Greek public debt is expected to rise from 299 billion euro (or 127% of GDP) in 2009 to 362 billion euro (or 159% of GDP) in 2011. The increase in public debt has heightened the danger of national default in the periphery of the Eurozone and raised the possibility of bank failure across Europe. The EU, in conjunction with national governments, has responded through rescue programmes that have facilitated temporary borrowing by Eurozone states and protected banks. But these measures have failed to calm financial markets and, as a result, borrowing rates have continued to rise for peripheral countries. Furthermore, the price of the programmes has been austerity. Greece, Ireland and other countries were forced to cut wages and pensions, contract public expenditure, shrink welfare provision, privatise public enterprises, and deregulate markets. Further social costs are inevitable due to higher unemployment, business failures and loss of output.
Greece has been at the forefront of EU rescue programmes, but the Greek people have been kept in the dark regarding the composition and terms of public debt. The lack of information represents a fundamental failure of the democratic process. The people who are called upon to bear the costs of EU programmes have a democratic right to receive full information on public debt.
An Audit Commission can begin to redress this deficiency. It can also encourage the active participation of broader layers of society in movements that tackle the problem of public debt. The Commission will be international, comprising debt and fiscal auditors, legal experts, economists, representatives of labour organisations, and participants from civil society groups. It will be independent of political parties, though it will not exclude politicians from membership provided that they accept its aims. The Commission will ensure possession of expert knowledge, while guaranteeing democratic accountability and control over all involved.
To achieve its aim the Commission ought to have full access to public debt agreements and debt issues over time, including bond issues, bilateral, multilateral, and other forms of debt and state liabilities. It ought to have requisite powers to place at its disposal all documents that it judges necessary to complete its work. It is also necessary to instigate appropriate procedures that would allow the Commission to call public functionaries to give evidence, as well as to examine, after a reasoned request and judicial support, bank accounts, particularly public accounts with private banks and with the Bank of Greece. Finally, a sufficient period of time ought to be made available to it to examine debt agreements and produce its report.
The case for an independent and international Audit Commission to examine Greek public debt is unanswerable. The Commission is also a democratic demand of the Greek people who are bearing the burden of the crisis and want to know its causes. In all respects an Audit Commission for Greece could act as prototype for other countries of the Eurozone.
- A. Acosta, Ex-Ministro de Energía y Minas (Ecuador), Ex-Presidente de la Asamblea Constituyente, Economista, profesor universitario
- M. Aggelidis, Member of Local Parliament Nordrhein-Westfalen, DIE LINKE
- T. Ali, Author, editor New Left Review
- N. Álvarez, Economist, Researcher at Universidad Complutense de Madrid
- S. Amin, Economist, Third World Forum, Dakar
- P. Arestis, Economist, University of Cambridge and University of the Basque Country
- H. Arias, Miembro de Comisión auditoria deuda Ecuador
- I. Atack, International Peace Studies, Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College Dublin
- J. Barredo, Economist, Researcher at Universidad del País Vasco and Université de Grenoble
- J. Baker, Associate Professor of Equality Studies and Head of School of Social Justice, University College Dublin
- J. Batou, Professeur d’Histoire Internationale Contemporaine, Université de Lausanne
- T. Benn, ex-Member of Parliament, Labour Party, UK
- L. Bisky, Member of European Parliament, DIE LINKE, Germany, President of the GUE/NGL
- R. Blackburn, Professor of Sociology, University of Essex
- L. Buendía, Economist, Researcher at Universidad Complutense de Madrid
- M. Canese, Vice-Ministre des Mines, Paraguay
- J. Castro Caldas, Economist, Centre for Social Studies, Portugal
- C.P. Chandrashekhar, Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- F. Chesnais, Economist, Professeur Émérite de l’Université Paris-Nord
- N. Chomsky, Institute Professor (retired), MIT
- N. Chountis, Member of European Parliament, SYRIZA, Greece, GUE/NGL
- A. Cibils, Economist, Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento, Argentina
- T. Coutrot, Economist, president of ATTAC France
- J. Crotty, Economist, Emeritus Professor and Sheridan Scholar, UMASS Amherst
- J.M. Dolivo, Député, Vaud, Suisse
- D. De Jong, Member of European Parliament , GUE/NGL, The Netherlands
- D. Derwin, executive member, Dublin Council of Trade Unions
- C. Douzinas, Pro-Vice Master, Director, Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities
- G. Duménil, Economist, ex-Directeur de Recherches au Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris X, Nanterre
- C. Durand, Economist, Université Paris 13
- G. Dymski, Economist, University of California, Riverside
- M. Ebel, Députée, Neuchâtel, Suisse
- G. Epstein, Professor of Economics and Co-Director, Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), UMASS, Amherst
- M.L. Fattorelli, Auditor, member of the audit commission of Ecuador, coordinator of Citizen Debt in Brazil
- B. Fine, Economist, School of Oriental and African Studies
- D.K. Foley, Leo Model Professor, New School for Social Research, External Professor, Santa Fe Institute Department of Economics
- P. Franchet, Inspector of Taxes, France; CADTM
- A. Garzón, Economist, Researcher at Universidad Pablo Olavide de Sevilla
- L. German, Coalition of Resistance, Britain
- S. George, PhD, writer, Board President of the Transnational Institute
- J. Généreux, Economist, member of the Secretariat of the Left Party France
- J. Ghosh, Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- C. Gobin, Maître de recherche Université Libre Bruxelles
- P. Gonzalez, Casanova Ex-rector Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico
- C. O’Grada, Professor, School of Economics, University College Dublin
- J. Gusmão, Member of Parliament, BLOCCO DE ESQUERDA, Portugal
- T. Hadjigeorgiou, Member of European Parliament, AKEL, Cyprus
- D.J. Halliday, former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General
- M. Harnecker, Sociologist, political scientist, author
- J.M. Harribey, Economist, Université Bordeaux IV, ex-president of ATTAC
- J. Hanlon, Visiting Senior Fellow, LSE and Open University
- A. Hunko, Member of German Parliament, DIE LINKE, Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
- M. Husson, Economist, researcher at Institut d’Etudes Economiques et Sociales
- G. Irvin, Economist, Professorial Research Fellow, School of Oriental and African Studies
- S. Jacquemont, CADTM
- E. Jeffers, Economist, Université Paris VIII
- R. Kammer, Professeur de danse classique, ex soliste à l’Opéra de Bonn, première danseuse et directrice du ballet d’Athènes
- S. N. Keifman, Profesor Titular Regular de Economía Universidad de Buenos Aires
- F. Keoghan, General President, Technical, Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU)
- P. Khalfa, Coprésident de la fondation Copernic, France
- P. Kirby, Director, Institute for the Study of Knowledge in Society (ISKS); Professor of International Politics and Public Policy, Department of Politics and Public Administration; Member, Governing Authority, University of Limerick
- J. Klute, Member of European Parliament, DIE LINKE, Germany
- S. Kouvelakis, Political Scientist, King’s College, University of London
- J. Kregel, Economist, Senior Scholar at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College
- C. Lapavitsas, Economist, School of Oriental and African Studies
- N. Lawson, Compass, UK
- M. Lebowitz, Economist, Professor Emeritus, Simon Fraser University
- K. Loach, Film Director
- K. Lynch, Professor of Equality Studies, University College Dublin
- J. Machado, Professor of Political Economy and Macroeconomics at PUC-Sao Paulo, Brasil
- G. Massiah, Economist, AITEC (Association Internationale de Techniciens et Chercheurs) Paris
- C. Marichal, Historian, El Colegio de México
- P. Marlière, Professor of French Studies, UCL, University of London
- J.P. Mateo, Researcher, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
- B. Medialdea, Economist, Professor at Universidad de Valladolid
- J.-L. Mélenchon, Member of the French Senate, President of the Left Party (Parti de Gauche) of France
- W. Meyer, Member of European Parliament, IZQUIERDA UNIDA, Spain
- R. Molero, Economist, Researcher at Universidad Complutense de Madrid
- J. Nikonoff, Economist, Université de Paris 8, ex-président ATTAC
- O. Onaran, Economist, Middlesex University
- C. O’Neill, Community Activist, Kilbarrack Community Development Programme, Dublin
- S. O’Riain, Professor, Head of Department of Sociology, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
- F. O’Toole, author and journalist
- R. Pagani, Ex-Maire de Genève
- P. Paez, ex-Ministro de Economía de Ecuador
- P. Patnaik, Economist, ex-Professor at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- M.J. Paz, Economist, Professor at Universidad Complutense de Madrid
- D. Plihon, Economist, membre du conseil scientifique d’Attac France
- R. Pollin, Economist, Political Economy Research Institute, UMASS Amherst
- M. Portas, Member of European Parliament, BLOCCO DE ESQUERDA, GUE/NGL, Portugal
- A. Puyana, Professor of Economics, senior researcher at Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), México
- K. Raffer, Department of Economics, University of Vienna, Austria
- M. Ransdorf, Member of European Parliament, KSCM, Czech Republic
- J. Reis, Economist, Director of the Economics Faculty, Coimbra University, Portugal
- S. Resnick, Economist, UMASS Amherst
- J. Rodrigues, Economist, Centre for Social Studies, Portugal
- H. Ruiz Diaz Balbuena, Docteur en Droit, Ministre Conseiller de la Présidence du Paraguay pour les Relations Internationales
- C. Samary, Economist, Université Paris-Dauphine et Institut d’Etudes Européennes, Paris 8
- A. Sanabria, Economist, Researcher at Universidad Complutense de Madrid
- J. Sapir, Directeur d’étude à l’Ecole des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales et Professeur associé à la Moscow School of Economics (MSE-MGU)
- M. Sawyer, Economist, Leeds University Business School
- J. Saxe-Fernández, Profesor/Investigador Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
- S. Skaperdas, Economist, University of California, Irvine
- E. Stockhammer, Professor of Economics, Kingston University
- D. Suvin, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Professor Emeritus, McGill University
- E. Toussaint, PhD Political Science, Liege University, President CADTM (Belgium)
- P. Vanek, Secrétaire de solidaritéS, ancien député national suisse
- I. Valente, Member of the Brazilian parliament, PSOL, initiator of the parliamentary commission to investigate debt
- N. Villalba, Membre du Conseil Juridique international de la pPésidence de la République du Paraguay
- J. Weeks, Economist, Professor Emeritus, School of Oriental and African Studies
- M. Weisbrot, Economist, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Washington DC
- R. Wolff, Visiting Professor, New School University, New York City
- J. Ziegler, Vice-President of the Advisory Committee of the UN Council of Human Rights
- G. Zimmer, Member of European Parliament, DIE LINKE, Germany
- S. Zizek, Institute for Social Studies, Ljubljana
For more information, visit <www.eurodad.org>.
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