2 Aug 2012

E.U. Crisis: Brussels Corruption Gravy Train Rules OK. Freedom is Just Another Word...


It is this time of the year our leaders take off for August holidays. The citizens are left alone with recreational rioting or violence of sorts. Lazy hazy commentators are free to help fill this void with unlimited imaginative speculation. So here we go.
After Mario Draghi's bravado announcement to “Save the Euro with whatever it takes,” its now the turn of Italy's Mario Monti to pitch his 5 cents worth.

Described by the London Daily Telegraph as the De Facto Prime Minister of the Eurozone Latin Block, this unelected official has Rome in his pocket and hoping to soon bag Madrid. But who are these guys who run or say they run Europe.

The Good the Bad and the yet to arrive. Ten champions of the people
or merely Capos to a corrupt institution.
History will judge: 2012 
The story goes back to 1999. Jaques Santer, a former Luxembourg prime minister, had 20 people in his commission. Some of his crew of wiseguys were into fraud and corruption. They got caught out. This famous story was highlighted through one former prime minister of France, Edith Cresson, who was accused of nepotism. She gave her dentist a plum job in her department and he salted a pile of dosh.

After the mass resignation none of the crew was found guilty of any criminal behaviour. All got to keep their gold plated pensions with benefits.

The affair was investigated and a report was produced on March 15, 1999. Presented to the Commission and Parliament, it largely cleared most members, aside from Cresson, but concluded that there was growing reluctance of the Commissioners to acknowledge any guilt and that "It was becoming increasingly difficult to find anyone who had the slightest sense of responsibility."

What a game these technocrats were able to play with European Democracy. So where are these wiseguys today.

Edith Cresson, is off the map as are most of the (innocent) crew who included local names such as Neil Kinnock, Padraig Flynn (later disgraced) and Leon Brittan. Some retired, some went back to work and some have passed away.

But some top fatcats from this wiseguys commission who gave the orders and ran operations are still about.

Erkki Liianen, then in charge of Budgets Personnel and Administration went on to become the Governor of the Bank of Finland. He is also Member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank and Governor of the International Monetary Fund for Finland

Jaques Santer, capo de capo of the commission was recently rehabilitated and reinstated as head the Special Purpose Investment Vehicle. In effect a fund raising body for the E.U. This action was described by a UK politician as “Putting Dracula in charge of a blood bank. “

But the most grandiose part of the story is the appointment of
Mario Monti, the man for Internal Market, Customs and Taxation who runs Italy, not just a bank or a fund raising board but an entire country and De Facto Prime Minister of the Eurozone Latin Block.
You couldn't make it up....makes me want to read some real fiction..............It was a hazy sunrise in August.......