Page 143 - eplo 2016

The two rst issues of the European Politeia, a bi-annual journal of European law, public affairs and society publishedby the European Public Law Organization under the scienti c supervision of the Greek Center of European Studies and Research (EKEME) of the EPLO, that appeared during the reported period, deal with the themeof the debt crisis, which has revealeddeep economic, institutional and ethical discrepancies affecting the European integration process as a whole.The cohesion of the European Union has been challenged and existing institutional weaknesses have been brought to the surface.European Politeia, 1/2015 In the contextof the aims and scope of this journal, in this rst issue (1/2015), the theme of debt crisis focuses on Greece. Greece, as the most unprepared of all Member States, has been severely hit bythe debt crisis, mainly because of internal structural weaknesses. Notwithstanding such misfortune, Greece has also served as a political experiment for all entities involved; a political body on which new therapies might be tested under conditions of considerable uncertainty as to the appropriateness andcontent of the applicable norms as well as states well able to impose their views on the institutional apparatus of the Union which appeared, for constitutional and conjunctural reasons, to be in retreat, unable to organize a political debate on valid alternatives.In the present issue, two accounts systematically survey the avalanche of the economic and legislative measures taken in Greece in the framework of what is known as a “budgetary adjustment assorted with structural changes”.Three sets of contributions take an interdisciplinary approach, drawing on economic and juridico-political views on the particular issues as de ned within the main target theme for the rst issues.At the outset, the major clash caused,in a state of emergency related to a scal crisis, between the therapies proposed and eventually imposed by the creditors, andthe Constitution of the country hit by sucha crisis, is explored. In a rst vis-à-vis, a parallel is drawn between the institutional and economic shifts which intentionally or accidentally affected the general set-up of the integration process. In a second vis-à- vis, it is examined how responsibilities built on negligence and abstention, or on positive remedial action against great need, strangely interact. The question of Greece’s debt sustainability is examined and a review of four combined actions needed to achieve this is carried out. Finally, the critical background in juridico-political termsagainst which all the particular institutional shifts should be referred, is sketchedout.EUROPEAN POLITEIAwww.eplopublications.euReaders can find information about EPLO Publications and instantly buy them onlineACTIVITY REPORT 2016 143