Express — EU officials are seeking a court order for a massive financial crackdown on Greece, which has been driven into third world poverty by EU policies.
They want to impose a six million euro upfront penalty on Greece’s cash-strapped government, to be followed by a daily levy of 34,974 euros.
The reason? Greek ministers used taxpayers money to save the Hellenic Shipyards company in 2008, guaranteeing the jobs of more than a thousand workers. The shipyard was one of the country’s biggest and the government provided a temporary rescue package, before selling it on to a German company, in a case echoing Britain’s bid to save the Port Talbot steelworks.
But, despite Greece’s dire economic situation, bureaucrats at the EU Commission decided to take the elected Greek government to court, arguing that the state aid was illegal under Brussels law.
Following a series of cases before the European Court of Justice the Commission is now hammering home the judgements and demanding a massive financial penalty.
Under the terms they are seeking Greece will be required to pay 34,974 euros to Brussels every day until it has recouped all of the 250 million euros it used to bail out Hellenic Shipyards.
The Commission said in a statement: “More than seven years after its adoption, Greece still has not implemented the Commission decision of June 2008, ordering the recovery of over 250 million euros of unlawful state aid to Hellenic Shipyards.”
The decision to pursue the case is likely to spark anger in a country which has been devastated by EU financial policies, with youth unemployment standing at over 50 per cent and and a shocking report by its Ministry of Labour revealing that 126,000 of those who are in work are taking home less than 100 euros a month.
Just under 350,000 Greek workers now take home between 100 and 400 euros a month – the equivalent of £80-£330 – after joblessness rocketed and salaries collapsed.
Euroscepticism is already on the rise in impoverished Greece, with German chancellor Angela Merkel having become a figure of hate in many parts of the country.
Germany has forced the Greek government to carry out devastating austerity cuts as part of punitive financial conditions attached to a series of controversial bailout packages.
And the country, already stretched to breaking point, has had to bear the brunt of the migrant crisis which was sparked when Mrs Merkel publicly rolled out the red carpet to all populations in the the Middle East.
