Abstract
In this chapter, we offer a historical analysis of the Greek political market and Greek politicians’ views in particular, on the issue regarding the costs and benefits of Greece’s economy joining the euro area. We used material from various sources (e.g., archives of the Greek Parliament, interviews with prominent politicians of the time, published laws) to present and analyze their view on Greece’s economic possibilities to adjust to such a demanding common-currency environment. This chapter presents the results of this fieldwork. We placed particular emphasis on the 1990–1993 period where a liberal government set an agenda of structural reforms that remains pertinent even today and paved the way for the fiscal adjustment to the Maastricht convergence criteria, so that the economy could join the single currency. Our summary draws from discussions within the Parliament, on important relevant topics, such as the debate preceding the ratification of the Treaty of Maastricht by the Greek Parliament in July 1992 and other key discussions with regard the economic policy of the government. Such are the discussions in the Parliament ahead of the votes for the annual budgets and the inaugural statements on policy from the time the government had started its term, and sought the vote of confidence of the Parliament in the summer of 1990.
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We wish to thank the Constantine Mitsotakis Foundation for the access to its archives. We also thank the former Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis and former Minister Stefanos Manos for their interviews and valuable observations.
References
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Minutes from the Discussion in the Greek Parliament Preceding the Ratification of the Maastricht Treaty. Hellenic Parliament Archives, 1992.
Mitsopoulos, M., and T. Pelagidis. 2012. Understanding the Crisis in Greece: From Boom to Bust. 2nd ed. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Pelagidis, T., and M. Mitsopoulos. 2014. Greece From Exit to Recovery? Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
(a) PM speech, Parliament April 24, 1990, inaugural policy declarations of the new government.
(b) PM speech, Parliament June 22, 1990, discussion of 1990 budget takes place only in the middle of year because of elections.
(c) PM speech, Parliament July 16, 1990.
(d) PM speech, Parliament December 21, 1990, discussion of 1991 budget.
(e) PM speech, Parliament December 20, 1991, discussion of 1992 budget.
(f) PM speech, Parliament January 29, 1992.
(g) PM speech, Parliament December 17, 1992.
(h) PM speech, Parliament December 22, 1992.
(i) PM speech at SEV 20/5/1993.
Government Gazette issues of book “A.”
1990: 101, 124, 127, 138, 142, 143, 147, 157, 163, 178, 186.
1991: 12, 19, 41, 50, 96, 114, 123, 132, 138, 146, 149, 167, 184, 192, 206.
1992: 34, 42, 94, 104, 113, 123, 129, 130, 138, 154, 158, 159, 165, 180, 181.
1993: 15, 24, 48, 57, 62, 88, 109, 118, 127.
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Pelagidis, T., Mitsopoulos, M. (2017). Greece Before the Crisis: The Critical Years in Domestic Politics. In: Who’s to Blame for Greece?. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68336-2_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68336-2_3
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