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The colonization of Greece.

THE SECOND ROUND of fund-raising for Greece, announced this morning, is intended to lower the pressure for a political solution to chronic government overspending and inefficiency. Alas, the Greeks have a reputation for agreeing to demands for fiscal responsibility, then shrugging them off at the first sign of a street-corner crowd.

The solution finance ministers unveiled today is to back up the riot police in Athens with “an enhanced and permanent presence on the ground” of EU bureaucrats. The civilising mission of the colonial power is thus clear: teach the natives how to properly govern themselves.

By MATTHEW DALTON, STEPHEN FIDLER and COSTAS PARIS [Wall Street Journal] – Greece ended months of uncertainty by finally securing a new bailout and debt-restructuring agreement with euro-zone finance ministers, but doubts remain over whether Greece will be able to meet the ambitious terms of the accord.

The finance ministers agreed on the long-awaited €130 billion ($171.9 billion) deal after haggling into the early hours of Tuesday morning to settle the final details.

“The deal is a good result for Greece, for the euro zone and for the markets, we hope,” said Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti after the meeting…

Even with the agreement, economists expect the deal will leave longer-term questions about Greece’s ability to pay off even its reduced debt burden. “There are downside risks. This is clear,” said the IMF’s Ms. Lagarde. “It’s not an easy program. It’s a very ambitious program.”

The problem: The Greek economy must become more competitive through across-the-board wage cuts, allowing the country to export its way back to economic health. But that hoped-for export boom could take years to materialize.

Meanwhile, falling wages will only deepen Greece’s recession, making the government’s debt burden—still large even after the restructuring—harder to bear.

The ministers agreed that the European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, would have “an enhanced and permanent presence on the ground” in Greece to better monitor Greece’s economic performance.

Continued at The Wall Street Journal |

But who will monitor the monitors?

By BRUNO WATERFIELD [Daily Telegraph] – Britain is angry because last year, auditors found that the error rate in the 2010 EU budget had increased to 3.7 per cent, up from 3.2pc in 2009, well above the 2pc level needed for a “positive statement of assurance”.

The audit found that £3.9 billion had been spent against EU rules including “breaches of public procurement rules, ineligible or incorrect calculation of costs claimed to EU co-financed projects or over-declaration of land by farmers”.

”The control systems tested across the EU budget were still only partially effective in ensuring the regularity of payments,” the auditors concluded.

Yesterday was the first time Britain has voted against the EU budget, having abstained last year. Mr Osborne issued a joint statement with the Dutch and Swedes calling on the European Commission to continue to step up its actions to strengthen financial management….

Government fury at EU spending has been fuelled by a Commission proposal to increase Brussels salaries this year by 1.7 per cent, representing an extra £33 million in EU contributions, in the year from July 2011.

”The Commission’s attitude towards EU staff pay adjustments is another clear indicator of its estrangement from reality,” Chloe Smith, the economic secretary to the Treasury told MPs last night. “Any pay increase for EU staff is unacceptable.”

Continued at The Daily Telegraph| More Chronicle & Notices.

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