This one-time tax on legitimate savings is an outrageous attack. The persistence of a wrong approach on the crisis by the majority of EU conservative governments risks destroying people’s confidence in the EU.
©European Greens - The Eurogroup aggressive gestures risks destabilising the Cyprus banking system.
“The proposals from the Eurogroup are not an intelligent way of handling the problems with Cyprus’s economy, and a far from intelligent way of treating the people of Cyprus,” said EGP Committee member Steve Emmott. “We stand firmly with the Cypriot people and echo the concerns of the Cypriot Green Party: These measures do not guarantee the salvation of Cyprus’s economy.”
“While it is clear that a bailout is necessary to protect Cyprus from eventual bankruptcy, the tax on bank deposits will risk destabilising the complete structure of the Cypriot banking system, and is an aggressive gesture by the Eurogroup to the population of Cyprus,” commented Monica Frassoni, EGP co-Chair. “Some sort of tax must be laid on the banking system – even Cypriot president Nicos Anastasiades has acknowledged this. The huge amount of Russian money passing through means it is bloated and unsustainable. This one-time tax on legitimate savings is an outrageous attack. Savers in the EU are guaranteed that deposits up to €100,000 are safe regardless how unsafe their bank. The persistence of a wrong approach on the crisis by the majority of EU conservative governments risks destroying people’s confidence in the EU.
“Tough decisions need to be made if they want to repair their public finances and ward off bankruptcy. The Greens have long advocated for the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) as a way to generate revenue from the financial sector. We would welcome it if Cyprus would join the enhanced cooperation on the introduction of an FTT.”
The Green Party of Cyprus has also issued a statement. It can be read here.
