Greece’s Trouble with European Union Accession
This article argues that although Greek membership has produced results in terms of democratization and political stability, the Greek economy has not fared as well despite large infusions of EU sums. The main reasons for this outcome are: 1) institutional divergence between Greece and its European...
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| Publicat a: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cdlm, |
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| Autors principals: | , |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
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Cahiers de la Méditerranée
2016
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| Accés en línia: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Sumari: | This article argues that although Greek membership has produced results in terms of democratization and political stability, the Greek economy has not fared as well despite large infusions of EU sums. The main reasons for this outcome are: 1) institutional divergence between Greece and its European partners; 2) lack of Greek administrative capacity; and 3) the inability to come up with a concrete vision of what Greece’s membership would mean for the country. We argue that in adapting to the European acquis the Greeks paid more attention to the letter of the law than to the spirit. For domestic political reasons, administrative reforms never really took hold and were put off by successive governments. Finally, the post-democratization culture was pushed forward by a political party that did not buy into EU membership (at least initially) and that for domestic reasons co-opted its democratic partners into building a welfare state the country could not afford. The Greek case illustrates the point that without a robust economic plan stemming from membership, democratization may succeed but membership will ultimately fail. |
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