Our story “OnlyJunckercan save Greece” was widely read and raised many questions. Our Greekfriends were surprised from what they read and could not believe that neitherthe Greekgovernments nor the European Commission acted to stop the Greekcartels during the last thirty years.
Lot of awareness was raised also by two of our otherstories related to the subject, “Greece: no plan, no future” and “The DNA ofvoting Greeks, a parable”
We insist that only Juncker can save Greece, right here and right now, with swiftaction. Just by asking DG Competition to send a team in Athens and stop allcartels thus restore consumer prices of cartelized goods and services to normal.
Indeed, in Greece there is extensive abuse of dominant positions associated withconcerted practices. Enforcement of Community law in Greece will bring a largeamount of cash for the Greek state (from penalties to Greek oligarchs and certainforeign conglomerates) and an immediate reduction of prices from 30% to 50%or more for an extensive range of products and services which include, but it isnot limited to:
Supermarket prices, fruit and vegetables (at local wholesaler level), motorwaytolls (are higher than Italy and must be abolished because there are nomotorways) Airline and car ferry tickets, airport charges (must be reduced fromNarita, Tokyo levels to Barajas, Madrid levels) cement, construction materials,flour (thus bread), banks, fresh milk, fuel oil (diesel and gasoline), etc.
In all these products and services, as they are produced by companiesmaintaining a dominant position in the Greek market, therefore retail pricesmust be related to the production cost and the profit margin should not exceed12%, maximum 15%. Not 300% or even more. To this effect the European Courtof Justice ECJ Case 27/76 United Brands vs. Commission, is explicit:
Charging a price which is excessive because it has no reasonable relation tothe economic value of the product supplied may be an abuse of a dominantposition within the meaning of subparagraph ( a ) of article 86 ; this excesscould , inter alia , be determined objectively if it were possible for it to becalculated by making a comparison between the selling price of the productin question and its cost of production , which would disclose the amount ofthe profit margin .
Charging a price which is excessive because it has no reasonable relation tothe economic value of the product supplied would be such an abuse.
The bitter reality is that one third of the Greeks, ordinary European citizens, areliving in conditions of poverty and starvation, just because the EuropeanCommission is provocatively closing not one but two eyes to the flagrant EU lawviolations of a few oligarchs.
What to us look strange and the new Commission president Jean Claude Juncker should look at is, how comes that his services penalized Microsoft with over onebillion Euro and do not dare to touch the Greek oligarchs.
Some Greeks think that the European Commission is proud, strict anduntouchable when it handles competition investigations against Microsoft andGoogle but it becomes very docile and obedient when it handles Community Lawviolation cases related to northern European major conglomerates. Indeed, manyGreeks think that George Orwell, when wrote in Animal Farm (1945) “Allanimals are equal but some animals are more equal than others,” wasreferring to DG Competition.
Some of my Greek friends claim that Greece is known world wide for two things,the Parthenon and corruption while it is common knowledge that the hands ofthe Greek oligarchs are long.
I do not believe the last claim is valid also for the Commission services, but itdoesn’t matter because I am one of the very few knowing Brussels and theservices well. What count is what the average Greek thinks and the first axiom ofpolitical dynamics, “perceptions are realities.”
http://www.neurope.eu/article/yes-only-juncker-can-save-greece-ii