The Legal Framework for Grekxit

• Autorzy: Krzysztof Jerzy Gruszczyński

Warianty tytułu

Aspekty prawne wyjścia Grecji z UE

• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

The paper analyzes the prospect of Greece exit known as "Grexit" from EU, whereas the Treaties have a specific legal regime on withdrawing - Article 50 TEU which was added to the Treaties by the Treaty of Lisbon1. It confirms the possibility to leave the EU that many (but not all) legal observers believed existed beforehand. No fully-fledged Member State has in fact left the EU before or after the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, although some parts of Member States have done so. Before the Treaty of Lisbon, this was accomplished by means of Treaty amendment. One of the important question is whether would it be possible for Greece to withdrawa notification to leave the EU? Such decision might be interpreted as a warning signal from Greece to other EU institution not to allow politics to prevail over their technical objectives. The departure might also destroy the credibility and effectiveness of the EU system. It indicates that a member state has been unable to express its needs adequately in the organization. In this situation, withdrawal serves as a last resort of Greek government and developing nations. It might be argued that since a notification to withdraw is subject to a Member State's constitutional requirements, the Lisbon Treaty therefore leaves to each Member State the possibility of rescinding that notification in accordance with those requirements. But on the other hand, it could also be easily argued that Article 50 only provides for two possibilities to delay the withdrawal of a Member State from the EU once notification has been given (an extension of the time limit, or a different date in the withdrawal agreement), therefore the notification of withdrawal can't be rescinded. It is argued that there exists no unlimited right of an EU Member State to withdraw from the Union, i.e. without any further prerequisites and simply at the free discretion of the respective Member State, within the confines of its internal (constitutional) law provisions. Instead, the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties does not provide for such a virtually unlimited withdrawal right, but rather sets forth strict limitations for the exercise of a withdrawal right. In the article it will be raised an argument that other Member States and the EU institutions are arguably legally obliged to refuse debt relief for Greece, in accordance with the Treaties' no bail-out rule: as the CJEU said in Pringle2, this rule allows Member States to loan money to Greece in return for conditions and an appropriate rate of interest. But they cannot sim ply assume responsibility for Greek government debts. Forgiving those debts would have the de facto result of assuming them - although it might be possibly argued that the letter (but surely not the spirit) of EMU law would allow this as long as the Greek debts were not formally transferred to the EU institutions or Member States. It must be mention the option that the EU Treaties could be amended to try to regulate the present situation, if necessary with some degree of retroactivity such as a new general power for the Eurozone member states in the Council and/or the European Council to adopt measures to address the legal consequences of Greece departing EMU. To some degree it is possible that the Treaty amendment process would fail due to issues related to Greece. (original abstract)

Nowy art. 50 traktatu z Lizbony po raz pierwszy stanowi, że każde państwo członkowskie, w tym ewentualny Grexit czy też Brexit, może, zgodnie ze swoimi wymogami konstytucyjnymi, podjąć decyzję o wystąpieniu z Unii. Przy czym, traktat przestaje wiązać państwo po dwóch latach od złożenia takiego oświadczenia, chyba że Unia i dane państwo w umowie określą jakiś inny termin. Wyjście Grecji ze strefy euro niewątpliwie doprowadzi do osłabienia euro. "W krótkiej perspektywie zobaczymy spadek wartości wspólnej waluty europejskiej. Natomiast w perspektywie bardziej odległej euro mogłoby zyskać na wyjściu Grecji z unii walutowej, jednakże opuszczenie unii walutowej przez jednego z jej członków nie doprowadzi do rozpadu całej strefy walutowej ale spowodowałoby bankructwo Grecji. Niniejszy artykuł dokonuje analizy wystąpienia Grecji przed wejściem w życie TL oraz opis nowego stanu prawnego, łącznie z problematyką dotyczącą klauzuli wystąpienia. Następnym państwem członkowskim mogącym wystąpić z Unii jest Wielka Brytania, a skutków takiego wyjścia nie można obecnie ocenić. Grexit mógłby polegać na wprowadzeniu drugiej elektronicznej waluty, czyli istniejącej tylko wirtualnie, niedrukowanej. Miałaby mniejszą wartości niż euro, co stymulowałoby odzyskanie konkurencyjności przez kraj. Ekonomista uważa, że grecki bank centralny musiałby zaprzestać emisji banknotów euro i zablokować przepływ tej waluty za granicę. Po trzech latach można by było spodziewać się wzrostu gospodarki Grecji. (abstrakt oryginalny)

Słowa kluczowe

EN

Eurozone; Lisbon Treaty; International agreement; International law

PL

Strefa euro; Traktat lizboński; Umowa międzynarodowa; Prawo międzynarodowe

• Czasopismo: Studia Prawnicze i Administracyjne
• Rocznik: 2016
• Numer: nr 15 (1)
• Strony: 3--15

Twórcy

autor

Krzysztof Jerzy Gruszczyński

• Wyższa Szkoła Menedżerska w Warszawie

Bibliografia

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