This site is for archive purposes. Please visit www.eliamep.gr for latest updates
Go to Top

How Portugal’s leaders exploited the bail out to pass measures they already supported

Moury, Catherine, Standring, Adam, (2017), “How Portugal’s leaders exploited the bail out to pass measures they already supported”, EUROPP, Μάιος

We recently conducted both an analysis of official statements and interviews with many of the main political actors that were in power during the sovereign debt crisis in Portugal (2010-2015). Our research highlights that both the crisis and the bailout made the executive stronger in relation to other domestic actors. Consequently, when Portuguese ministers favoured policies that were in congruence with those supported by international actors, they were able to use the crisis to advance their own agenda.

In 2011, Portugal received a bailout that was tied to a series of spending cuts and other reforms. But even before the bailout, the country’s centre-left government, led by José Sócrates, had taken advantage of the pressure on sovereign bonds and the perceived need to ‘calm the markets’ to see off their domestic opponents and implement a number of reforms that had already been on the agenda for some time.

Σχετικές Αναρτήσεις