At the time of writing, prior to the referendum result in Greece being known, an unreal atmosphere pervades Brussels as it swelters beneath Mediterranean skies and those working in government and public affairs struggle to come to terms with the potential ramifications for the rest of Europe stemming from Alexis Tsipras’ shock announcement to call a referendum last weekend.
The adjective "momentous" is one much overused by political journalists but this week has been an exception to that rule. Events unfolding this week in Athens and Brussels around the long heralded Grexit, truly have been momentous. Developments are unfolding at such a breakneck pace that the media is having problems keeping up with reporting them as the opposing parties brief and counter-brief against one another as blame is attributed as to who bears ultimate responsibility for the negotiations breaking down.
It’s fair to say that most people in the Brussels village hope that the Greek people ignore their Prime Minister’s exhortations to return a "No" vote but sadly that’s only so much wishful thinking. Time and again since Syriza was elected by the Greek people, it seems that Brussels, the ECB, the IMF and Berlin have consistently misread the coffee grinds when it comes to second guessing Greece and its government. When on Monday of this week the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, announced that he would travel to Greece to personally campaign for a ‘’Yes’’ vote, one couldn’t help but feel that Brussels still does not quite get it.
For now, the spectacle of a fast approaching Grexit has knocked talk of a possible Brexit off of the Brussels agenda but everyone within the Brussels Bubble knows that the respite is only temporary and more uncertainty lies ahead just around the corner. This week, the only game in town until next Sunday evening will be predicting the result of the 5th July Greek referendum. Whatever the result of either referenda, what does it say about the current state of the EU that the political leadership of two very different member states, feel they have no alternative but to consult their respective peoples on how to define the nature of their countries’ future relationships with the rest of the community? However ambivalent one might feel towards either Syriza or the Tory party, surely something is profoundly amiss at the heart of the EU if it has come to this.
One cannot help but feel sorry for Jean-Claude Juncker when it comes to having to intercede between David Cameron and Alexis Tsipras on the one hand, and the other heads of state on the other. It must be a thankless task. It all takes one back to the heady days of the inauguration of the Juncker Commission last November when the man himself declared that ‘’unless we get things right, we could be presiding over the last ever EU Commission’’. A claim that seemed overblown hyperbole at the time but, in retrospect, now appears perhaps eerily portentous. Let’s hope not.
Whatever one thinks of Jean-Claude Juncker, one cannot deny that the man has tried hard to embrace change since assuming the presidency of the Commission. The condemnatory tone Juncker adopted when delivering his verdict on Alexis Tspiras and his Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis this week behind closed doors to the EPP Group at parliament, whilst not diplomatic was a sincere reflection of the exasperation this old Brussels hand feels in the face of the two "upstarts" deliberate refusal to play the classic Brussels game and at least try to do things by consensus.
One cannot help but feel that something profound has changed in the way business is done in Brussels. Lessons urgently need to be learned from the handling of the unfolding Greek saga if the UK referendum is not to inadvertently end in catastrophy. The advice this Europhile Brit would give Mr Schulz would be to please stay put in Brussels and not cross the Channel to campaign however much his heart might be in the right place.