IS INSTITUTIONALIZED THEFT THE ONLY WAY OUT OF THE EUROPEAN CRISIS? The European Commission is preparing the confiscation of the savings of the population

Did you think we would get away with just the bank bail-in, dear readers? Well, no! Amid the lack of reaction from citizens when it comes to the arbitrary measures adopted by the European authorities and the lack of results in the fight against the crisis, the latter have deemed further measures necessary.

Press agency Reuters has obtained a working document of the European Commission, which writes that "the savings of 500 million citizens can be used to finance long-term investments". It's all justified, of course, through the need for economic growth, but also by "filling the deficit of bank funding". Nowhere in the article is it stated that the involvement of the citizens in this measure is voluntary.

"The economic and financial crisis has affected the ability of the financial sector to channel funds into the real economy, in particular through long-term investments," the EC document reads.

But why aren't banks carrying out their role? Because they are undercapitalized and no one really knows the size of the portfolios of non-performing loans. Then there is also the uncertainty of investors, who don't even know what is going to happen tomorrow, given a flurry of fiscal changes and of another nature. Given all these factors, how can they make long term investments, when competitive pressure is the least of their worries?

The analysts of Pimco, one of the largest investment funds in the world, wrote, as early as the summer of 2012, that "a second wave of capital outflows affects the core of the Eurozone". "After the first phase of the crisis, investors have shifted the capital from the outskirts of the euro to the core, they are now moving their funds away from the entire Eurozone", the study by Pimco writes.

The only constant of the business sector in Europe seems to only be the arbitrary of unpredictable decisions of the authorities, which are still convinced that they can cautiously plan the path for exiting the crisis, to avoid any fundamental change.

As bank deposits have been already "tagged" to be used for the saving of the banks, what are the sources that the European Commission has turned its attention to? The citizens' retirement funds. "The Commission will ask for the opinion of the regulator of the insurance market for the drafting of a new law", the article by Reuters also writes, the objective of which is "the mobilization of the savings of the pension funds for long term financing".

Mobilizing! Such a pretty word, loaded, without doubt, with the uplifting feeling of European patriotism, now called to fight against the crisis. I am sure that the envy of Joseph Goebbels and the propagandists of the former communist regimes in the Eastern block would know no bounds, especially since the illusion of democracy has been prolonged despite the right to a referendum being denied.

Aside from the preparation of the new laws, the European Commission will complete, by the end of the year, a study concerning "the introduction of a European savings account for individuals, with the resulting funds to be invested in the small firms", as Reuters also writes.

Will these accounts also be rewarded with interest rates as close to zero? Are the authorities that blind, that they can't see that the main reason behind the decapitalization and the deficit of capital in Europe is precisely the fact that savers are being "punished" of saving, through the measures adopted by the European Central Bank?

But does any of that matter, when the ECB has become the all-powerful institution of Europe? An article recently published by the Financial Times shows that "the reactions to the decision of the Constitutional Court of Germany emphasize the power of the ECB", as the markets seem to feel that the "new normal" can function just fine without abiding by the laws, especially when it comes to constitutional clauses.

It is hard to believe that the blame for this lies with the short-sightedness of the authorities. Rather, it is all about the primordial interest of defending the privileges that the European politicians have become accustomed to.

This statement is also supported by other provisions of the new draft laws. Thus, the new European Commission will also revise the regulations concerning the financial instruments resulting from the securitization, with the goal being to "make the definition of eligible assets more lax". This increase in laxness is nothing but a new lifeline thrown to the financial institutions, faced with additional restrictions concerning the liquidity of the assets in their portfolios.

Do you remember how the crisis came about? Precisely through the flawed valuation of the value and the liquidity of the portfolios of banking assets, amid the extremely lax monetary policies promoted by the central banks. How can this contradiction be construed? Is the way for escaping the crisis similar to that which caused it to begin?

But that is not all. The "best" part comes at the end of the article published by Reuters: "The Commission will also consider the adequacy of the evaluation of assets based on the market price, especially for long term investments". Yes, you read that right! The reality and the market valuations appear to no longer be "adequate", and the European authorities are proposing the introduction of new global accounting regulations.

Perhaps the new proposals of the European Commission will get plenty of coverage in the continental press, especially after the elections of May 2014, but without any guarantee of an open and objective debate. Until then, the illusion of the economic recovery must be kept up at all costs.

Then, with maximum celerity, the creation of the "legal" framework of "collectivization" of what will be left of the Europeans' savings, and the generalized welfare will be marked by popular effusions which will reverberate for millennia.