The Influence of the 2012 Restructuring of the Greek Public Debt on the Economic Governance of the Eurozone and on Public Debt Law

Abstract

The Greek public debt restructuring that took place in 2012 through the twin scheme of the Private Sector Involvement (PSI) and the Official Sector Involvement (OSI) has had a major impact on the institutional structure of the EU economic governance. The retroactive introduction of Collective Action Clauses (CACs) into the Greek legal order that formed the legal basis for restructuring was adopted in art. 12 (3) of the ESM Treaty and is now a legal obligation of all Member States. The 2012 intervention was a "workshop" in the fields of European Law, International Economic Law and Public Debt Restructuring Law. The legal structure of the 2012 intervention has successfully undergone multiple judicial reviews (Greek courts, Courts of other EU Member States, CJEU and EGC, ECtHR, ICSID). The Greek operation of 2012 was by far the largest restructuring of public debt and at the same time a restructuring that was carried out with legal certainty, despite the involvement of many legal orders. It is therefore a point of reference for the future.

Keywords: Debt restructuring, Economic conditions, EU law, Eurozone, Greece, Judicial review, National debt

JEL Classification: E, F, G, H6, P