Could EU work with Tsipras?

With Alexis Tsipras, the specter dreaded by European officials intent on saving Greece has entered the political stage. He doesn't just want to end the austerity measures imposed in exchange for the country's bailout, he wants to increase social expenditure. His demands make it sound as if he thinks others should permanently finance the country - as though taxpayers in stable northern European countries should just pull out their wallets without question.

The new prime minister will quickly find out that he won't get far with that attitude in Brussels, let alone at the International Monetary Fund in Washington. The IMF has often toyed with the idea of dropping out of the bailout. Its representatives say they don't understand why Greece should be given better conditions than any other country in financial crisis.

Attitude of entitlement

Anyone who has followed the financial rescue policy of the EU in recent years is likely to have made a few other observations. For example, there's the comment of a normally reserved commission spokesperson to a Greek journalist who asked why the EU was asking for such tough budget cuts. The spokesperson responded by asking why Greece spent so much more on a range of social benefits than Portugal, which was in a similar economic situation. His implication was that Greece was behaving in an unsuitably entitled manner.

Speaking of Portugal: That country got on with its consolidation course with much less of a fuss and is now back on its own feet, as is Ireland, another former bankruptcy candidate. At the height of the Greek bailout crisis, a member of the Slovak government complained that his people were being asked to help secure a standard of living in Greece that people in Slovakia could only dream of.

Rejection of the parties of old

That's why Tsipras should expect little sympathy in Brussels. But it would be wrong if the EU were to respond to his unabashed demands by immediately getting confrontational, but not because Tsipras has any special leverage.

The blackmail potential based on the assumption that the European Union would do almost anything to keep Greece is much smaller today than it was a few years ago. No, the reason should be the realization that there could well be common ground, precisely because Tsipras is a leftist tribune of the people and has channeled popular hatred of the two traditional political parties.

Pasok and New Democracy have ruined the country with 40 years of political patronage, corruption and economic mismanagement. Tsipras' rise is their fall. He won the election not just because of his anti-austerity program, but because he wants to put an end to the old political system.

An end to politics as usual

This represents a new point of departure for the EU. Members of the troika meant to be accompanying the Greeks during their austerity and reform program have also had to reach the sober conclusion that, following years of work, there is still no effective tax collection system or land registry office. The authorities barely cooperate with each other, and excessive bureaucracy discourages investment. And the issue of fair taxation should be easy prey for a leftist politician like Tsipras!

The richest Greeks haven't once been called on to shoulder the burden of the crisis. Neither the Christian democrats of New Democracy nor the Pasok socialists have dared to take them on. Who's stopping Tsipras from putting an end to this wrongful regard? Certainly not the EU.

Nobody outside Greece is stopping the new head of the government from fighting corruption or from getting the country's administration working. In many cases, the measures needed wouldn't even come at extra cost. In the long term, at least, they would also generate income for the state. Only a political outsider like Tsipras can shake up the country so fundamentally, and therein lies an opportunity.

Further debt cancellation?

The question is: Can he do it, and does he even want to do it? Tsipras will be judged by his actions in this respect. If his only aim is to find a scapegoat abroad for the crisis affecting the Greek people, then he will quickly fail.

It is possible that Greece will need another partial debt cancellation. It's almost certain to get even better repayment conditions as a sort of backdoor debt cancellation. That's something the other Europeans have already signaled agreement with.

But if the country is to avoid having to repeatedly beg for help every few years, it needs thorough structural reform to make it competitive. If Tsipras sees the need for that, then the EU will be able to work together with him. In which case, his electoral victory - that vision of horror for many conservative Europeans - will prove to have been a blessing.