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link: European Council - European Stability Mechanism Treaty (ESM)
direct link to the document in Eng: http://www.european-council.europa.eu/media/582311/05-tesm2.en12.pdf
I shall present here the most disturbing facts about this treaty. The ESM is basically another bank... like the ECB or the IMF, but with more power than the Federal Reserve in the USA. You will see soon enough. As it stands now, sometime next year, this treaty could kick into effect. It should have been this year, but due to legal complications in a few countries, including Germany, it couldn't happen.
The first 2 chapters discuss organization and structure mechanisms, though there is a lot of **** to deal with there, I will strictly go on with the things that bother me the most, starting from chapter 3 -> capital.
Chapter 3 - Capital
art 8.
1.The authorised capital stock shall be EUR 700 000 million. It shall be divided into seven
million shares, having a nominal value of EUR 100 000 each, which shall be available for
subscription according to the initial contribution key provided for in Article 11 and calculated in
Annex I.
4. ESM Members hereby irrevocably and unconditionally undertake to provide their
contribution to the authorised capital stock, in accordance with their contribution key in Annex I.
They shall meet all capital calls on a timely basis in accordance with the terms set out in this Treaty.
art 9.
1. The Board of Governors may call in authorised unpaid capital at any time and set an
appropriate period of time for its payment by the ESM Members.
2. The Board of Directors may call in authorised unpaid capital by simple majority decision to
restore the level of paid-in capital if the amount of the latter is reduced by the absorption of losses
below the level established in Article 8(2), as may be amended by the Board of Governors
following the procedure provided for in Article 10, and set an appropriate period of time for its
payment by the ESM Members.
3. [...] ESM shall have sufficient funds
to meet payments due to creditors in full on their due date. ESM Members hereby irrevocably and
unconditionally undertake to pay on demand any capital call made on them by the
Managing Director pursuant to this paragraph, such demand to be paid within seven days of receipt
all of articles 16, 17 and 18
article 19 states that the board of governors can change said articles whenever they feel like it. In those articles, the ESM can force a country to pay off its debt or duties towards the ESM by the usage of bonds. They could change it in anything the hell they want without having to check anybody.
Oh look, article 22.
ARTICLE 22
Investment policy
1. The Managing Director shall implement a prudent investment policy for the ESM, so as to
ensure its highest creditworthiness, in accordance with guidelines to be adopted and reviewed
regularly by the Board of Directors. The ESM shall be entitled to use part of the return on its
investment portfolio to cover its operating and administrative costs.
2. The operations of the ESM shall comply with the principles of sound financial and
risk management.
See how little it is being written in regards to their duties and obligations with their money? Just to comply with the principles of sound financial and risk management... and there are full pages long articles that talk about their powers and the obligations of ESM members (which is most of the EU) but when it comes to these guys, blank.
moving on, art 25.
1. Losses arising in the ESM operations shall be charged:
(a) firstly, against the reserve fund;
(b) secondly, against the paid-in capital; and
(c) lastly, against an appropriate amount of the authorised unpaid capital, which shall be called in
accordance with Article 9(3).
2. If an ESM Member fails to meet the required payment under a capital call made pursuant to
Article 9(2) or (3), a revised increased capital call shall be made to all ESM Members with a view
to ensuring that the ESM receives the total amount of paid-in capital needed. The Board of
Governors shall decide an appropriate course of action for ensuring that the ESM Member
concerned settles its debt to the ESM within a reasonable period of time. The Board of Governors
shall be entitled to require the payment of default interest on the overdue amount.
3. When an ESM Member settles its debt to the ESM, as referred to in paragraph 2, the excess
capital shall be returned to the other ESM Members in accordance with rules to be adopted by the
Board of Governors.
this pretty much says that the guys in charge can lose money and then ask for bailouts and the ESM members have to do it without asking questions. At least the US Congress has the right to observe and regulate the Federal Reserve, here, ESM members can't even do that.
Moving on... articles 28 and 29 discuss auditing. This will be interesting. I'm sure they have some bulletproof auditing mechanisms in place to make sure they don't squander the money and their duties.
ARTICLE 28
Internal Audit
An internal audit function shall be established according to international standards.
Are you kidding me.. this is all there is on internal auditing? Really? No specifications, nothing?... Well, I'm sure external auditing will be more thorough.
ARTICLE 29
External audit
The accounts of the ESM shall be audited by independent external auditors approved by the Board
of Governors and responsible for certifying the annual financial statements. The external auditors
shall have full power to examine all books and accounts of the ESM and obtain full information
about its transactions
You must be ****ing kidding me... so nobody can audit the ESM without the people in charge of the ESM saying so? You must be ****ing kidding me. Even the Federal Reserve can be forcefully audited by Congress. I mean... the ESM countries just pay the money and then don't have any say in anything? Is this a ****ing joke? Wait, it gets better.
ARTICLE 30
Board of Auditors
1. The Board of Auditors shall consist of five members appointed by the Board of Governors for
their competence in auditing and financial matters and shall include two members from the supreme
audit institutions of the ESM Members - with a rotation between the latter - and one from the
European Court of Auditors.
...
2. The members of the Board of Auditors shall be independent. They shall neither seek nor take
instructions from the ESM governing bodies, the ESM Members or any other public or
private body.
No, they just get appointed by the Board of governors. How the **** are they supposed to be independent? Really? this is a joke.
5. The Board of Governors shall make the annual report accessible to the national parliaments
and supreme audit institutions of the ESM Members and to the European Court of Auditors.
Oh, so at least we will be allowed to read the findings on the auditors who are appointed by the people in charge of the ESM. Great. Thank you, kind overlords.
6. Any matter relating to this Article shall be detailed in the by-laws of the ESM.
So... what? free hand to do whatever they want? It doesn't matter really... they already can change whatever laws they want because other articles say so.
But things don't get really juicy until you reach article 32.
ARTICLE 32
Legal status, privileges and immunities
1. To enable the ESM to fulfil its purpose, the legal status and the privileges and immunities set
out in this Article shall be accorded to the ESM in the territory of each ESM Member. The ESM
shall endeavour to obtain recognition of its legal status and of its privileges and immunities in other
territories in which it performs functions or holds assets.
2. The ESM shall have full legal personality; it shall have full legal capacity to:
(a) acquire and dispose of movable and immovable property;
(b) contract;
(c) be a party to legal proceedings; and
(d) enter into a headquarter agreement and/or protocols as necessary for ensuring that its legal
status and its privileges and immunities are recognised and enforced.
3. The ESM, its property, funding and assets, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall
enjoy immunity from every form of judicial process except to the extent that the ESM expressly
waives its immunity for the purpose of any proceedings or by the terms of any contract, including
the documentation of the funding instruments.
4. The property, funding and assets of the ESM shall, wherever located and by whomsoever
held, be immune from search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation or any other form of seizure,
taking or foreclosure by executive, judicial, administrative or legislative action.
5. The archives of the ESM and all documents belonging to the ESM or held by it, shall
be inviolable.
6. The premises of the ESM shall be inviolable.
7. The official communications of the ESM shall be accorded by each ESM Member and by
each state which has recognised the legal status and the privileges and immunities of the ESM, the
same treatment as it accords to the official communications of an ESM Member.
8. To the extent necessary to carry out the activities provided for in this Treaty, all property,
funding and assets of the ESM shall be free from restrictions, regulations, controls and moratoria of
any nature.
9. The ESM shall be exempted from any requirement to be authorised or licensed as a credit
institution, investment services provider or other authorised licensed or regulated entity under the
laws of each ESM Member.
yes well, if you read all 9 points you will see what the definition of legal immunity is. These guys and the institution they run are perfectly immune to ANYTHING. If they put the ESM stamp on a document that says that all Europeans are morons and then they throw it out on the streets of Luxemburg where their HQ is, you are not allowed to present that as evidence ANYWHERE. But wait, there's more... in art 34, 35 and beyond.
ARTICLE 34
Professional secrecy
The Members or former Members of the Board of Governors and of the Board of Directors and any
other persons who work or have worked for or in connection with the ESM shall not disclose
information that is subject to professional secrecy. They shall be required, even after their duties
have ceased, not to disclose information of the kind covered by the obligation of
professional secrecy.
ARTICLE 35
Immunities of persons
1. In the interest of the ESM, the Chairperson of the Board of Governors, Governors, alternate
Governors, Directors, alternate Directors, as well as the Managing Director and other staff members
shall be immune from legal proceedings with respect to acts performed by them in their official
capacity and shall enjoy inviolability in respect of their official papers and documents.
2. The Board of Governors may waive to such extent and upon such conditions as it determines
any of the immunities conferred under this Article in respect of the Chairperson of the Board of
Governors, a Governor, an alternate Governor, a Director, an alternate Director or the
Managing Director.
3. The Managing Director may waive any such immunity in respect of any member of the staff
of the ESM other than himself or herself.
4. Each ESM Member shall promptly take the action necessary for the purposes of giving effect
to this Article in the terms of its own law and shall inform the ESM accordingly.
Gods on earth these guys are... can't be touched.
ARTICLE 36
Exemption from taxation
1. Within the scope of its official activities, the ESM, its assets, income, property and its
operations and transactions authorised by this Treaty shall be exempt from all direct taxes.
2. The ESM Members shall, wherever possible, take the appropriate measures to remit or refund
the amount of indirect taxes or sales taxes included in the price of movable or immovable property
where the ESM makes, for its official use, substantial purchases, the price of which includes taxes
of this kind.
And there is much more. Please read the entire treaty and if you live in any country that is in Schengen, for your own sake, spread awareness. I mean it... so few people know about this treaty its painful. It will be pushed under the rug as soon as certain legal issues in the countries which aren't compatible Constitutionally with the treaty will be resolved... this includes Germany and a few more. Please, for the sake of european people and Europe itself, publicize this and spread awareness. This is a treaty of slavery.
direct link to the document in Eng: http://www.european-council.europa.eu/media/582311/05-tesm2.en12.pdf
I shall present here the most disturbing facts about this treaty. The ESM is basically another bank... like the ECB or the IMF, but with more power than the Federal Reserve in the USA. You will see soon enough. As it stands now, sometime next year, this treaty could kick into effect. It should have been this year, but due to legal complications in a few countries, including Germany, it couldn't happen.
The first 2 chapters discuss organization and structure mechanisms, though there is a lot of **** to deal with there, I will strictly go on with the things that bother me the most, starting from chapter 3 -> capital.
Chapter 3 - Capital
art 8.
1.The authorised capital stock shall be EUR 700 000 million. It shall be divided into seven
million shares, having a nominal value of EUR 100 000 each, which shall be available for
subscription according to the initial contribution key provided for in Article 11 and calculated in
Annex I.
4. ESM Members hereby irrevocably and unconditionally undertake to provide their
contribution to the authorised capital stock, in accordance with their contribution key in Annex I.
They shall meet all capital calls on a timely basis in accordance with the terms set out in this Treaty.
art 9.
1. The Board of Governors may call in authorised unpaid capital at any time and set an
appropriate period of time for its payment by the ESM Members.
2. The Board of Directors may call in authorised unpaid capital by simple majority decision to
restore the level of paid-in capital if the amount of the latter is reduced by the absorption of losses
below the level established in Article 8(2), as may be amended by the Board of Governors
following the procedure provided for in Article 10, and set an appropriate period of time for its
payment by the ESM Members.
3. [...] ESM shall have sufficient funds
to meet payments due to creditors in full on their due date. ESM Members hereby irrevocably and
unconditionally undertake to pay on demand any capital call made on them by the
Managing Director pursuant to this paragraph, such demand to be paid within seven days of receipt
all of articles 16, 17 and 18
article 19 states that the board of governors can change said articles whenever they feel like it. In those articles, the ESM can force a country to pay off its debt or duties towards the ESM by the usage of bonds. They could change it in anything the hell they want without having to check anybody.
Oh look, article 22.
ARTICLE 22
Investment policy
1. The Managing Director shall implement a prudent investment policy for the ESM, so as to
ensure its highest creditworthiness, in accordance with guidelines to be adopted and reviewed
regularly by the Board of Directors. The ESM shall be entitled to use part of the return on its
investment portfolio to cover its operating and administrative costs.
2. The operations of the ESM shall comply with the principles of sound financial and
risk management.
See how little it is being written in regards to their duties and obligations with their money? Just to comply with the principles of sound financial and risk management... and there are full pages long articles that talk about their powers and the obligations of ESM members (which is most of the EU) but when it comes to these guys, blank.
moving on, art 25.
1. Losses arising in the ESM operations shall be charged:
(a) firstly, against the reserve fund;
(b) secondly, against the paid-in capital; and
(c) lastly, against an appropriate amount of the authorised unpaid capital, which shall be called in
accordance with Article 9(3).
2. If an ESM Member fails to meet the required payment under a capital call made pursuant to
Article 9(2) or (3), a revised increased capital call shall be made to all ESM Members with a view
to ensuring that the ESM receives the total amount of paid-in capital needed. The Board of
Governors shall decide an appropriate course of action for ensuring that the ESM Member
concerned settles its debt to the ESM within a reasonable period of time. The Board of Governors
shall be entitled to require the payment of default interest on the overdue amount.
3. When an ESM Member settles its debt to the ESM, as referred to in paragraph 2, the excess
capital shall be returned to the other ESM Members in accordance with rules to be adopted by the
Board of Governors.
this pretty much says that the guys in charge can lose money and then ask for bailouts and the ESM members have to do it without asking questions. At least the US Congress has the right to observe and regulate the Federal Reserve, here, ESM members can't even do that.
Moving on... articles 28 and 29 discuss auditing. This will be interesting. I'm sure they have some bulletproof auditing mechanisms in place to make sure they don't squander the money and their duties.
ARTICLE 28
Internal Audit
An internal audit function shall be established according to international standards.
Are you kidding me.. this is all there is on internal auditing? Really? No specifications, nothing?... Well, I'm sure external auditing will be more thorough.
ARTICLE 29
External audit
The accounts of the ESM shall be audited by independent external auditors approved by the Board
of Governors and responsible for certifying the annual financial statements. The external auditors
shall have full power to examine all books and accounts of the ESM and obtain full information
about its transactions
You must be ****ing kidding me... so nobody can audit the ESM without the people in charge of the ESM saying so? You must be ****ing kidding me. Even the Federal Reserve can be forcefully audited by Congress. I mean... the ESM countries just pay the money and then don't have any say in anything? Is this a ****ing joke? Wait, it gets better.
ARTICLE 30
Board of Auditors
1. The Board of Auditors shall consist of five members appointed by the Board of Governors for
their competence in auditing and financial matters and shall include two members from the supreme
audit institutions of the ESM Members - with a rotation between the latter - and one from the
European Court of Auditors.
...
2. The members of the Board of Auditors shall be independent. They shall neither seek nor take
instructions from the ESM governing bodies, the ESM Members or any other public or
private body.
No, they just get appointed by the Board of governors. How the **** are they supposed to be independent? Really? this is a joke.
5. The Board of Governors shall make the annual report accessible to the national parliaments
and supreme audit institutions of the ESM Members and to the European Court of Auditors.
Oh, so at least we will be allowed to read the findings on the auditors who are appointed by the people in charge of the ESM. Great. Thank you, kind overlords.
6. Any matter relating to this Article shall be detailed in the by-laws of the ESM.
So... what? free hand to do whatever they want? It doesn't matter really... they already can change whatever laws they want because other articles say so.
But things don't get really juicy until you reach article 32.
ARTICLE 32
Legal status, privileges and immunities
1. To enable the ESM to fulfil its purpose, the legal status and the privileges and immunities set
out in this Article shall be accorded to the ESM in the territory of each ESM Member. The ESM
shall endeavour to obtain recognition of its legal status and of its privileges and immunities in other
territories in which it performs functions or holds assets.
2. The ESM shall have full legal personality; it shall have full legal capacity to:
(a) acquire and dispose of movable and immovable property;
(b) contract;
(c) be a party to legal proceedings; and
(d) enter into a headquarter agreement and/or protocols as necessary for ensuring that its legal
status and its privileges and immunities are recognised and enforced.
3. The ESM, its property, funding and assets, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall
enjoy immunity from every form of judicial process except to the extent that the ESM expressly
waives its immunity for the purpose of any proceedings or by the terms of any contract, including
the documentation of the funding instruments.
4. The property, funding and assets of the ESM shall, wherever located and by whomsoever
held, be immune from search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation or any other form of seizure,
taking or foreclosure by executive, judicial, administrative or legislative action.
5. The archives of the ESM and all documents belonging to the ESM or held by it, shall
be inviolable.
6. The premises of the ESM shall be inviolable.
7. The official communications of the ESM shall be accorded by each ESM Member and by
each state which has recognised the legal status and the privileges and immunities of the ESM, the
same treatment as it accords to the official communications of an ESM Member.
8. To the extent necessary to carry out the activities provided for in this Treaty, all property,
funding and assets of the ESM shall be free from restrictions, regulations, controls and moratoria of
any nature.
9. The ESM shall be exempted from any requirement to be authorised or licensed as a credit
institution, investment services provider or other authorised licensed or regulated entity under the
laws of each ESM Member.
yes well, if you read all 9 points you will see what the definition of legal immunity is. These guys and the institution they run are perfectly immune to ANYTHING. If they put the ESM stamp on a document that says that all Europeans are morons and then they throw it out on the streets of Luxemburg where their HQ is, you are not allowed to present that as evidence ANYWHERE. But wait, there's more... in art 34, 35 and beyond.
ARTICLE 34
Professional secrecy
The Members or former Members of the Board of Governors and of the Board of Directors and any
other persons who work or have worked for or in connection with the ESM shall not disclose
information that is subject to professional secrecy. They shall be required, even after their duties
have ceased, not to disclose information of the kind covered by the obligation of
professional secrecy.
ARTICLE 35
Immunities of persons
1. In the interest of the ESM, the Chairperson of the Board of Governors, Governors, alternate
Governors, Directors, alternate Directors, as well as the Managing Director and other staff members
shall be immune from legal proceedings with respect to acts performed by them in their official
capacity and shall enjoy inviolability in respect of their official papers and documents.
2. The Board of Governors may waive to such extent and upon such conditions as it determines
any of the immunities conferred under this Article in respect of the Chairperson of the Board of
Governors, a Governor, an alternate Governor, a Director, an alternate Director or the
Managing Director.
3. The Managing Director may waive any such immunity in respect of any member of the staff
of the ESM other than himself or herself.
4. Each ESM Member shall promptly take the action necessary for the purposes of giving effect
to this Article in the terms of its own law and shall inform the ESM accordingly.
Gods on earth these guys are... can't be touched.
ARTICLE 36
Exemption from taxation
1. Within the scope of its official activities, the ESM, its assets, income, property and its
operations and transactions authorised by this Treaty shall be exempt from all direct taxes.
2. The ESM Members shall, wherever possible, take the appropriate measures to remit or refund
the amount of indirect taxes or sales taxes included in the price of movable or immovable property
where the ESM makes, for its official use, substantial purchases, the price of which includes taxes
of this kind.
And there is much more. Please read the entire treaty and if you live in any country that is in Schengen, for your own sake, spread awareness. I mean it... so few people know about this treaty its painful. It will be pushed under the rug as soon as certain legal issues in the countries which aren't compatible Constitutionally with the treaty will be resolved... this includes Germany and a few more. Please, for the sake of european people and Europe itself, publicize this and spread awareness. This is a treaty of slavery.
