The evidence suggests that he wants to be an unperson
At the European Commission’s website, there is an entry called About Maarten Verwey, and it lists his personal details as follows:
Even a passing acquaintance with European languages would’ve told is this; but it was all Verwey was prepared to give away about himself. His move from being a bureaucrat at the Dutch Finance Ministry under the nincompoop Jeroan Drivelbollocks to the EC was recorded thus:
Commission appoints DG Ecfin deputy director-general
4/5/11, 9:44 AM CET Maarten Verwey moves from Dutch finance ministry to the Commission.
The European Commission has today appointed Maarten Verwey, director of foreign financial relations at the Dutch finance ministry, as a deputy director-general in the economic and financial affairs department. He will take up his new duties on 1 September.
That was it: Marteen Verwey has the capacity for movement. He is not quadriplegic. But he is either devoid of anything interesting in his life and career, or he has something to hide. Let’s see what’s been reported about him in the past, over which he has (as yet) no control.
First up, Marty was one of the original scopers-out of the eurobog-paper formerly known as EMU. This might explain why he is known among such associates as he has as “a cold fanatic” when it comes to the survival of the euro. He first displayed this dimension during the heist of the Cypriot banking sector, and subsequent psychotic destruction of Cyprus’s economy. In June 2013, media reports (later confirmed) recorded that:
‘…the troika of international lenders has advised Cyprus against plans to have the government share responsibility for bank resolution measures along with the Central Bank. In an email, European Commission official Maarten Verwey said the troika – European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund – was “considerably surprised” on learning that Cypriot legislators were yesterday due to discuss an amendment to the current Resolution Law introducing the [Cypriot] finance minister as co-Resolution Authority….’
When it comes to power, grey technocrats like Verwey are not good at sharing. His email continued (my emphases):
“….the memorandum of understanding between Cyprus and the troika states that the Central Bank of Cyprus is the single resolution authority for banks and cooperative credit institutions alike. Although there may be some benefits in broader sharing of responsibility for resolution in Cyprus – and despite the fact that the troika is not in principle unfavourable to a frank discussion in this matter – it is fundamental that if Cyprus is to introduce laws that are explicitly contradictory to the MoU, they are introduced after appropriate consultation and with consent of the troika.”
In short, we have chopped off your sovereigns, so do as you are told.
Now the the illegally formed and self-styled ‘eurogroupe’ has done the same to Greece, who better to choose as the crypto-Gauleiter than Maarten Verwey? For did he not have the gall following the rape of Cyprus to address an international symposium on how his day-job employer, the European Investment Bank (EIB) would be there to help Cyprus rebuild after its unfortunate spell of madness?
Yes, Verwey also works for the EIB. His Commission cv conveniently omits to mention this part of Maarten’s double life, but the Fund behind which the bank sits (the EIF) shows this clearly. The EIB site says that the bank is ‘part of the EU family’ (bless) and ‘is the European Union’s bank. We are the only bank owned by and representing the interests of the European Union Member States. We work closely with other EU institutions to implement EU policy’.
But here’s an oddity – follow that link above, and you will see that the ECB is not on the list:
It’s all rather strange, but then the EU works in mysterious ways, its blunders to perform.
Verwey speaks quite regularly at conferences, but does not publish his words. Almost every link to him contains that Orwellian phrase, ‘some of the entries here have been removed’. The bloke is not so much low profile as no profile: Googling ‘articles by Maarten Verwey’ reveals nothing – not a single tract.
But here too, occasionally this eminence grise gets caught out actually saying something. When he does, it almost always comprises the great Troika Catch 22: “Since we rescued you, your economy seems to have gone tits-up, and so we are concerned to help you”.
For example, regarding Cyprus, here we see ‘… the European Commission’s Maarten Verwey conveyed the lenders’ concerns over the size of private debt and of delinquent loans, a permanent danger looming over the banks….’. All very well, but the Troika’s actions did the damage….just as it did by undermining the Greek economy from the moment Syriza was elected.
Mr Verwey likes anonimity. As regards his private life, good for him: it’s none of our business. But even for a bureaucrat, he appears to be a determined censor of himself. Perhaps he would like one day to step off the whirlygig and be untraceable. Both Bormann and Eichmann had the same ambition.
But all this – in the context of a second victory for Alexis Tsipras – does beg the same question as I posed yesterday: as Maarten Verwey and his ilk don’t GAF about democratic sovereignty, what on Earth was the point of the Greek election? Syriza has the majority of votes…but a near-invisible Dutch eunatic has 100% of the power.
There’s nothing I’d like better than for Tsipras to now pull a stroke neutering Verwey. But I’m not holding my breath.
Yesterday at The Slog: Moody’s downgrade of France, and Buffett’s less than level playing-field
The Slog 