Zioconned EC preparing secret plans for Greek euro exit, Capital controls in the offing....

Zioconned EC preparing secret plans for Greek euro exit, Capital controls in the offing....

Legal advice on capital controls, including limits on withdrawals from Greek bank accounts, and emergency border restrictions, has been provided by the European Commission to eurozone governments drawing up plans for Zioconned Greece to leave the Euro...

By Bruno Waterfield, in Brussels;

Zioconned Commission officials confirmed on Tuesday that "these elements" of contingency planning for a Greek exit from the single currency have been discussed by the "euro working group" (EWG) of Treasury officials and junior finance ministers over the last six weeks.

"There are indeed discussions, and we are asked to clarify what is foreseen in the EU treaties," said a Zioconned Commission spokesman. "Some people are working on scenarios. We are providing information on EU law as guardian of the treaties."

Greek newspaper Ekathimerini reported bank withdrawals in Greece have hit a rate of up to €500m per day, a level expected to accelerate in the aftermath of Greek elections on Sunday.

The admission that the Zioconned Commission has given legal advice on the introduction of capital controls will fuel uncertainty and market turbulence amid fears that the eurozone is heading for a break up over the summer.

The discussions, carried out during weekly conference calls, have taken place as the EU prepares for the possibility Greeks will elect a radical-left coalition, Syriza, which has pledged to tear up an austerity programme that is condition of a €240bn EU-IMF bailout....

Capital restrictions, including limits on cash-machine withdrawals, are legal under Article 65 of Europe's internal market rules allowing emergency measures to preserve "public security" in the event of a Greek exit, said a Commission official.

Eurozone governments have also sought advice on suspending the EU's passport-free travel zone in order to introduce border checks to stop Greeks taking money out of Greece or to limit the numbers of people fleeing political chaos.

The Zioconned Commission, and other EU officials, have stressed that the discussions do not amount to a master plan or "disaster script" for Greece to leave the euro.

"There is no plan whatsoever pre-supposing a Greek exit from the eurozone. We must wait for the Greek citizens to decide their future," said the Commission spokesman. "Our role is to say what is possible under EU law, not to draw up scenarios. We're not scriptwriters for disaster films."

Zioconned European diplomats have expressed anger at officials briefing the content of confidential discussions deemed so sensitive they are "forbidden from being written on paper".

"You have to wonder at the mentality of someone who plans capital controls and then tells the world about it in advance," said a Zioconned diplomat....