“When it becomes serious, you have to lie”
Jean-Claude Juncker was the PrimeMinister of Luxembourg and the President of the Eurogroup when, on April 20, 2011, he said that Eurozone economic policies should be made in dark secret rooms, away from immediate public scrutiny. To appease easily disgruntled citizens, Juncker said:
“When it becomes serious, you have to lie.”
The quotation became an infamous representation of secretive, dishonest bankers and economic planners. The line is most popular in Europe, but has been infrequently used in the financial press in the United States.
Wikipedia: Jean-Claude Juncker
Jean-Claude Juncker (Luxembourgish pronunciation: [ʒ̊ɑ̃ːkloːd ˈjʊŋ.kɐ]; born 9 December 1954) is the 12th and current President of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU). A Luxembourgish politician, Juncker was Prime Minister of his native country from 1995 to 2013, as well as Minister for Finances from 1989 to 2009. He was the longest-serving head of any national government in the EU, and one of the longest-serving democratically elected leaders in the world, by the time he left office, his tenure encompassing the height of the European financial and sovereign debt crisis. From 2005 to 2013 Juncker served as the first permanent President of the Eurogroup.
EUObserver
Eurogroup chief: ‘I’m for secret, dark debates’
By VALENTINA POP
BRUSSELS, 21. APR 2011, 10:01
Eurozone economic policies should only be conducted in “dark secret rooms”, to prevent dangerous movements in financial markets, the Eurogroup chief said on Wednesday (20 April), adding that he had often lied in his career to prevent the spread of rumours that could feed speculation.
As exists in the case of monetary policy, all economic decisions should now be discussed behind closed doors, he said
(...)
Having served as finance minister and then premier of Luxembourg for the past 22 years, Juncker pointed out that over the course of his career, despite his Catholic upbringing, he often “had to lie” in order not to feed rumours.
Twitter
Pedro Magalhães
@PCMagalhaes
”“When it becomes serious, you have to lie”. Juncker, ao Washington Post: http://wapo.st/lFyAPB
5:18 AM - 4 May 2011
The Wall Street Journal
10:54 am ET May 9, 2011
Luxembourg Lies on Secret Meeting
By CHARLES FORELLE
(...)
The Web site EUobserver has video of Mr. Juncker, at a conference on economic governance in April, expounding on the practice and reasons for lying in financial and economic communications.
On the tape, Mr. Juncker says he has “had to lie” and, speaking about touchy economic topics, “When it becomes serious, you have to lie.”
Zero Hedge
Head Of Eurogroup Admits To Lying About “Secret Greek Meeting” Out Of Fears For Market Collapse - “When It Becomes Serious, You Have To Lie”
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/09/2011 13:54 -0400
On Friday the misinformation floated about the Greek expulsion event hit a fever pitch: while we correctly speculated that nobody would be expelled from the Eurozone, the amount of conflicting info was at an all time record, with glaring inconsistencies between various quoted authoritarians. Now, courtesy of the WSJ blog, we learn that, for the first time in history, a spokesman for Jean Claude Juncker, the PM of Luxembourg, and the head of the Eurogroup council of eurozone finance ministers, admits openly to having lied to media outlets.
Twitter
Paco Bell
@MrWankstein
“When it becomes serious, you have to lie” - a French bankster.
10:55 AM - 10 Aug 2011
The Telegraph (UK)
Jean-Claude Juncker profile: ‘When it becomes serious, you have to lie’
We take a closer look at Luxembourg’s divisive former leader Jean-Claude Juncker, the longest serving veteran of Brussels deal-making
By Bruno Waterfield
10:55AM GMT 12 Nov 2014
If any individual represents the “old Europe” and the wheeling and dealing that led to the flawed euro and the EU constitution it is Jean-Claude Juncker, who is one of the last believers in a federal Europe.
Mr Juncker, 59, was until last December the prime minister of Luxembourg and the EU’s longest serving leader until he was forced to resign last year in a bizarre scandal involving illegal phone tapping by the Grand Duchy’s secret service.
(...)
“When it becomes serious, you have to lie,” he said.
In May 2011, he told a meeting of the federalist European Movement that he often “had to lie” and that eurozone monetary policy should be discussed in “secret, dark debates”.