The Greek government has committed to far-reaching spending cuts of 1.5% of its output (BBC). Greece has also pledged to cut the minimum wage and make labor markets more flexible. Greece also introduced a new property tax and suspended 30,000 part-paid civil servants (BBC). These measures were deeply unpopular among the Greek people and led to a wave of paralyzing protests and strikes (BBC). In Italy, they have increased healthcare rates and cut regional subsidies, tax benefits for families and pensions for high earners. Italy has also cut public sector pay and frozen recruitment of new employees (BBC). The new plan involves replacing only one employee for every five who leave. In the Irish Republic, public spending has been cut by 4 billion euros (BBC). All public employee salaries were cut by at least 5% and social welfare reduced. Furthermore, benefits for children have been cut and police stations have been closed (BBC). In Portugal, the government introduced a 5% pay cut for the highest earners in the public sector and income tax increases for the highest earners (BBC). The budget for the armed forces was also cut and there was widespread privatisation. Following these cuts, public sector workers staged a massive protest against these measures (BBC). In Spain, civil servants' salaries were frozen and departmental budgets reduced by 16.9%. As a result of these cuts, there is