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This entry was posted on July 11, 2015 at 15:37.
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BRUSSELS – It’s a weekend of negotiations distressing, in a desperate attempt to save Greece and avoid the exit of the country from the euro zone, with unpredictable consequences for the monetary union as a whole. In the evening it was still an ongoing Eurogroup began in the afternoon. In a few hours there will be a summit of heads of state and government of the euro area. In dramatic crisis appears trust between Athens and its partners, despite the efforts that the country is doing anything to snatch new essential financial support.
In the afternoon, the finance ministers of the euro zone They gathered here in Brussels to discuss the analysis that the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund have made the economic policy proposals presented Thursday by the government Tsipras. At stake is a three-year plan for new aid for a total of 74 billion euro. The assessment of the three institutions has been cautiously positive, but not fully convincing.
“We have not yet – said the Chairman of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem, before the meeting -: both on the substance, in terms of fiscal policy and economic reforms, both in terms of the trust, which He has been deeply undermined. This is a real problem (…) there are many concerns among ministers. A meeting will be particularly difficult. ” So it was: in the late evening the meeting was still in progress, marked by growing resentment and mistrust.
Arriving here in Brussels, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said that the negotiations between the ministers will be “exceptionally difficult”, that the Greek proposals “are not enough”, and that “the gap funding is very high. ” Deputy Minister of Finance Dutch Eric Wiebes was explicit: “Many governments, including my own, have serious doubts on the commitment of the greek government and its ability to adopt” the proposed reforms. Athens has already received loans to about 240 billion euro.
The German press reported yesterday a document from the Ministry of Finance in Berlin which provides two scenarios. The first is based on a very strict agreement for Greece, with the creation of a fund in which the country would pay 50 billion euro of assets as collateral. The plan provides for unspecified spending cuts automatic. The second scenario would be based instead on a temporary Grexit five years. The leak was a way to keep pressure on Athens.
From Helsinki in return voice came in the evening that Finland would be prepared to veto a third package for Greece. He explained before the meeting Edward Scicluna, the Maltese Minister of Finance: “We have to solve a mismatch occurs between the new government’s proposals Tsipras, which go beyond what has been discussed so far, and the political platform with which the government was elected in January. In other words we must be sure that the promised reforms are adopted. “
In the 13-page document sent by the greek government to the three institutions and on” Priority actions and commitments “, Athens is committed on many of the measures proposed by the creditors on June 26 and rejected by the Greeks in a referendum on Sunday. The problem is that then the package was intended to get 7.2 billion euro from the memorandum expired in late June. Today, the greek government proposes something relatively similar for more than 70 billion in three years.
The meeting was intended to governments to make a first assessment of the memorandum, and give the green light to a real negotiations in view of a new program. Times are tight. Greece is in clear financial difficulty, and banks are close to collapse. In the absence of agreement to the Eurogroup, the dossier will go today to the Heads of State and Government of the euro area that are due to meet in the afternoon always here in Brussels.
The look between yesterday and today is all about Germany. Is not the only country to be doubtful against Greece, indeed; but it is certainly the most important. Berlin is torn between the awareness of the reputational damage caused by a Grexit and the feeling that the permanence of the country in the euro undermines the credibility of the union. In deciding, the Merkel government will see if it is ready to take responsibility for a Grexit. The large countries is the only flirting with the possibility.
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