It was short and rather …painful for Greece as it did not give a breath of liquidity to the cash-drained country. The eurogroup meeting ended with a rather usual statement stating: “There is progress, but..” The first message to Athens came from Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue. He twitted:
#Eurogroup welcomes the progress in talks and intentions of GR auth. to accelerate their work.More time&effort needed to address open issues.”
Then the official statement was issued by the EU Council.
“The Eurogroup today took stock of the state of play with the ongoing negotiations between the Greek authorities and the institutions. We welcomed the progress that has been achieved so far. We note that the reorganisation and streamlining of working procedures has made an acceleration possible, and has contributed to a more substantial discussion. At the same time, we acknowledged that more time and effort are needed to bridge the gaps on the remaining open issues. We therefore welcome the intention of the Greek authorities to accelerate their work with the institutions, with a view to achieving a successful conclusion of the review in a timely fashion.
The Eurogroup reiterated that its statement of 20 February remains the valid framework for the discussions. Once the institutions reach an agreement at staff level on the conclusion of the current review, the Eurogroup will decide on the possible disbursements of the funds outstanding under the current arrangement.”
Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem made a short statement at the press conference.
“Institutions have briefed the Eurogroup on Greece; negotiations have advanced, more time is needed for full agreement.
After the Riga meeting work with Greece is more constructive, more positive and we are making progress faster. However, more time is needed to bridge the gaps and to achieve a comprehensive agreement.
Lots of work to be done to make reforms more detailed. Unless you accept old programme, but Greece not prepared to do that.”
According to EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici, “the gaps” are the pensions, the labor market issues and the social security.
Pierre Moscovici: “Greece has to present alternatives that deliver same economic and budget impacts if they reject certain reforms.”
What is clear is that there is not going to be any disbursement for Greece unless an agreement has been reached.
What is also clear is that both the eurogroup statement as well as the statements of EU-RO officials have been “Boring as promised” – as an internet user commented.
What is unclear is whether Greece will repay the IMF with 750 million euro tomorrow, Tuesday.
UPDATE: According to Reuters, Greece has made the 750-million-euro payment to IMF short after the Eurogroup concluded.
Eurogroup members at 8 pm in Brussels
Somebody wrote to me that he finds “my lack of faith as disturbing!”
