Finance ministers from the 19 countries that use the euro were meeting in Brussels on Saturday to discuss Greece’s latest economic reform proposals, but several stressed they were looking for further reassurances.
“Extraordinarily difficult talks lie ahead,” the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, said as he arrived for the meeting. He said the Greek government would have to do a lot more than just say it wanted to reform if it was going to receive the requested bailout . “We will definitely not be able to rely on promises.”
The Greek government is looking for a €53bn (£38bn) bailout over three years, following two previous bailouts worth €240bn. In exchange, Athens is promising €13bn of spending cuts and reforms, including a pensions overhaul, tax rises and privatisations.
The Greek parliament voted to back Alexis Tsipras’s proposals in the early hours of Saturday, but 17 government MPs failed to support the prime minister, either by voting against the plan, abstaining or not turning up to vote.
Divisions in Greece’s governing leftist coalition, as well as last Sunday’s resounding no vote to the austerity conditions attached to Greece’s international bailout, have sown doubts among eurozone countries about whether Athens can deliver on its plan.
A German government spokesman said the outcome was “completely open”, while unnamed EU officials put the chances of a deal at 50/50.Christine Lagarde, the head of the Initernational Monetary Fund, said before the talks: “We have to make a lot more progress.”
Tsipras and his new finance minister, Euclid Tsakalotos, have a mountain to climb if they are to win the confidence of their eurozone peers. The deputy finance minister for the Netherlands, Eric Wiebes, said many governments had concerns about Greece’s ability to implement its proposed reforms.
“After all, we are discussing a proposal from the Greek government that was seriously rejected one week ago.” Pierre Moscovici, the European commissioner for economic affairs, said Greece had made an important gesture with its latest proposals, but many ministers would be looking for more on implementation.
The country’s creditors – the IMF, the European commission and the European Central Bank – are united in the view that reform efforts have stagnated since the Tsipras government came to power in January.
Trust has also weakened since Tsipras’s surprise decision two weeks ago to call a referendum on the bailout plan. Valdis Dombrovskis, the European commissioner in charge of the euro, said the latest Greek proposal showed progress had been made, but many issues and concerns remained.
“The Greek government proposal is pretty much along the lines of the institutions’ proposal before the referendum.”
Malta’s finance minister, Edward Scicluna, said Saturday’s meeting had to resolve “a contradiction in terms” between a Greek government promising reforms and elected on a mandate to fight austerity.
“We have to be reassured that it’s not a question of words but a programme that can be implemented,” he said. “There are some who are very sceptical and those who are less sceptical.”
theguardian.com
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