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Governing Coalition Seeks Common Policy to Face Troika

A policy blueprint being drawn up by governing partners New Democracy and PASOK sets out a joint stance ahead of the anticipated return to Athens by troika officials who are expected to press for further budget cuts.

Meanwhile, Brussels have rebuffed reports that Greece's creditors are planning to press for "additional horizontal cuts" but have also questioned the government's ambitious target for a primary surplus next year, suggesting that the draft budget for 2014 be revised.

The agreement that ND and PASOK officials have been working on for the past two weeks is expected to get the final approval of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos when the two men meet tomorrow in a bid to set out Greece's "red lines" ahead of what are expected to be very tough talks with representatives of the country's foreign creditors.

The blueprint stresses that no further "horizontal" cuts to salaries and pensions can be imposed on a public reeling from more than three years of austerity.

The government is also expected to insist that the creditors offer debt relief, in accordance with a Eurogroup agreement which says talks on relief could be held if Greece posts a primary surplus this year, which it is on track to do.

The blueprint also calls for action to "disengage" from the memorandum and sets as a goal Greece's "fiscal self-sufficiency" as well as political stability.

The potential for revising the Constitution in favor of a more proportionally representative system with the aim of averting political polarization is also mentioned.