Eurogroup: meetings between technical officials of Institutions and Greece begin this week
- Written by E.Tsiliopoulos
FinMin Varoufakis’ press conference took place after Monday’s Eurogroup. “Noone believed that February 20th’s Eurogroup agreement would have been completed today, but it will gradually be done so,” according to Mr. Varoufakis.
Mr. Varoufakis also stated that on March 5th, he asked Jeroen Dijsselbloem for the immediate beginning of negotiations. In Monday’s Eurogroup meeting, Mr. Varoufakis clarified that it was decided that the meetings between technical officials of the Institutions (EU, ECB, IMF) and Greece will begin this week, on Wednesday, in Brussels.
Mr. Varoufakis also stated that during the meeting, the framework of fiscal adjustment was set for after 2015. Speaking on the text sent last week to Mr. Dijsselbloem, Mr. Varoufakis said that “we proposed seven examples. This was the first tranche of proposals. We will have a new package of 7-8 proposals to explain what the final list of proposals will be, in order to explain how we plan to kickstart the Greek economy”.
Mr. Varoufakis reiterated that the Institutions are those which we are part of. Responding to Mr. Dijsselbloem’s comment that two weeks were wasted, Mr. Varoufakis stated that “we not only wasted no time whatsoever, but we were quick in combating the problems we inherited”. When asked on whether Greece has a liquidity problem, Mr. Varoufakis answered that “We began this process with the Institutions, and it will be transformd to something more real than a process, in order to allow the Institutions to do what they must to ensure the liquidity of all member-states.”
He revealed that prior to the Eurogroup he met with Moscovici, Draghi, Thomsen, while he met with Regling and Schaeuble after the Eurogroup. When asked on whether he and Mr. Schaeuble had a heated discussion, he said that Mr. Schaeuble has never attacked him. When asked on whether he mentioned a referendum in the report by Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, the Greek FinMin laughed and stated that he took part in a meeting in Venice, recently. When a journalist asked him on how the party will react if the partners refuse every single one of the reforms that SYRIZA produces, he clarified that he answered “either with a referendum, or elections”.
Mr. Varoufakis also stated that he has clarified to Mr. Dijsselbloem that the list of reforms proposed to the Eurogroup is not complete, and that SYRIZA will not be making only 7 reforms. The government will cover all of its obligations to all lenders, he added, mentioning the talks of repaying the IMF and not the ECB.
On his part, Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem said that time has been wasted following the previous Eurogroup meeting of 20 February. In a press conference, Dijsselbloem said that “we have spent the last two weeks discussing who will meet who, where, and in what configuration. It’s been a complete waste of time.”
And that’s why technical talks will start on Wednesday, Dijsselbloem concluded. Mainly in Brussels, but some people will have to be on the ground in Athens – simply for efficiency reasons, to enable a constant exchange of information between Athens and Brussels. As for the disbursement of aid, dijsselbloem was clear: “There can be no talk about early disbursement if there is no agreement and no implementation.”
