Brussels, 16/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - The Greek government meets the three conditions set for obtaining the eurozone finance ministers' go-ahead to financial support but the cynicism felt by the stronger economies regarding Greece's ability to meet its commitments casts doubt upon the fact that the second Greek bailout will be finalised at the next meeting on Monday 20 February.
Several northern European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Finland wish to have guarantees in hand that the legislative elections in Greece in April do not derail the second Greek programme. Speaking on Thursday 16 February to Het Financieele Dagblad, Jan Kees de Jager, Finance Minister for the Netherlands, has said that, ideally, one wants to deal with leaders whom one knows will give their support to the aid package after the elections. It is for that, he added, that it has been suggested one should wait until after the elections, when the commitment could be negotiated with the new government. The previous day, his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schäuble, had said the political situation in Greece was the “most problematic element”. “Who can guarantee that what we decide today will still be valid after the elections?” he asked, arousing anger from Greek President Karolos Papoulias.
Nonetheless, Greece meets the three conditions imposed by the Eurogroup for finalisation of the second Greek bailout: - on Sunday, the Greek parliament voted on the budgetary and structural measures to be applied in exchange for public support of €130 billion and partial restructuring of the Greek debt of €100 billion; - the two political forces remaining in the governmental coalition - the Socialist party, PASOK, and the Conservative party, New Democracy - have undertaken to apply the second Greek programme whatever the results of the elections; - and €325 million in further cuts have been identified in structural spending (see EUROPE 10551).
After a video conference of the 17 finance ministers on Wednesday evening, Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker welcomed progress made. In addition to respecting the above three conditions, “a detailed list of prior actions together with a timeline for their implementation” will be established and the report on the sustainability of the Greek debt has been finalised, he stated in a press release. Juncker felt confident that the decisions necessary would be taken by the Eurogroup on Monday 20 February regarding the Greek programme and the triggering of the financial operation for restructuring the Greek debt. Until then, there will be further considerations regarding the “specific mechanisms to strengthen the surveillance of programme implementation and to ensure that priority is given to debt servicing”. The creation of a blocked account is envisaged in this context allowing aid to be drip-fed to Greece (see EUROPE 10548). (MB/transl.jl)