Brussels, 15/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - The Eurogroup is keeping up the pressure on Greece to get it to form a stable government that backs implementation of the second Greek austerity programme, in return for €130 billion of international aid. Convinced that the recommended public spending cuts and structural reforms are the right solution, the Eurogroup has given no signs that it is considering any changes to the targets and timing, although its chair, Jean-Claude Juncker, refused to rule this out when interviewed on the evening of Monday 14 May. He added that he had never talks about Greece leaving the eurozone.
Now is not the time to ease up, said Juncker, aware of all the sacrifices being demanded of ordinary Greeks. Speaking on Monday evening, 14 May, he said that international lenders had made a huge contribution of some €148 billion-worth of loans, and he hoped that Greek politicians would be capable of forming a government in the near future with a big enough majority to introduce the second bailout programme so that Greece can continue to consolidate its public finance and structural reforms to give its people a better future.
Propaganda. Juncker said it was the Eurogroup's unshakeable wish that Greece remain one of the 17 joint owners of the eurozone, saying that nobody at all had called for Greece to leave. Suggestions of this nature were ridiculous propaganda, he said. Over the past few days, the German finance minister and the president of the European Commission, however, talked about exactly that (see EUROPE 10614). Austria's finance minister, Maria Fekter, commented that it was not possible to leave the eurozone and remain in the EU. Luxembourg's finance minister, Luc Frieden, said the next Greek government had no choice but to respect the second bailout if it wanted the EU to continue to provide aid.
Euro Commissioner Olli Rehn said it was obvious that it had become more difficult to implement the bailout because of the lack of political unity and weak administrative capacity. He said the second bailout was a solidarity pact between the Greek parliament and the other 16 national parliaments in the Eurozone, and since the Eurogroup has not discussed the question of changing Greece's budget targets, the country, like all other eurozone nations, must respect the targets set. (MB/transl.fl)