Brussels, 12/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday evening, the Portuguese government asked for a postponement of the troika's fact-finding mission, due to start on Monday 15 July, until the end of August or early September. The government wants the eighth and ninth missions to be held concurrently due to the political situation in the country. Portugal says it has requested the postponement so that the structural adjustment programme can be concluded within the planned timeline.
The German government accepts that the situation in Portugal is difficult. A German government spokesman said that Germany shared the view that it was in Portugal's interest to maintain momentum, but at the same time, they understood the difficult political situation.
The European Commission said that the request for postponement should not be viewed with any great concern. Simon O'Connor, a spokesman for Euro Commissioner Olli Rehn, said that the troika was in full agreement with Portugal's request for the mission to be postponed. He said that there was nothing catastrophic about merging the eighth and ninth assessments; the country's financing was covered for all of 2013 and the delay would not impact in any way on the rest of the programme. He said the tenth assessment would take place at the end of 2013 as planned.
The Centre-Right government headed by Pedro Passos Coelho almost fell apart in July after the resignation of the finance minister and another minster and the disillusionment among the country's population about the austerity measures. The country's president, Anibal Cavaco Silva, is backing the prime minister's re-shuffle that makes minister Paulo Portas deputy prime minister with responsibility for relations with the troika, but he also called for a government of national unity to be formed and general elections to be convened at the end of the aid plan, in other words from June 2014. The PM, Pedro Passos Coelho, said on Friday that he was open to dialogue with the Socialist opposition. (SP/transl.fl)