Brussels, 03/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 3 February, the European Commission was unable to say when the troika of lenders (European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund) will return to Athens, despite the fact that the troika representatives were due to return to the Greek capital by the end of January.
A fortnight ago, Euro Commissioner Olli Rehn said that the troika would return when the Greek authorities had done their work on the impact of budget and structural reforms. A eurozone source says that the delay is due to the fact that the troika wanted to ensure that this was the final trip in its fourth monitoring mission, which began in September and has been interrupted three times (although liaison is continuing at a distance).
Third bailout? Berlin is reported to be looking into the idea of a new aid package for Greece. According to German magazine Der Spiegel, an internal German Finance Ministry document talks about a new, “limited” aid plan of between €10 billion and €20 billion. The aid would be associated with strict requirements for the implementation of reforms in Greece. A spokesperson from the German Finance Ministry is quoted by Reuters as saying that, officially, it was not a new situation.
Meetings were reported to have been held last Monday on the fringes of the Eurogroup meeting on financing for Greece, which is due to end in mid-July (see EUROPE 11006). (EL/transl.fl)