Brussels, 21/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - The finance ministers of the Eurozone will not have much to get their teeth into in terms of progress in the discussions between Greece and the institutions (Commission, ECB and IMF) on the reforms to be carried out, in Riga on Friday 24 April.
“Not such a lot will be happening in Riga”, a senior official of the EU warned on Tuesday 21 April. “There is no time to lose. We will not conclude in Riga, but Riga is where we need to move forward”, another source close to the dossier explained. Indeed, the ball is largely in the Greeks' court.
The ministers can only expect a short debriefing from the 'institutions' involved in the negotiations, partly because the financial situation of Greece no longer appears quite so urgent. “There are no problems ahead of us”, the second source explained, adding that it was unclear whether the Greek minister himself was entirely aware of the budgetary situation of the country. The first source added: it is by no means certain that a minister of any country can know the state of the public finances of his country with any certainty. Furthermore, in the case of Greece, it is highly volatile. “The Greeks have repeated time and again that they would honour their financial obligations”, the first source noted, seeing no reason to fear anything else.
On 20 April, Greece asked public businesses and administrations to transfer their treasury surpluses to the central bank in order to cover cash requirements. The European Commission confirmed on Tuesday lunchtime that it had been informed of this. This movement has been urged by the institutions for several weeks, according to the same senior EU official.
Talks in Athens between the Greek authorities and the 'institutions' are going better (see EUROPE 11298). The country's donors had previously complained that they did not have access to the ministries, for example. There has been a clear pick-up in engagement on the part of the Greeks, but we are still a very long way from being able to say that a result is in sight, the senior official admitted. There is still no clarity, for example, on which 70% of the economic adjustment programme the government is prepared to implement, or which 30% it wishes to change. It will be almost impossible to observe the deadline set by the Eurogroup for the end of April. Even if there was an extraordinary meeting, it would need preparation and it is unlikely that there will be enough time. The only deadline that really counts, the senior official explained, is the one at the end of June, when the programme expires. The President of the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, however, told RTL on Tuesday that he hopes for an agreement in the next few weeks. Once the programme expires, according to the second source, Greece will need further support.
In Riga, the finance ministers are also expected to discuss the third report of the post-programme monitoring mission for Spain. They will be told of the positive development of the economic situation in Spain and will encourage the country to continue its reforms, including on the employment market. A discussion with the president of the single banking supervisory mechanism, Danièle Nouy, will also take place on the morning of Friday 24 April, with the presentation of the mechanism's annual report.
The question of the future Presidency of the Eurogroup will not be officially up for discussion in Riga. It will not be on any official agenda before June, or possibly July, a few days before Dijsselbloem's mandate expires. If no successor for him can be found by then, the Presidency of the Council will take up the baton, in this case the Luxembourg minister, Pierre Gramegna. (Elodie Lamer with Mathieu Bion)