Brussels, 04/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - Following the meeting between the President of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, the Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, and the President of the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Greeks are now expected to look at the Eurozone's proposals “more carefully, probably come up with some alternative proposals”, Dijsselbloem explained on Thursday 4 June.
The three politicians agreed to meet again in the next few days, the Commission explained. No date was put forward, although the possibility of a meeting on Friday evening was reported in the press. In any case, Tsipras will address the Greek parliament this Thursday at 6 pm local time, in Athens, to report back to his MPs on the state of progress with the negotiations. According to the Greek press, government sources have denied the rumour that Tsipras is getting ready to call for a vote of confidence. Following his meeting with his partners, he repeated that the basis for an agreement should be the Greek proposal.
According to Dijsselbloem, the differences between the positions of the parties are still sizeable. According to Reuters, the creditors are calling on Greece to cut pension expenditure by 1% of GDP, and to raise €1.8 billion by increasing the rate of VAT on products such as medicines to 11% and 23% on other products, including electricity. Commitments are also required as regards privatisations. Tsipras also observed that the parties were close to an agreement on the primary budgetary surplus. The Greek document set a target of 0.6% of GDP this year, 1.5% in 2016, 2.5% in 2017 and 3.5% in 2018. The creditors' offer aims for a 1% surplus this year, 2% in 2016, 3% in 2017 and 3.5% in 2018. The toughest issues are believed still to be pensions and VAT.
A four-month extension of the programme will also be examined, with the possibility of converting €10.9 billion held by the banks to cover Greece's financial needs for the summer. As to the repayment of €300 million to the IMF this Friday, Tsipras simply told journalists “don't worry about that”.
Certain media sources were referring to 14 June as a cut-off date for an agreement. The regular meeting of the Eurogroup preparatory body, the Euro working group, will be held on 15 June. “The next hours, the next days, are absolutely essential”, said the Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Pierre Moscovici. (Elodie Lamer)