In Valletta on Friday 7 April, the President of the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, told his counterparts that he regretted any offence he may have caused to the citizens of southern European countries.
I told the Eurozone finance ministers that I regretted my choice of words, but nobody has asked me to step down, the Dutch minister said after the Eurogroup. I have read such calls in the press, but I heard nothing of the kind at the session, he added.
At the start of the Eurogroup meeting, the Portuguese Secretary of State for Finances, Ricardo Mourinho Félix, expressed his country's distaste at Dijsselbloem's divisive and sexist comments, when he told the German daily newspaper FAZ that these countries spend all their money on drink and women before asking their counterparts for assistance (see EUROPE 11751). Dijsselbloem jokingly replied by telling the Portuguese Minister that he would never ask him to apologise!
In reference to the negotiations underway on the Greek bailout plan (see other article), Dijsselbloem said that the Eurogroup President's chair should not be left empty. At this stage, however, he is unable to say whether he will be stepping down as Dutch minister before his mandate as Eurogroup President ends in January 2018.
He said that discussions on forming a government in the Netherlands, which will not include him due to the heavy defeat suffered by the Dutch Socialist party, would continue for a while longer.
Appearance at the European Parliament on 27 April
Finally, Dijsselbloem said that he would appear at the Parliament on Thursday 27 April to discuss the third Greek bailout plan with the MEPs.
In this way, the Eurogroup President hopes to appease the annoyance of the MEPs at his refusal to discuss Greece with them at the April plenary session (see EUROPE 11761). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)