Headlines
Eurogroup meeting ends fruitless, Greece insists it tabled proposals
Brussels/Athens, July 7
An emergency Eurogroup
meeting in Brussels on the Greek debt deal ended inconclusive on
Tuesday, with lenders saying that they expected to discuss Greece's
proposals on Wednesday during a Eurogroup teleconference.
The
finance ministers of euro zone countries didn't receive new proposals
they had expected from Greece on Tuesday, Eurogroup head Jeroen
Dijsselbloem said after the crucial meeting.
"We welcome our new
Greek colleague and listen to his assessment of situation after the 'no'
vote in Greece," he said in a short statement, adding that there are no
new proposals from new Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, Xinhua
reported.
"The Greek government will send a new request letter
for European Stability Mechanism (ESM) support, as soon as it comes in, I
am hopeful that tomorrow morning we will have another conference call
in the Eurogroup to formally start the process of dealing with the
request," Dijsselbloem said.
He noted that the group will ask the European Union institutions to look at the financial situation in Greece.
"And then the institutions will come back to us, and we will see whether we can formally start the negotiations," he said.
However,
Greek government sources dismissed the criticism, insisting that
Greece's new Finance Minister Tsakalotos had in fact presented
proposals.
"Is the problem that we do not have proposals, or that
they do not like our proposals? " a government source asked, according
to the Greek national news agency AMNA.
The Greek side stressed that Greece's proposals had been rejected again.
The
statements from both sides were made as Greek Prime Minister Alexis
Tsipras was holding a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and
French President Francois Hollande in Brussels ahead of the
extraordinary euro zone summit which convenes later on Tuesday on the
Greek issue.
According to government sources in Athens, the Greek
side is requesting a two-year, 29-billion-euro-worth ($32 billion)
bailout programme through the ESM.
Meanwhile, several European
partners prefer a bridge agreement for a few months first in exchange
for the swift implementation of reforms by the Greek side as a test
before a comprehensive deal is discussed.
Officials and analysts
from both sides warn that the situation is perilous. Greek banks are
closed and capital controls have been imposed in Greece since June 29,
ATMs are expected to run out of cash this week, and without emergency
assistance, Greece seems to be heading to default and possibly an exit
from the euro zone.
Since July 1, Greece has been in arrears to
the International Monetary Fund and needs to repay 3.5 billion euros in
loan installments to the European Central Bank by July 20.
Earlier
in the day, European Commission (EC) president Jean-Claude Juncker
called on partners to put "egos" aside and return to the negotiation
table to avoid a "Grexit".
"We have to put our little egos, and
in my case very large ego, away and we have to deal with the situation
we face," Juncker said.
The US urged "a compromise" between Athens and international creditors and suggested a package of reforms and financing.
"The
referendum is over, but our view here at the White House remains the
same... it will require both a package of financing and reforms that
will allow Greece to achieve, or at least be on a path towards some debt
sustainability, but also be on a path towards economic growth," White
House spokesman Josh Earnest said.
French Prime Minister Manuel
Valls warned that an eventual Grexit from the eurozone would put the
economic recovery of the European bloc on edge and likely trigger
political instability in the region.
"France is convinced that
we cannot take the risk of a Greek exit from the eurozone for economic
reasons but mainly for political ones. It is Europe that is in
question," the French premier told RTL radio.
Following the
Eurogroup group meeting, a euro zone EU leaders emergency summit was
underway in Brussels, Belgium, to find a way for an agreement between
Athens and its creditors.