Greece to the agreement, but Tsipras is still fighting – Il Sole 24 Ore

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This article was published on June 4, 2015 at 8:54.

BRUSSELS – Greece’s international creditors have submitted to the government Tsipras their proposed agreement to allow the country to get more aid in return for new economic measures. Strait between the promises made to the electorate and the needs of the national budget, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will ultimately decide whether to accept the offer, groped to negotiate it as much as possible, or reject it. Last night the Prime Minister seemed combative.

Last night in Brussels the greek prime minister met at dinner the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. In a context of great nervousness in the markets, the two men discussed the offer of creditors, to which Athens responded with their own plan. The meeting was also attended by the President of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem. Previously Tsipras had spoken on the phone with Chancellor Angela Merkel and President François Hollande.

In a statement posted to 1 and a half hours of this night, the Commission explained that the meeting between Juncker, Tsipras and Dijsselbloem was “good” and “constructive”. According to Brussels, “progress has been made in better understanding of the positions of the parties on the basis of the various proposals. It ‘was decided that there will be other meetings. It will continue the hard work. ” Speaking to reporters in the night, the greek prime minister said that “the only realistic proposals are those of the greek government.”

According to information gathered here in Brussels, the proposed development on behalf of the creditors by the Commission , the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank provides budgetary commitments lighter than previous objectives: the primary surplus should be 1% of GDP in 2015 (down from 3.0%), 2% in 2016 of 3% in 2017 and 3.5% in 2018 (down from 4.5%). Tonight Tsipras said that the parties are “very close” to an agreement on this front.

Press sources, unconfirmed, explain that international creditors to Greece would also impose a balanced budget in the pension system . This objective would be achieved by reducing the amount of the highest pensions, a commitment that so far the greek government has refused to adopt. The request would be made by the Fund, and on this front the Commission wanted to ask in Athens less onerous decisions.

On the greek side, however, the new government’s plan Tsipras foresees a VAT reform and a raising the retirement age. There would be no compensation in any revision of labor law, as requested by creditors. The same Tsipras stressed last night that “cutting benefits for the lowest pensions (…) can not be a basis for discussions”. Since an agreement on the next steps depend on new loans to 7.2 billion euro, related memorandum due later this month.

With Greece short of liquidity, the timing is sensitive. The three institutions want to use their proposal to force the country to accept a compromise. During the election campaign, however, Tsipras had promised the Greeks would never subject to the requirements of Community and which would review the economic policy followed so far. At a minimum, the prime minister will present the possible approval as an agreement between the parties, the more that 60% of Greeks supported his negotiating tactic.

Last night, at the same Tsipras was asked if the Greece reimburse a loan of 300 million euro maturing on Friday: “Do not worry”, was the answer. Creditors oscillate between optimism and pessimism of France of Germany. From Tallinn, the new Finnish Foreign Minister, the nationalist Timo Soini said that so far the loans to Greece (about 240 billion Euros) “have been poorly spent,” and that new aid “does not serve.”

The Finnish stance is symptomatic of the many difficulties of an agreement. This is not only to find an agreement with Greece, but this compromise should also be acceptable to the three institutions and the 18 partners of the Mediterranean country. For Tsipras, the choice is difficult. If refused the compromise, there would be the risk of the collapse of the country. If you accept the proposal, there would be the danger of a split in his party Syriza, in which many are opposed to the European level.

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