Tag: Greece bailout

As eurozone finance ministers gathered in Brussels yesterday evening (14 May), the official line was that talk of a Greek euro exit was "nonsense and propaganda". But the discussion has certainly gathered pace in recent days as European leaders admit they are preparing contingency plans.

Optimism is growing that Greece has finally done enough to secure a second bailout after it set out extra budget savings, but the moves failed to ease tensions with EU paymaster Germany.

Defiance against Greece prevailed again yesterday evening (9 February) as eurozone finance ministers rejected as insufficient a deal brokered by political parties in Athens on new austerity measures demanded in exchange for a second bailout plan.

Greece must underscore its political commitment to economic reforms if it is to receive a second EU bailout, finance ministers meeting in Brussels warned yesterday (24 January). Meanwhile, Greece's creditor banks argue they cannot fulfil their part of the deal unless the EU first commits the money.

Greece's new Prime Minister Lucas Papademos headed to Brussels yesterday (20 November) to fight for the aid Athens needs to avoid bankruptcy, even as one of his main coalition backers refused to give a written pledge to support the reforms required by the EU in exchange for its financial support.

Pension reform is not enough to solve the debt crisis in Italy, the government should adopt urgent measures to boost growth and redress the lack of productivity, said Italian economist Luigi Paganetto, in an interview with EurActiv Italy.

European leaders must be desperate to consider their main external partners, via the IMF, as the new solution to save the European economy. Should they accept this, they will enter world history as those who buried the European project and turned Europe into a second-rank actor, writes Maria Joao Rodrigues, a former Portuguese minister and adviser to the EU institutions.

Germany said on Monday that a summit of EU leaders next Sunday (23 October) would not produce a "definitive solution" for the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis amid resistance from banks to accept bigger losses on their Greek holdings.

Finance ministers from the 17-nation euro zone agreed on Monday (3 October) to Finland's collateral guarantees on its Greek loans, but delayed a decision to release the next tranche of aid until Athens agrees further privatisation of state assets to replenish its coffers.

European policymakers began discussing new ways of boosting the capacity of their €440 billion bailout facility, in the clearest sign yet that the eurozone is getting ready to rescue a big country such as Italy or Spain from the unfolding debt crisis.

A meeting of eurozone finance ministers ended with no new measures last Friday (16 September), amid pressing calls to quickly finalise the second aid package to Greece and ratify reforms of the eurozone's €440 billion bailout fund. "Everyone is disoriented," summed up a dismayed Jean-Claude Juncker, Eurogroup chairman.

Senior politicians in German Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right coalition have started talking openly about a Greek default, reflecting mounting concern about the management of the euro zone's debt crisis. On Friday Jürgen Stark – Germany's top official at the European Central Bank – announced his resignation, highlighting deep divisions over the bank's bond purchasing programme.

Eurozone nations trying to persuade Greece to cough up cash collateral in return for aid risk delaying the debt-mired state's next bailout payment and driving it into default, rating agency Moody's said yesterday (22 August).

The euro zone needs a new narrative to overcome the current crisis or it runs the risk of a major political split, writes Maria João Rodrigues, a professor at the Institute of European Studies in Brussels and an advisor to the EU institutions, in an exclusive op-ed for EurActiv.

The EU has moved a step closer to a deal on how it will police national debt in the future but questions remain over exactly how much pressure can be put on governments which do not listen. 

Tens of thousands of Greeks rallied in central Athens on Sunday (5 June) to denounce politicians, bankers and tax dodgers, as the government prepared to inflict another bout of austerity demanded by its international lenders.