Troika and the Government lay their cards on the table, in light of the continuation of negotiations in Athens The round of negotiations in Paris, between the Greek authorities and representatives of the creditors, was completed on Thursday, 04 September. The three-day meetings between the two parties were characterised as “preliminary” contacts, in order to accelerate the agreement during the full assessment bound to begin later this month in Athens. …Read More

Decisions on top European posts bound for August 30 Predisposed to joust, the 28 leaders of the EU met in Brussels in the context of the informal meeting of the European Council, on the 16th and 17th of July. They did not succeed in arriving at a compromise over the personalities that will assume the much sought-after top positions of the Union. “My conclusion was that we are not yet …Read More

Brussels’ “go-ahead” for the disbursement of the €1 bn. tranche The Eurogroup of 7th July approved the tranche to Greece worth €1 bn., along with its disbursement by the Management Board of the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) within the current week. After the disbursement, the total amount of financial support to Greece by the HFSF will reach €140.9 bn. Moreover, the HFSF will disburse an additional €1 bn., provided …Read More

Greece commits itself to remaining on the path of reforms, in light of Eurogroup The finance ministers of the Eurozone were faced with the assurances of the new finance minister of Greece, Mr. Gikas Hardouvelis, that Greece will meet its commitments to the Eurogroup, during their Brussels meeting on Thursday. “We will meet the six prerequisites of May before the end of June, as well as the prerequisites of June …Read More

The vicious circle of deflation and labour market reforms Eurozone inflation fell to 0.5% in May, down from 0.7% in April and well below the European Central Bank’s 2% target. In response to that, the ECB has announced a series of measures to help boost economic growth in the euro area and prevent it from becoming the “next Japan” in terms of deflation. The first step was a lowering of …Read More

European elections aftermath: feverish negotiations in search for the next Commission President The heads of state or government of the EU were summoned to discuss and evaluate the European elections outcome, over an informal dinner in Brussels on Tuesday, 27 May. Under pressure from the rampant entry of Eurosceptics in the new European Parliament, the discussion revolved around the appointment of the new President of the European Commission, in a …Read More

During the meeting of 15th May 2014, the Eurozone finance ministers decided to postpone the discussion regarding the Greek debt until the next assessment, which will begin at the end of the summer. Probably with an eye the European Parliamentary elections in May, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, head of the Eurogroup, said that this waiting is necessary, given that the need for further measures of debt relief will also depend on the …Read More

According to the Troika estimates, the primary surplus of Greece in 2013 was € 1.5 bn. (0.8% of GDP), as announced by the representative of the European Commission, Simon O’Connor, on Wednesday, 23 April 2014. This figure does not take into account the support measures adopted by the country, in order to recapitalise its four major systemic banks, which amounted to 10.8% of GDP, in line with what has been …Read More

The risk of deflation, high unemployment rates -particularly among the youth- and ever increasing inequalities between the member-states of the Eurozone persist, while the first signs of economic recovery are starting to emerge, according to the latest survey of the OECD. “The Eurozone exited from recession in the second quarter 2013, following six quarters of declining GDP,” according to the summary of the economic survey of the international organisation that …Read More

Nearly after seven months of negotiations, the monitoring mission of the Troika in Athens concluded in the previous week, thus paving the way for the disbursement of an amount sufficient to cover the borrowing needs of the country for May (approx. € 9 bn.). Although many of the fronts remained open, which the European partners insisted on closing as a prerequisite for reaching an agreement, they were obviously willing to …Read More