The council of the finance ministers of the Eurozone, which took place on March 10, 2014, was concluded with recommendations to Greece for a quick settlement of pending issues and completion of the ongoing assessment before the end of the week. According to the statement of the President of the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, after the end of the meeting, “open fronts still exist between the Troika and the Greek authorities …Read More

During the last meeting of the finance ministers of the Eurozone, which took place in Brussels on Monday (February 17) the troika expressed its desire to return to Athens, in order for the new round of negotiations with the Greek authorities to start as soon as possible. The representatives of the lenders eventually secured the commitment of the Greek government to quickly proceed with the agreed reforms in “key-areas”, which …Read More

While austerity and the doctrine of fiscal adjustment are increasingly tightening their grip on the member-states of the European Union, corruption is not only being insufficiently dealt with as a key cause of the crisis, but it also continues to function as a deterrent on the road to recovery. According to the first report of the European Commission regarding this phenomenon in the EU, which was released last week, the …Read More

Amid opposition from the European Parliament, the technical preliminary procedures have begun, for the signing of the intergovernmental treaty among those member-states of the EU that participate in the so-called “Banking Union”, through which the Single Resolution Fund for banks (SRF) will be established. The Fund is considered a key pillar of the banking union, given that it will be used for funding the resolution and liquidation of financial institutions …Read More

The usual recommendation to Greece to continue the faithful implementation of the Adjustment Programme and to accelerate negotiations with the Troika for the completion of the evaluation, was addressed by the Eurozone Finance Ministers, at the two Eurogroup meetings that took place in Brussels in November. “We recognize the effort and progress that have been achieved, but Greece owes to make further efforts in order to close the open fronts …Read More

In anticipation of the formation of government in Germany, the European Summit, as expected, failed to reach substantive decisions on any of the issues on its agenda. Nevertheless, during a meeting held in light of the allegations of wire-tapping European leaders by the U.S. intelligence services, the participants agreed on a clear decision making timetable in the coming months. More specifically, in order to manage migration flows, which were the …Read More

Greece is entering a new period of uncertainty, which is expected to last until December at least. As it was made obvious in the meeting of the Eurogroup, which was hosted in Luxemburg (14-10-2013), the pending issues pose a serious problem to the government of Athens and they could potentially lead to political developments in the coming months. More specifically: the fourth assessment of the second Greek Programme is frozen, …Read More

“Avoid dramas, do not allow the reemergence of doubts about the government’s determination to implement what has been agreed, eschew illusions and take measures so that the Programme, which has started to yield results, is not derailed. This is the message of the Commission to the Greek Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras, during his meeting with the president of the Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, on Tuesday, September 17, in light of …Read More

The caricature that was published in an Italian newspaper, which is currently going around journalistic agencies in Brussels, is rather indicative of the prevailing climate in Europe: a child keeps complaining to his parents that he urgently needs to go to the bathroom. “Shhh, kid, after the German elections!” is the parent’s answer. Therefore, although the fronts of the financial crisis -from banking consolidation to the issue of Greece- remain …Read More

The financing of the Greek economy in the next three months will continue uninterrupted, at least barring any unforeseen event, after the political decision reached by the Eurogroup that was held in Brussels, with regard to the disbursement of the remaining installments totaling € 6,8 billion. Nevertheless, the issues concerning the medium-term sustainability of the Greek debt, the funding gap in the Greek program that might arise in the second …Read More