Greece rejects proposal to creditors in Brussels – The Economist

The meeting in Brussels would route a consensus on a list of reforms to the delivery of a tranche of 7,200 million euros of the rescue plan for Greece, blocked since the fall.

Alexis Tsipras, Greek Prime Minister, Jean Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission. File photo: AP

Alexis Tsipras, Greek Prime Minister held Wednesday its refusal to some of the proposals made by the creditors of Athens for the support of its partners in the euro area and thus unlock a section of the vital financial support for the Hellenic country.

At the end of a meeting in Brussels with the Presidents of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, and Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Tsipras estimated that the reform plan proposed by its creditors “has many points that nobody can be considered as a basis for discussion”.

“We are talking about a country that last five years He suffered a major economic catastrophe, lost 25% of its GDP after five years of harsh austerity. Proposals involving a cut in the lowest pensions or an increase in VAT on electricity can not be the basis for a discussion, “he said.

” The result is that the Greek proposal remains the only realistic on the table, “said the head of the Greek government, who nevertheless stressed” common ground “with the proposal of the creditors of Greece.

Tsipras also rescued the” constructive attitude “of the commission for “find an agreement,” to which he added that proposals for Greece are the basis for it.

For its part, the European Commission stated that “it was a good meeting, constructive. Progress was made in understanding the positions of each on the basis of several proposals. It was agreed that they should meet again. “

Similarly Eurogroup Chairman expressed to finish the game. “It was a very good meeting. Continue discussions in the coming days “, he said.

The meeting lasted more than four hours and ended without a statement set denoting progress in negotiations.

Both the Commission and other Sources representatives of the Member States had already cooled expectations of an immediate agreement. “We expect a final result tonight,” he said in the morning a spokesman for the EU executive

Also the German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, was skeptical. “I have no information that anything decisive there changed. “

Seek immediate solution

Tsipras arrived at the building of the European Commission to meet with Juncker, who invited him to Brussels two days before the expiration of 300 million euros with International Monetary Fund (IMF), the first installment of a total of 1,600 million to be settled Athens this month.

Earlier, Francois Hollande, French president, and Angela Merkel, German chancellor, spoke by telephone with Greek Prime Minister. The three “agreed on the need for an immediate solution” to the negotiations between Greece and its creditors, according to a Greek government source.

The meeting in Brussels would route a consensus on a list of reforms enabling the delivery of a stretch of 7,200 million euros of the rescue plan for Greece, blocked since the fall.