The standing difference between creditors themselves and between creditors and the leftist Greek government over the issue -- and primarily the level -- of primary budget surplus targets after 2018 appears as the biggest obstacle to a timely return of negotiators to Athens.
By N. Bellos
The standing difference between creditors themselves and between creditors and the leftist Greek government over the issue -- and primarily the level -- of primary budget surplus targets after 2018 appears as the biggest obstacle to a timely return of negotiators to Athens.
Without the return of creditors' representatives, at least by this week, the second review of the Greek program risks an even greater delay -- as previous "deadlines" first emerged for November 2016, continuing into December 2016, to no avail.
On the itinerary this week is an EWG meeting on Thursday, the same day as a scheduled meeting in Brussels between EU Commissioner Pierre Moscovici and Greek FinMin Euclid Tsakalotos. The EWG session aims to prepare for the Eurogroup meeting on Jan. 26, which is now the latest deadline for concluding the second review of the Greek program (third bailout). The Moscovici-Tsakalotos meeting, however, was scheduled later, ostensibly to overcome the differences over the fiscal targets.
In terms of the coming EWG meeting this week, a European official familiar with the relevant talks on Monday "lowered" expectations for a breakthrough, underlining that no substantial progress is expected this week to overcome the impasse.
The delays and standing obstacles for a second review apparently led to Tsakalotos arranging a meeting in Brussels with Moscovici, followed a day later with his French counterpart Michel Sapin in Paris.
While Paris has in the past more-or-less supported Athens' positions, the fact that French President Francois Hollande is now a "lame duck" leader within the EU and Eurozone undermines the current French government's influence.
The Commission, as whole, also appears closer to the Greek position on the issue of fiscal targets after 2018, yet the final outcome is expected to be determined by Berlin's stance and the IMF's decisions.
In fact, a Commission spokesman on Monday indirectly pointed to the possibility that an agreement to finalize the second review of the Greek program will not come this month, with the Eurogroup meeting on Jan. 26 merely serving as a venue to assess the situation.