A European official referred to a “small” amount of progress in Athens’ implementation of another 15 “prior actions” demanded by creditors ahead of a commencement of negotiations for a second review of the Greek program (third bailout) next month.
The unnamed official spoke after a EuroWorking Group meeting on Monday, which included a trio of top Greek officials, including the relevant finance and economy ministers.
Nevertheless, in a statement that is “pleasing” to the ears of Greece’s leftist government, the same official said the rapid implementation of the prior actions is necessary so that discussions can begin on specific debt relief measures for the country.
Conversely, he added that positions by Euro-area members on the specifics of Greek debt relief are not yet clear.
In terms of the suddenly emerged furor involving the prosecution of the head of Greece’s statistics service (EL.STAT) between 2010 and 2015 on charges of essentially “cooking the books” in order to record a greater budget deficit, the issue will be on the agenda of a Sept. 9 Eurogroup meeting. The development is more-or-less an awkward prospect for the Tsipras government.
The Commission has strenuously emphasized – in a latter by no less than three Commissioners, in fact -- that it supports the economic and fiscal figures forwarded by Athens between 2010 and 2015, data used to base and develop three bailout programs and the affiliated memoranda, the last of which was signed and is being implemented by the current leftist government in Athens.
The Commission’s overall position, one also reportedly echoed by Greece's Euro zone partners on the matter, is that it does not in any way help in negotiations and is not shared by any of the latter, well-informed sources in Brussels told “N”.
