The EWG's conclusions from its lengthy Monday session echoed previous and repeated Eurozone officials' statements of "progress in talks" towards a second review of the Greek program, in tandem with the leitmotif of "open issues that still must be resolved".
Monday's session in Brussels was widely viewed as the precursor of next week's Eurogroup meeting, where either a conclusion to the second review of the Greek program (third bailout) will be confirmed, or, in a more sobering development, the review will be "bumped" back so that a conclusion is achieved at least before the holidays. The prospect of opening whatever discussions on Greek debt relief is now also directly linked with the second review's conclusion.
As "N" has previously reported, differences remain between Athens and creditors over labor and energy sector liberalization, as well as fiscal targets, particularly in 2018.
The collective bargaining framework has emerged as the primary obstacle in the labor sector talks, with the IMF opposed to the re-institution of mandatory sector-wide collective bargaining between social partners -- at least for the next several years.
The "fresh" news out of Athens on Monday was the Greek side's insistence on not acquiescing to a framework it charges is beyond European norms (acquis), something reportedly also backed by visiting EU Commissioner Pierre Moscovici. A European "compromise" eyes a specific date (prior to 2018) for re-establishing the framework, a long-established manner for negotiating salaries and work conditions in the country before its economy imploded after 2010.
Conversely, it's European creditors that have opposed any loosening of the very ambitious 3.5-percent primary budget surplus targets, for at least two years after 2018.
At last word, officials in Brussels believe talks concentrating on the review can be concluded over the coming week and before the Dec. 5 Eurogroup meeting, although a comprehensive agreement that will include substantive debt relief is deemed as extremely difficult during the same time period.
Short-term debt relief measures, which ESM head Klaus Regling's staff has prepared and are widely known, should not face any problem at the Eurogroup. The challenge, however, is more medium-term measures demanded by the IMF and sternly opposed by the German side, as personified by FinMin Wolfgang Schaeuble.
