The first technical team comprised of representatives from the EU, ECB and IMF will be arriving in Athens on Thursday, in order to collect macroeconomic and financial data, as confirmed at the first meeting with the “Brussels Group” in the Belgian capital.
It was agreed that the Brussels Group will discusses technical matters in the reform policies agreed at the Eurogroup and may task teams with collecting the necessary information from Athens. These technical teams will not go to ministries or other government agencies, as the troika previously did.
According to government sources, the negotiations will continue based on the agreement of the 20th of February, in order to reboot the economy and provide relief to the people. Aside from the Greek team, the so-called Brussels Group talks on Thursday saw the participation of the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the ESM/EFSM.
The head of the Greek negotiating team will be the general secretary at the Ministry of Finances Nikos Theoharakis, with Finance Minister Varoufakis’ consultant Elena Panariti at his side. The Brussels Group’s main representatives will be the former troika’s Declan Costello (EU), Klaus Masuch (ECB) and Rishi Goyal (IMF) – Mr. Masuch is said to be replaced by Rasmus Rüffer.
