Today’s Eurogroup is one of the most critical for Greece, as the aim is a comprehensive package on the exit from the bailout memorandum.
The Eurogroup will assess the progress that has been made in implementing the prior actions of the fourth and last evaluation, so that the necessary decisions can be taken for the successful conclusion of the bailout programme.
The great bargaining began this morning with the meeting of the Eurogroup Working Group, while the Eurogroup meeting is expected to drag on into the early hours of 22 June. European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis had announced that it would be a long session.
IMF Chief Christine Lagarde will also be present at the Eurogroup meeting, which will take place in Luxembourg.
The Greek finance ministry, having completed the 88 prior actions for the completion of the fourth evaluation is expecting a good result on the debt relief issue, but it is unlikely that it will happen.
On 20 June, the Commission released a compliance report, which states that Greece implemented all prior actions needed to complete the evaluation of the Greek programme.
The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) programme is on track, opening the way for disbursement of the last tranche of funding, which is needed for debt servicing, while part of the sum will be used to bolster Greece’s fiscal cushion.
It should be noted that the compliance report does not include the report on the viability of the Greek debt.
