Eurogruppe gibt Griechenland grünes Licht

Von Markus Fugmann

Die Eurogruppe hat die Reformvorschläge Griechenlands genehmigt. Hier das wörtliche Statement der Eurogruppe:

„The Eurogroup today discussed the firstlist of reform measures presented by the
Greek authorities, based on the current arrangement, which will be further specified
and then agreed with the institutions at the latest by the end of April.
The institutions provided us with their first view that they consider this list of measures to be
sufficiently comprehensive to be a valid starting point for a successful
conclusion of the review. We therefore agreed to proceed with the national
procedures with a view to reaching the final decision on the extension by up to
four months of the current Master Financial Assistance Facility Agreement. We
call on the Greek authorities to further develop and broaden the list of reform
measures, based on the current arrangement, in close coordination with the
institutions in order to allow for a speedy and successful conclusion of the
review.“

Dass doch noch ein gewisses Unbehagen herrscht, ist der Äusserung der IWF-Chefin Lagarde zu entnehmen- sie weist darauf hin,
dass die Vorschläge Griechenlands doch recht unkonkret wären. Am Freitag folgt die Abstimmung im Bundestag, die CSU möchte die
Vorschläge sorgfältig prüfen (und damit ihrer eigene Bedeutungslosigkeit kaschieren), dich gilt eine Zustimmung der großen Parteien
(also ohne die CSU) ohnehin als sicher.

Zusatz: Es verdichten sich jedoch die Hinweise, dass die EU-Komission Autor der griechischen Reformvorschläge ist, Autor ist Declan Costello,
der seit 1991 für EU-Kommission arbeitet und dort für „Coordination of structural refroms and of the economic service“ zuständig ist. Demnach habe
Varoufakis nur noch sein „OK“ geben müssen. Das würde im Übrigen auch erklären, warum die EU-Kommission als erste Institution seine Zustimmung gegeben hat – zu dem Zeitpunkt war noch unklar, wann die angeblich von Griechenland verfassten Reforvorschläge überhaupt eingegangen sind!

Hier noch das Statement der IWF-Chefin Lagarde im Wortlaut:

„My Staff has reviewed the list of measures that that Greek authorities
prepared over the weekend. We think that it covers the broad topics that should
be on the new Government’s agenda.

In view of this, we would certainly be able to support the conclusion that
the list „is sufficiently comprehensive to be a valid starting point for a
successful conclusion of the review,“ as called for by the Euro Group at its
last meeting. But a determination in this regard of course rests primarily on an
assessment by Member States themselves and by the relevant European
Institutions.

While the authorities‘ list is comprehensive, it is generally not very
specific, which is perhaps to be expected considering that the government is new
in office. In some areas, like combating tax evasion and corruption, I am
encouraged with what appears to be a stronger resolve on the part of the new
authorities in Athens, and we look forward to learn more about their plans.

In quite a few areas, however, including perhaps the most important ones,
the letter is not conveying clear assurances that the Government intends to
undertake the reforms envisaged in the Memorandum on Economic and Financial
Policies.

We note in particular that there are neither clear commitments to design
and implement the envisaged comprehensive pension and VAT policy reforms, nor
unequivocal undertakings to continue already-agreed policies for opening up
closed sectors, for administrative reforms, for privatisation, and for labor
market reforms.

As you know, we consider such commitments and undertakings to be critical
for Greece’s ability to meet the basic objectives of is Fund-supported program,
which is why these are the areas subject to most of the structural benchmarks
agreed with the Fund.

Thus, it is important for me to emphasize that for the discussions on a
completion of the review to be successful they cannot be confined within the
policy perimeters outlined in the Government’s list.

My Staff and I look forward to working with the new Government on finding
common ground, with the aim of concluding the 6th review of the Fund-supported
program as soon as possible. Thank you for all your efforts to get us to this
point.“

Und dazu noch Mario Draghi:

„My Staff has reviewed the list of measures which the Greek authorities
submitted yesterday evening.

Our initial impression is that the document covers a wide range of reform
areas and in this sense, it is sufficiently comprehensive to be a valid starting
point for a successful conclusion of the review.

However, as we expected it was not possible for the authorities to
elaborate on concrete proposals and commitments that can be assessed by the
institutions in respect to growth, public finances and financial stability.
Given the very limited time available, this is understandable.

I assume that it is clear that the basis for concluding the current review,
and also for any future arrangements, will be the existing commitments in the
current Memorandum of Understanding and the Memorandum of Economic and Financial
Policies (MEFP).

In this context we note that the commitments outlined by the authorities
differ from existing programme commitments in a number of areas.

In such cases, we will have to assess during the review whether measures
which are not accepted by the authorities are replaced with measures of equal or
better quality in terms of achieving the objectives of the programme.

I would also again urge the Greek authorities to act swiftly to stabilise
the payment culture and refrain from any uni lateral action to the contrary.“