Greece: Special Meeting of the euro zone on Wednesday in Brussels – Boursorama

Greece: Special Meeting of the euro zone on Wednesday in Brussels – Boursorama

President of the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, January 30, 2015 in Athens (AFP / File / Aris Messinis)

An extraordinary meeting of finance ministers of the euro area devoted to Greece will be held on Wednesday, February 11, in Brussels, on the eve of a European summit, said Friday Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the head of the Eurogroup.

“extraordinary Eurogroup meeting on Greece Wednesday, February 11 at 17.30″ (1630 GMT), wrote Mr. Dijsselbloem on his Twitter account.

The speculation was well since several days on holding such a meeting while the Greek aid program comes to an end in late February. A solution must be found for the country is not bankrupt and avoid panic in the markets.

The EU wants to convince Greece to request an extension of its aid program. Athens refuses to be able to overcome the reforms and budget savings measures dictated by its creditors. The decision must be made quickly because several national parliaments must approve, including Germany and Finland.

“It’s not a good idea to organize a Eurogroup on Greece on the eve of a summit, “a European diplomat said Friday, highlighting the risks it gets worse” if he did not agree. ” “If the crisis escalates, there is the possibility of organizing a summit of the euro area, but it is not there,” the diplomat added.

The extraordinary meeting of February 11 will be the first for the Greek Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufakis, who performed this week a tour of several European capitals. He has already met some of his counterparts, including the French Michel Sapin and German Wolfgang Schäuble.

There are a week he had met in Athens Mr. Dijsselbloem. The interview was followed by a press conference in a cold atmosphere, a sign of considerable tension between the new Greek government and its partners in the euro area.

The government left radical of Alexis Tsipras wants to reduce the huge debt of the country (over 175% of GDP) and end austerity. An ambition which faces the refusal of many Member States, primarily Germany, more than ever guarantor of fiscal orthodoxy.

Many other countries do not intend to make gifts in Athens. Among them, Finland, the Baltic countries, the Netherlands, traditionally supporters of rigor, but also Portugal and Spain, which have been hit hard by the crisis and have also had them make great efforts to meet the requirements of their international creditors.

In addition to the Eurogroup meeting, “there will be many opportunities to find solutions” to the Greek problem in the coming days, said Thursday the Commissioner European Economic Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, including the G20 Finance on 9 and 10 February in Istanbul. An ordinary Eurogroup must also be held on 16 February.

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