Monday, February 23, 2015

The list of reforms torn between Brussels and Athens – BBC

The list of reforms torn between Brussels and Athens – BBC

The Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras must forward a series of measures acceptable to the Eurogroup, which will decide on Tuesday in Brussels.

A month to the day after his election, Alexis Tsipras is doubly under pressure. Greek Prime Minister is caught between the demands of the Eurogroup and the discontent of the left wing of his party. If Europeans leave the Greek government the choice of reforms to be implemented, they are adamant about the numbers, and credibility of the program of measures. Before submitting its list to the Eurogroup for validation on Tuesday, Alexis Tsipras was to convince the “institutions”, that is to say, the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF.

Between Sunday and Monday, Brussels has made multiple attempts its copy in Athens. European Commission calls for reforms “ambitious but realistic financially,” according to Pierre Moscovici, European Commissioner for Economic Affairs. The final copy must be initialed and returned by the Greek Prime Minister on Tuesday, before the Eurogroup.



In his list, especially Greece is committed to the fight against tax evasion and corruption.

Behind the scenes the negotiations are difficult. “Institutions” – the new name of the troika – take account upstream the reluctance of the toughest countries on Greece (Germany, Netherlands, Finland), who will submit the extension of the plan assistance to their respective Parliaments

Slingers SYRIZA

In his list, especially Greece vows to fight against tax evasion and corruption.; Alexis Tsipras also agreed to reopen the issue of privatization, though banished by his electoral program. Measures that could bring up to 7 billion euros in revenue, it is said in Athens. A figure that fails to convince Brussels, as the fight against fraud is difficult to implement, in a country where the tax authority has always been low. The Greek Government relies primarily on the decline in the primary surplus required by the Eurogroup to fund social measures, such as free electricity for the poor, the increase in the minimum wage of 200 euros.

At the same time, another list is now expanding, the slingers. The left wing Syriza overcomes the positions of Prime Minister and informed. Thus, in a letter, Manolis Glezos, Dean of SYRIZA and emblematic figure of the left in Greece, regrets that the Greek Prime Minister has “nothing to set his electoral program, a month after coming to power” and regrets that the only change in negotiations with the Europeans is rhetorical: we replaced the “troika” by “institutions” and “understanding” with “the Agreement”

Yannis Milios, the. one of the economic advisers Alexis Tsipras, fears also that the austerity measures continue to apply. The famous composer Mikis Theodorakis sum Tsipras to “say” no “to” nein “Germans”. For Nicolas Voulelis, editor of the leftist newspaper Your Efimerida Syntakton , we must put these internal tensions, “It’s the game of realpolitik, Alexis Tsipras knew that there would be disappointed, but the Public opinion is largely favorable to him. “The Greek Prime Minister is expected to address the nation Tuesday afternoon.


Key measures proposed by Greece

Fight against tax evasion: Athens promises to tackle this scourge which represents a shortfall of more than 35 billion euros per year. The 3,000 names on the list of tax evaders HSBC are covered by the tax

Fight against corruptionet of price cartels. The government claims more effective fight against corruption and eradicate cartels prices in supermarkets and pharmacies, denounced by the OECD. Liter of milk in Greece is 34% more expensive than in the rest of Europe

The privatizations. categorically excluded by Alexis Tsipras, privatization has been reinstated to the list of commitments of Prime Minister of Greece, including Piraeus. The previous government has made only 1.6 billion euros against 50 billion privatization expected in 2010

Social aid. is in this chapter that the reforms are the most detailed: Return of collective agreements; free electricity for the poor; freezing of pensions and VAT; raising the minimum wage of 200 euros. This new spending would be financed by tax revenue increases and a primary surplus revised down from 1.5% of GDP.

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