ΤΑ ΝΕΑ

 

“Civil war” within troika and messages from Berlin

Troika delays the negotiations with the Greek government, because it has to deal with the conflicts between its counterparts (IMF, EU, ECB). At the same time, Angela Merkel and Sigmar Gabriel agreed to forget about EU bonds.

 

AVGI

An ongoing censure vote

The government seems paralyzed by the fear that its next law proposals and the new measures that will be the result of the negotiations with troika will not survive a vote in Parliament. After yesterday’s meeting between troika and FM Stournaras, the negotiations froze suddenly, with all the important issues still on the table. Next week PM Samaras will go to Berlin in order to ask Merkel’s help to postpone the “bitter drink” of new measures till May. In PASOK, on the other hand, there is panic for a “Tzakri virus”. Theodora Tzakri was the only MP among those in the two coalition parties to support SYRIZA’s censure vote. Now PASOK is left with 27 MPs (it started with 33 after the last elections). Reuters warned the government yesterday that if they take new measures, they will collapse. 

ELEFTHEROTYPIA

Troika: Take new recovery measures

“If the Greeks cannot pay new taxes, then take new recovery measures in order to raise the state revenues”. This is troika’s main argument –no matter how absurd it is- for explaining why it demands new measures in 2014, which will target directly the source, namely the wages, while auditors reckon that the wage cuts make the citizens unable to respond to their tax responsibilities. 

KATHIMERINI 

Commission launches an investigation for the excessive German surplus

European Commission decided to launch an investigation against Germany, because its trade surplus is considered excessively high. According to the new law regulating the financial policy in Eurozone, not only fiscal and trade deficits are forbidden, but also the excessive surplus at the current trading balance. 

DIMOKRATIA

Olli Rehn’s “bomb” about Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund’s (HRADF) relocation to Luxemburg

The EU Commissioner said that HRADF missed the privatization targets in 2013. British Financial newspaper Financial Times and the German daily Der Spiegel had written about the possibility of HRADF’s relocation abroad a month ago, but officials had denied it.