EU wants austerity guarantee from Athens

Greece must fulfil further conditions in order to receive the next rescue package. Among other requirements, the Eurozone finance ministers want written pledges from the Greek parties that they will implement the austerity measures even after the elections in April. Such displays of distrust further distance the Greeks from the EU, some commentators write, while others say the whole rescue plan is just a show.

Previous experience leaves little hope that Greece will be able to implement the austerity measures required of it, the liberal daily Tages-Anzeiger writes, surmising that the second rescue package is above all meant to soothe the fears of private creditors. "In view of all the uncertainties, one is led to suspect that with the new rescue plan for Greece the IMF and euro countries are primarily aiming to appease Athens' private creditors. The latter must decide in the next weeks whether to participate in the 'voluntary' credit writedown and exchange their current Greek bonds for new securities with half the value and longer maturities. Such an exchange, and the hoped-for Greek debt relief of 100 billion euros will only have a chance of success if the private creditors are led to believe at least until next month that the crisis-ridden Mediterranean country is now on secure financial footing." (10/02/2012)

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The Eurozone finance ministers demanded that Athens provide further guarantees on Thursday evening before they make their decision next Wednesday on whether to give Greece the second instalment of the rescue package. The conservative business paper Naftemporiki asks what goals the EU partners are pursuing with this strategy: "What are they trying to achieve? Is this another strategic manoeuvre ahead of the vote on the austerity agreement in the Greek parliament [on Sunday] aimed at ruling out any possibility of negative behaviour on the part of the Greek parliamentarians? … One thing's for sure, this approach is causing more and more Greeks to turn their backs on the European project and philosophy. … In addition a growing number of Greeks are less and less afraid of the prospect of Greece exiting the Eurozone. … This is evident in the increased determination of a people to take their fate into their own hands if necessary." (10/02/2012)

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Now that the Greek parties have accepted the austerity requirements the country - like the rest of Europe - must find its way back to the path of growth, affirms the liberal daily Les Echos: "Good, the country has a bit of a respite. Now it must once more learn to breathe, that is to create more wealth to be able to repay more debt. There's no point getting impatient: the process will take at least a decade. And that doesn't just apply to Greece. All of Europe has slowed down for some time to come. ... Of course it is indispensable that all of the European countries return to a sustainable budget trajectory without being at the mercy of investor hiccups. That is the objective of the European 'fiscal compact' adopted officially at the end of January. But this package won't be enough. If Europe sinks deeper into its 'lost decade', the public accounts of its member countries will remain in the deep red." (10/02/2012)

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Greece's submission will give it a reprieve, but not for long, writes the business paper Hospodárske noviny: "The politicians in Athens had no choice but to fulfil the troika's conditions. Otherwise the country would have faced bankruptcy, which would also plunge the entire Eurozone into a storm. Greece needs the 130 billion package. The costs are enormous: high unemployment, dwindling industrial production, pension and salary cuts, spending cuts, weak economic growth, social unrest, an artificial political stability. In return, some of its debts will be waived and bankruptcy avoided. Once again time has been bought. How much remains unclear. But to judge by the experiences of the last two years it won't be very long." (10/02/2012)

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