Greece debt crisis: EU leaders gather for critical summit
Greece faces a critical 24 hours as European leaders gather for an emergency summit in Brussels that could break the deadlock around the country’s debt crisis.
On Sunday, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras set out new proposals to try to prevent a default on a €1.6bn (£1.1bn) IMF loan.
One European official said the proposals held plenty of promise.
Greece must repay the loan by the end of June or risk crashing out of the single currency and possibly the EU.
Talks have been in deadlock for five months, with the European Commission, the IMF and the European Central Bank (ECB) unwilling to unlock the final €7.2bn tranche of bailout funds until Greece agrees to economic reforms they want to see introduced.
The three creditors must agree to the deal offered by Greece to ensure Monday’s talks have a clear focus.
The head of the European Commission president’s cabinet, Martin Selmayr, said on Twitter that Greece’s latest offer had been received by its creditors.
He said it represented a “good basis for progress” before comparing the discussions on a deal to a forceps delivery childbirth.
Prime Minister Tsipras will meet the heads of Greece’s three international creditors at 11:00 (09:00 GMT), ahead of his meeting with the leaders of 18 other eurozone nations.
Mr Tsipras’ offer on Sunday of a reforms package to the leaders of Germany, France and the European Commission is seen by some as a sign the Greek government is willing to make concessions.
The proposals, which Mr Tsipras described as “mutually beneficial”, were adopted at an emergency meeting of the Greek cabinet – though they have yet to be revealed.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has urged both sides to seize a “window of opportunity”.
Earlier on Sunday, Louka Katseli, the head of Greece’s biggest bank, said it would be “insane” not to reach an agreement in Brussels.
The National Bank of Greece chief said that, while the banks were not under immediate threat of running out of money, the situation was serious and, without a deal, would become severe.
However, she said she thought it was unlikely that Greece would be forced to leave the eurozone, saying the cost would be too high for other eurozone nations.
The ECB will also hold a separate meeting on Monday to decide whether to raise the level of emergency funding for Greek banks, after it approved an emergency loan on Friday.
Greek savers have withdrawn billions of euros in recent days, putting Greece’s banking system under intense pressure.
Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Athens on Sunday evening in support of its left-wing government, which came to power off the back of an anti-austerity promise.
They are angered by austerity measures imposed by Greece’s lenders in the two previous bailouts, which saw wages and pensions slashed and left one in four Greeks unemployed.
Rallies were also staged in Brussels and Amsterdam in solidarity with the people of Greece.
What’s happening on Monday?
The emergency summit of the leaders of 19 EU leaders was agreed late last week.
Even before the meeting takes place, Greece’s three creditors need to come to some sort of deal with Athens.
That would act as a springboard for more intense discussions at the summit on Monday. So, needless to say, if Greece and the creditors do not strike a deal, there will not be much to talk about.
Why all the focus on Monday?
The deadline for Greece to pay back a slice of its loan is 30 June – so why the panic to get things resolved by 22 June?
The simple answer is time.
Just agreeing a deal and arranging how the money is transferred is a complicated affair – one that could not be finalised with hours to go.
On top of that, a separate European Council summit is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, and its agenda is packed. That meeting will take up a lot of the time of those who would need to be on hand to discuss Greece.
In theory, if no deal is struck on Monday, there is still a week to get things resolved.
Withdrawals between last Monday and Friday reportedly reached about €4.2bn, representing about 3% of household and corporate deposits held by Greek banks at the end of April.
But Greek banks are expected to open as normal on Monday following the ECB loan.
Greece’s lenders want to see Athens implement a series of economic changes in areas such as pensions, VAT and on the budget surplus before releasing the funds, which have been delayed since February.
Source: BBC – Greece debt crisis: EU leaders gather for critical summit
