The Greek government on Thursday presented to Parliament the document on the reasons why the extension of the loan agreement between Greece and the European Financial Stability Fund does not need to be voted in Parliament. The document was signed by State Minister Nikos Pappas and was submitted to Parliament following former Parliament President Evangelos Meimarakis’ question to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. In his written reply, the State Minister said that Greece has no international obligation to pass the agreement from the parliament nor does the Greek law provide for that. He also stated that the Legal Council of State has delivered a relevant opinion on the matter. More specifically, the State Minister’s reply is the following: “No new loan agreement has been signed between the Greek government and the partners, let alone an agreement of an extension of the memorandum. On February 26, 2015 the maturity date of the existing loan agreement between Greece and the European Financial Stability Facility / European Support Mechanism (EFSF / ESM) was extended until the end of June this year. The extension of the loan agreement has been signed by all parties. As there is no international requirement of our country, the ESM requires no further ratification process, in addition to Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis’ signature. The Greek law likewise does not provide for the ratification of the extension of the loan agreement for the same reason. The signing of the extension of the loan agreement is accompanied by a Finance Minister’s document of political initiatives, which was submitted to the Eurogroup and was published. The content of this document does not constitute a contract and there is no reason to be ratified by the Parliament. The Legal Council of State delivered a relevant opinion on February 25, 2015. The new agreement with the partners that will occur after the expiration of the extension of the existing loan agreement will be obviously submitted for ratification to parliament, according to the Constitution.” Former Parliament President Meimarakis had asked to be informed when the government will brief the Parliament and the Greek people for the content of the agreement signed by the Minister of Finance and “when the agreement for the extension of the memorandum will be submitted for approval in the Parliament.” (source: ana-mpa)
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