Negotiations between Greece and creditors in Brussels came to an abrupt halt when the Greek delegation left the meeting just 45 minutes after it started. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s representative stated that this round of consultations with the institutions has ended without any result. “While some progress was made, the talks did not succeed as there is a significant gap between the Greek authorities plans and the joint requirements of the Commission, the ECB and the IMF in the range of 0.5-1% of GDP, or the equivalent of up to 2 billion of permanent fiscal measures on an annual basis. The Greek proposals remain incomplete. On this basis, further discussion will now have to take place in the Eurogroup,” noted the European Commission’s official statement, referring to the Eurozone Finance Ministers meeting that will be held in Luxembourg on June 18. “President Juncker made a last attempt this weekend in order to find, via personal representatives and in close liaison with Commission, ECB and IMF experts, a solution with Prime Minister Tsipras that would allow for a positive assessment in time for the Eurogroup on Thursday, June 18,” the Commission said. While exiting the European Commission building, Greek State Minister Nikos Pappas was asked by the Financial Times if the short duration of the meeting is a bad sign. The Minister replied “We will see” and smiled. According to the Greek government, the meeting was interrupted due to the creditors’ “unreasonable demands.” As the government explained yesterday, they had delivered additional proposals to the institutions, which covered the fiscal gap and primary surplus issues. However, the Greek government also made it clear that it would never accept pension and wage cuts or increases in power VAT rates.
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