The latest proposals produced by Greece do mark some progress, but intensive work will still be needed, the Chancellor reported following the consultations of Eurogroup heads of state and government in Brussels.
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Angela Merkel expressed her hope that a proposal approved by the Eurogroup will be available before the European Council meeting at the end of the week.
Before Monday’s meeting in Brussels, Angela Merkel stressed that there was "no basis on which a decision could be made" at the special Euro summit meeting following the consultations of the Eurogroup ministers of finance. That is why the meeting could only consult and advise.
Originally it was hoped that the special Euro summit meeting on Monday evening would be able to bring new momentum to the deadlocked negotiations. Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, called the meeting in Brussels. "It is time to discuss the situation in Greece at the highest political level, " he explained.
Prior to the meeting of heads of state and government, the Eurogroup ministers of finance met in Brussels at lunchtime on Monday. Before the meeting, Federal Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble stressed that it was impossible for the Eurogroup to prepare anything for a Euro summit meeting "without any substantial proposals" that can be seriously examined.
Federal government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said on Monday in Berlin that the three institutions, the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) must assess the new proposals and reach an agreement with the Greek government. Last Friday Steffen Seibert had already stressed that any decision will have to be based on an agreement between Greece and these three institutions. "If the Council does not have this as a basis for a decision, the meeting can only consult and advise," said the government spokesperson.
On Thursday evening a meeting of the Eurogroup ministers of finance in Luxembourg ended without any breakthrough. Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem reported that Athens’ proposals were not "sufficiently reliable and serious". The ball is now clearly in the Greek court, he said. "Time is running out," added Jeroen Dijsselbloem.
The current economic assistance programme to Greece runs out at the end of this month. By 30 June the country must repay debts of 1.6 billion euros to the International Monetary Fund. Managing Director Christine Lagarde sees only one solution: "to restore the dialogue with adults in the room".
"Where there’s a will there’s a way," Chancellor Angela Merkel said earlier in the German Bundestag. "Germany’s efforts are focused on keeping Greece in the euro zone," she stressed. Angela Merkel called on the Greek government to take the path towards reform with the help of their creditors.
It is up to the Greek leadership to find the way forward, said Angela Merkel in the German Bundestag in a government statement on the European Council meeting on 25 June. A solution is only possible once agreement has been reached on reform between Greece, the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Greece was on the right path, but the Greek government has persistently dragged its feet over urgently needed structural reforms, said the Chancellor. These reforms are the precondition for the disbursement of the last tranche of the economic assistance programme, but more importantly they are the precondition for long-term growth. The European monetary union is based on the principle that assistance to a member state must go hand in hand with the active efforts of the state in question, and that solidarity towards a member state must go hand in hand with responsibility on the part of that state. Greece, said the Chancellor, "has enjoyed an unparalleled level of solidarity from the other European nations". The Chancellor pointed to Ireland, Portugal and Spain which used the assistance they got from the EU to undertake their own reforms.
In her address Angela Merkel also pointed to the fundamental principles of the economic and monetary union. Today the monetary union is stronger than it was before the economic and financial crisis, she said, and the euro is "incontestably more robust". This makes it possible to better deal with the Greek situation. The Chancellor pointed to the agreement reached by the Eurogroup ministers of finance on 20 February, in which Greece undertook to make reforms and pledged to meet all financial commitments vis à vis its creditors. Today the Eurogroup finance ministers are again discussing the Greek sovereign debt crisis.