EU leaders: Latest Greek proposals seen as ‘basis’ for deal

Down side that detailed examination will take days

Eurozone FinMins on Monday appeared, at last, pleased with the latest proposals by the radical leftist Greek government, while warning that a detailed study will take days.

Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem told Reuters that “we will work very hard in the next few days, the institutions with the Greek government, to get that deal this week.”

The “light at the end of the tunnel” came as the Tsipras government apparently provided measures with specific and realistic numbers attached, something that critics said was lacking in the past.

Dijsselbloem, the Dutch FinMin, described the Athens’ proposals as comprehensive and “a basis to really restart the talks”. Nevertheless, he said the focus now would be to see if the measures were enough to fill the gap in a projected budget deficit.

“It’s a solid, and at last global, basis (for negotiations), but there is more work to be done,” was EU Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici’s comment.

Finally, EU President Donald Tusk said the new package ahead of a euro summit was the first genuine step forward in weeks.

“The latest Greek proposals are the first real proposals in many weeks although they still need, it’s obvious for me, the assessment of the (creditor) institutions and further work, of course,” he said.