Statements by President Donald Tusk at the press conference of the Euro Summit
I called this summit to put an end to the dangerous uncertainty and to avoid the worst case scenario which means chaotic and uncontrollable Graccident. To do that, I wanted to achieve two things. First, I wanted to inject new dynamism into the negotiations that have been stalled for too long. With the Greek proposal today, I believe that we have taken that step. Second, to make sure that all leaders are on the same political page, that all share the same understanding of the possibilities and limits.
Prime Minister Tsipras has assured us of Greece’s seriousness and willingness to work constructively. As the last hours have shown, we can see all parties fully committed to finding a solution. The new Greek proposals to the three institutions are a positive step forward according to the initial assessment of the institutions. They will be further assessed over the coming hours. Work must now proceed swiftly in the Eurogroup. Prime Minister Tsipras and the institutions will work together now, so that the Eurogroup can achieve results on Wednesday evening that can be presented Thursday morning.
Statement by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker
I simply wanted to say that the proposals that the Greek government was submitting to our meditation tonight and early this morning – although these proposals were coming in with some delay – are a major step taken by the Greek authorities into the direction of the expectations of the three institutions involved in that process.
I am confident that the Eurogroup on Wednesday will produce results to be submitted to the European Council on Thursday. I am convinced that this is not only our intention to finalise the decision-making process this week – we will finalise the process this week.
Statement by Dutch Eurogroup Chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem
Good afternoon everyone. This will be a very short press conference. We have had a short Eurogroup meeting in order to prepare for the informal meeting of Heads of State and Government which will take place at 19.00.
New proposals from the Greek government came in this morning. We welcomed them. They are seen as a positive step in the process. But given the very little time that the institutions have had to look at them, they were unable to give us a full and in-depth assessment. So they gave us a first impression.
The Eurogroup has urged them to work closely together with the Greek authorities; to start immediately with those proposals, going through them, getting into the specifics, doing calculations on them and working on a list of prior actions, which is the key thing that it boils down to. All of this with a view if possible to reaching an agreement later this week, using the Greek proposals as a basis for that.
The work can start immediately as far as we are concerned. If all goes well, the Eurogroup will have another meeting later this week to hear the final outcome of the talks with the Greek authorities. Those talks, as far as we are concerned, can start this afternoon, bringing together the work of the institutions so far with the new proposals, and once again with a view to reaching a final agreement later this week.
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