Finance Ministers from the common European currency zone are arriving in Brussels to take part in the March 20 EuroGroup meeting with Greece being one of the matters on main agenda. The Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos is meeting before the start of the meeting, scheduled for 4pm (Greek time), with the President of the EuroGroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Poul Thomsen from the IMF, Pierre Moscovici from the European Commission, Benoit Coeure of the ECB and Klaus Regling from the ESM. The Greek side hopes to get clear promises for the conclusion of the second review of the bailout program and achieve some progress on the labour talks. The country’s lenders, on their part, will attempt to ensure Greece commits to speedy reforms in the labour market in order for the creditors’ representatives to return to Athens and resume talks.

Schauble and Spain statements

Meanwhile, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin stressed that the current situation in Greece was in no way similar to 2015, adding that there had been serious progress achieved and that the parties involved in talks were close to a solution for the good of Greece and Europe as a whole. Arriving at the meeting German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble pointed out that a deal should have already been reached. The German Finance Minister added that he did not expect much from the meeting.