European Council President Donald Tusk presented the conclusions of the European Council meeting of leaders, attended by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, on Tuesday:
1. We met tonight to discuss the serious situation in Greece. We noted that the euro area authorities stand ready to do whatever is necessary to ensure the financial stability of the euro area as a whole.
2. Following the Greek referendum, Prime Minister Tsipras committed to present a new request for a programme within the framework set by the ESM Treaty, including strict policy conditionality.
3. We agreed to urgently examine whether it is possible to establish a basis for finding an agreement that respects existing commitments and our common rules.
4. The Greek government will on Thursday, July 9, at the latest set out in detail its proposals for a comprehensive and specific reform agenda for assessment by the three Institutions to be presented to the Eurogroup.
5. The Heads of State or Government will meet on Sunday 12 July.
European Council President Donald Tusk added a few words outlining his own perspective:
Let me add a few words from my own perspective. All sides of the negotiations share the responsibility for the current status quo. That is why today I called on all leaders to try to find consensus, which will be our common success, with no losers or winners. If this does not happen it will mean the end of the negotiations with all the possible consequences, including the worst-case scenario, where all of us will lose. Our inability to find agreement may lead to the bankruptcy of Greece and the insolvency of its banking system. And for sure, it will be most painful for the Greek people. I have no doubt that this will affect all Europe also in the geopolitical sense. If someone has any illusion that it will not be so, they are naive.
The stark reality is that we have only five days left to find the ultimate agreement. Until now, I have avoided talking about deadlines. But tonight I have to say loud and clear that the final deadline ends this week. All of us are responsible for the crisis and all of us have a responsibility to resolve it.
Eurogroup Chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem addressed Eurogroup prior to the European Council. Here are his conclusions:
We welcomed our new Greek colleague and listened to his assessment of the situation after the “No” vote in Greece. There were no new proposals at this point from the Greek minister, and the first step will be that the Greek government will send the Eurogroup a new request; a new request letter for ESM support and as soon as this comes in – hopefully already tomorrow morning – we will have another Eurogroup conference call to formally start the process of dealing with this request. I will first ask the institutions to look at the financial situation in Greece, their finances and debt sustainability, and then the institutions will come back to us and we will see if we can formally start the negotiations. All this has to be done in a matter of days. We have very little time, as you are all aware. Thanks.
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