Politico: Eurogroup deal is a cynical ploy to avoid crucial decisions

The only “certain impact is that it will allow Greece to meet payments due this summer”, says the article

The agreement reached between Greece and its lender during yesterday’s Eurogroup meeting on “a new set of funding measures for Greece was bolder than forecast but nonetheless falls way short of the radical steps needed to put Athens on a sound financial path” says Politico Europe website.

“One of the package’s most important consequences will be to allow the International Monetary Fund to continue participating in the Greek financial rescue after the Eurogroup of finance ministers agreed on the initial details of a debt-relief program for the cash-strapped country” the article mentions.

However, the writer of the article expresses his doubts on whether this deal is “a major breakthrough” as Eurogroup President and Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijselbloem said, stressing that the only “certain impact is that it will allow Greece to meet payments due this summer.”

Beyond that, this deal can again be seen as a messy compromise mostly to gain some time.

“Once again, it can be criticized for skirting the radical decisions that would allow Greece to stand on a firmer footing. And once again, it will be seen as a cynical ploy to avoid those decisions because of electoral politics: in this case, postponing major choices until after the 2017 German elections” the article mentions.