The buzzwords of Greek negotiations – a Glossary!

Author: newsroom  | Published: March 12, 2015

Here are the new words of the Greek economy or, as some would say, “baptizing meat as fish”

Bailout: The measures that Greece needs to implement to get new funds. The legal name of a bailout is Memorandum of Understanding.

Brussels Group: This should not be confused with the group formerly known as the Troika that included Greece’s international creditors from the European Commission (EC), European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Instead, the Brussels Group is all of the above and the European Stability Mechanism and also includes the Greek government as part of a five-member group.

Creative Vagueness: The term made famous, or infamous, by Finance Minister Yannis Varoufakis is an agreement that is … philosophical rather than based purely on figures. Simply put, it is a loose and flexible agreement that gives leeway to both sides.

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU): See bailout. The term memorandum, like troika, has negative connotations in Greece.

On-site Exchange of Facts: The new word for the old “reviews” of the Greek economy that the representatives of Greece’s three international creditors would make. The difference between the “review” and the “exchange” is that in the latter, the facts will be given by officials of the same ranking between themselves. Furthermore, the visits now take place at a neutral territory (eg. hotels) and not within ministries.

Program: The new word for bailout and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), bearing in mind the bad connotations that the old words have in Greece.

Troika: Greece’s international creditors from the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund engrained in Greek people’s minds as images of low-ranking officials, not heads, of these groups coming to Greece and ordering Greek ministers around in tight negotiations.

TROIKA

The Three Institutions: This refers to the three institutions formerly known as the Troika. Some say that the name-change is purely “baptizing meat as fish”, however the Greek government wants to rid the new visits of the bad connotations of past visits as they are believed to be on a new base and on Greece’s terms. It also promised on January 25 that “the Troika will never set foot in Greece again.”