FinMin meets with German counterpart Schauble

Issues concerning EU assistance and support to Greece, as well as the “euro protection mechanism” in view of crucial EU summits dominated a meeting here on Tuesday between Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstaninou and his German counterpart Wolfgang Schauble.

The German side has not revealed its intentions as yet on certain aspects of the negotiations, in expectation of an overall solution that will include the support mechanism (temporary and permanent since 2013) and the Franco-German Competitiveness Pact aspirations.

According to Greek government sources, this is an open negotiation in which progress is being made while the definitive solutions will be reached in the EU Summit meeting to take place on March 25-26, 2011.

The German side appears to fully understanding the efforts made by Greece. However, the biggest problem observed in the negotiations concerns debt repurchase and defining the interest rates.

An important domestic political factor for Germany is overcoming the objections raised by the Liberals in the government alliance, while any proposal made by the Merkel government will have to ensure a parliamentary majority considering that it will have to get the approval of the Bundestag.