The Minister of Finances Yanis Varoufakis announced that “the next step will be a responsible step” as he arrived at the EcoFin council meeting in Brussels on Tuesday morning. Mr. Varoufakis noted that Europe would continue to debate in order to achieve the best possible result for European citizens and that an deal can be reached after the initial disagreements.
Upon arrival at the meeting, the Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem expressed his hope that the Greek government would request an extension of the bailout program, claiming that Europe is prepared to cooperate with Greece. He further added that it must be determined if the program is still on track.
The Austrian Finance Minister Hans Jörg Schelling revealed that a new Eurogroup may be planned for next week, provided that updated divs and fiscal data on Greece is available. He was also optimistic that Greece would request a program extension.
Although Greece’s case is not on the Ecofin agenda, it is expected to be discussed amongst the European Finance Ministers.
