At the recent College of Commissioners, it was stressed that the ball for an agreement between Greece and its partners lies in the Greek government’s court.

The European Commission is prepared and has the intention to come to an agreement, however clear conditions have been set; Greece must conclude technical discussions on fiscal measures, so that Euro Working Group can be called, where the Eurozone Finance Ministers will be informed.

Beyond the internal problems that the Greek government has to overcome, it must also negotiate the final hurdles blocking the way towards an agreement on a technical level.

On Tuesday EC President Jean-Claude Juncker admitted his personal involvement in the talks, but he did not confirm the existence of the recent proposal aimed at unblocking the stagnant negotiations. He did however estimate that an agreement would be achieved by the end of May or early June.

At present it the technical discussions on the VAT reform are focused on the 18% and 15% rates (one for cash, the other for card transactions) and how the 3% difference will be paid back. Rather than implement a discount on the spot, it has been proposed to make the return electronically, similar to existing ‘bonus’ plans.

Additionally, in the autumn, the Ministers of Labor Panagiotis Skourletis and Social Insurance Dimitris Stratoulis are to initiate talks regarding the major reforms needed in the country’s pension system. The OECD, in cooperation with the Greek authorities, is also composing a report on structural changes, which will also be discussed in the autumn.

On Tuesday evening Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras informed his party MPs of the next moves that need to be taken, which includes submitting a bill of fiscal and institutional measures in Parliament.

In any case though, the Greek government is beginning to feel the pressure, as it has not yet found a solution to cover all of the payments that need to be made in July and August, when a number of ECB-held bonds mature and loan payments are due.